Climbing Ben Vane...erm...I mean, Ben Vorlich...

[LailaQuiche]

A friend recommended Ben Vane as a good "fun" hike....whatever that means....
Parked at the visitor setter and my 3 and I set off to climb Ben Vane at about 12pm. We had a copy of the route instructions and were confident we would have no issues with route...
The route description instructed us to take a left off the path near a bridge. We, in our over-eagerness, took a left too early and ended up walking through a forest for a while. We eventually realised we were off track so we returned the way we came and carried on. We then took another wrong left. And then finally the right left....but ended up walking too far on and missed the turn off. It took us a long, long time to realise we were going in completely the wrong direction. We backtracked to the original track and walked along for a while before bumping into some hikers coming down the side of a mountain. Morale was pretty low by this point and we were all hot and frustrated. 'Is that Ben Vane?' we asked hopefully. 'No, you idiots. That's Ben Vorlich'. By this point we had been walking for about 3 hours...we decided to cut our losses and climb Ben Vorlich instead. The hikers said the path was clear all the way up. Thank god.
We set off up the steep side of Ben Vorlich. It was nice to gain so much height so quickly after 3 hours of flat aimless paths. We could see Ben Vane smirking at us in the distance as we ascended. We kept a fairly steady pace up Ben Vorlich and it really wasn't that long before we reached the summit. We had met a few people coming down as we were ascending and by the time we got to the top, there was no one up there. We were the only ones on the hill! Which was quite a nice feeling. There was a wee flurry of snow and then the clouds cleared and we had beautiful views. We ate our much deserved pieces and just enjoyed the scenery.
The descent was uneventful. I was delighted to try out my new hiking poles I had received for my birthday and was amazed at how much they helped my knees. I have old bones, despite only being 25!
By the time we reached the car, it was almost 8pm!! Our detour had taken up quite a bit of the day.
Thank you, Ben Vorlich. And **** you, Ben Vane.

Finally gaining some height

Yay!

[weedavie]

Hi, well done and getting things wrong's the best way of learning to navigate. First time I climbed Ben Vane I went on to Beinn Ime - only I found I'd gone up Beinn Narnain instead. But there's some bad news - the trig point you're at is not the top. The summit is another point about 500 metres along the ridge. Still, that's a good reason to go up Ven Vane or Ben Vorlich again!

[Giant Stoneater]

Quite a common mistake to make when starting out to think the trig point is the highest point,your not the only folk that have done this.At least you know the route now that's one blessing,so long as you enjoyed your day that's all that matters.

[LailaQuiche]

Quite a common mistake to make when starting out to think the trig point is the highest point,your not the only folk that have done this.At least you know the route now that's one blessing,so long as you enjoyed your day that's all that matters.

Don't worry, I did my research so we did make it to the real summit, I just didn't have a very good photo of it! Learning something new every time I climb a hill.

[LailaQuiche]

Hi, well done and getting things wrong's the best way of learning to navigate. First time I climbed Ben Vane I went on to Beinn Ime - only I found I'd gone up Beinn Narnain instead. But there's some bad news - the trig point you're at is not the top. The summit is another point about 500 metres along the ridge. Still, that's a good reason to go up Ven Vane or Ben Vorlich again!

My navigational skills are improving but still leave a lot to be desired! I couldn't find my way out of a paper bag.
We did make it to the real summit, I just didn't get a very good photo!