Ben Vorlich (Loch Lomond)

[2dalmatians]

So having taken care of all the self inflicted stupid mistakes made last week whilst tackling the other Ben Vorlich I was confident this would be a hazard free day. However I didnt take into account for the fact that I could not find the path up the hill for close to 3 hours!!! Set off at 1010 am from Inveruglas with the "Big Dog" heading the same way we took when tackling Ben Vane a few weeks ago. However when it came to finding "the tiny cairn after a small stream" that marks the path it proved to be very difficult!! The fact that I had the arrogance not to take a copy of the WH route map compounded the situation in that I couldnt remember if the cairn was 1k before or after Sloy Dam.

When I reached the Dam (after approx 1hour walking) I decided to climb up to search for a path at the other side. It was here that I met a couple who had the same problem and were waiting optimistically for someone who knew the way to pass by. Clearly that wasnt me!!! They did confirm that there wasnt a clear path at the dam which convinced me that the cairn and route up was as I had suspected approx 1k before the dam. So I walked back down away from Sloy searching for the cairn. After about 400mtrs I decided to head up the hill. Eventually after about 1.5 hours of wandering about like a complete Numpty and against the odds I found the path. After about 20 minutes I met a group of 4 heading down having already been up to the summit. They advised that I probably had around 1200ft over 1 mile still to climb (to be honest I could have turned back at this point but I have a wee bit of stubborness in me). These were the last people I saw all day until I got back to Inveruglas! Unfortunately there are not even any of my usual average pictures to share as the summit was in cloud and I ran out of battery not long after reaching the top.

Finally made it back to the car at 415 approx - very tired with another valuable lesson learned - maps are good!

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about half way up

sloy dam - shouldnt have been here - Lol!

where I found the path

[Stretch]

Ah yes, the ghost cairn marking the path. I actually had no trouble finding it, especially after looking through all the previous reports for this route. But a couple at the top had totally missed it and I showed them how to find it and get down.

How does that short legged bassett make it up the hills? I'd be dying! Cool dog though.

[Merry-walker]

You're as stubborn as me 2dalmatians but very well done for sticking with it

[2dalmatians]

Stretch - I was planning to claim some vandals or mischievious magpies had stolen the Cairn and or blame WH for misleading information, however the "ghost cairn" was there and very clear when I got back down. As for the big dog he is remarkably agile although he is knackered today lol (he is still a pup - 2 years old, I dont think he will do much of this after he gets to 5/6)

Merrywalker - my wife uses a different s word - "stupid" with a few **##@'@**!!! before and after . She says she was 20 minutes from calling mountain rescue yesterday. - oops

[Merry-walker]