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This walk is where we lost it. Not our marbles, the car, nor the obvious first encounter of teenage years. I talk of losing ‘another’ virginity, that of our first bagged Munro. We will always remember her.
My two good friends since school of 25 years Nick and Tim shared their happy loss at the same time. Nick and I are both fairly seasoned walkers, both having completed the Wainwrights in the Lakes and Tim is a dedicated runner and obstacle-courser as well as having joined Nick and I in the Lakes a few times. We are then, “used to the hills”. However, to compare the Lakes and the Wainwrights, beautiful and impressive as they are, to the Munros is to compare learning the alphabet to writing a thesis on Dickens novels. We were acutely aware that the step up in physical effort, changeable weather conditions, preparation and planning required and time from hills not of Scotland to being well into it was considerable. We knew that planning a single walk should be backed up by planning other walks in the event of inclement weather and that you should know where your escape routes are. It was no surprise then that the amount of time spent on one of the smaller mountains would equate to a long walk in the Lakes.
We’ve all finished the National Three Peaks so have all been to the top of Ben Nevis but for the sake of Munro bagging, this was the real start. See the brand spankers on display!
- Straight from the packet
Firstly, metres from our three-night base in Tarbet, just past being fresh from the flight from Birmingham to Glasgow, way past fresh from the bother of hiring a con-vehicle (hire-car), there is Loch Lomond, by the overflowing bins of the Invergulas Visitor Centre. That is not a sight to gladden tired eyes and but the loch is and is a terrific place to begin. The enormity of it is confirmed by the size of the Sloy Power Station which is one of many huge man-made structures on the walk to be dwarfed by its surroundings.
- Loch Lomond from Inveruglas
- Sloy Power Station
Secondly, the Arrochar Alps were an area we had studied and chosen as somewhere our anticipation and inclination to start bagging Munros had seemed sensible but also mighty enough to make you work hard for it and delight in having this for a hobby. They are also very close to Glasgow meaning we didn’t have to drive far from the airport and being well documented we had planned a number of possible walks and had even thought of hopping down from the summit to the dam to try Ben Vane after Ben Vorlich. The walk in was somewhat cloud obscured, the summit of Ben Vane was just visible through the wisps almost all the way to the top of Ben Vorlich and a later start than planned meant we just settled for the single Munro.
Thirdly, the film sets. There are a few of these. For the first half-hour of this walk you can just take it in - suck the air to the bottom of your lungs and absorb the place. The electricity pylons don’t really obscure anything too much but after 30 minutes you might well be in Jurassic Park. There is a building which is clearly for housing the latest T-Rex antagonist or a troop of velociraptors waiting for a cow to be craned in. The ancient hills don’t really need this addition as it jars the view for a while. If you tried to apply to build a house in that style in that place you’d have no hope. It has a purpose but it is odd.
- This should have 'Ingen' written on the side
The second film set is much less jarring and could be from a number of films. The Loch Sloy Dam could have been in Dambusters, King Kong, Lord of the Rings and several others. It is amazing to see something so big against the bigger terrain on either side. It is not hard on the eye and Loch Sloy is very pretty nestled in the valley.
- Helm's Deep
Almost as soon as the dam came into view it was time to turn off the tarmac and up the slippery path and into the cloud around 600m up.
- Up into the clag
- Ben Vane makes a fleeting appearance. One for another day.
At first this is all on new chunky steps. In the Lakes these paths can be quite stark but here it seemed to sit in the landscape naturally and was largely invisible apart from the few metres nearby. From above it is more obvious but it has been laid well. One thing in common with the stepped paths in the Lakes is that they are slippery when wet. Personally, I find walking down them harder than walking on the grass or scree but slippery things have a dark comic element; they make people slip. Once you know someone is alright and unhurt from a slide it should be mandatory to laugh out loud (with a caveat).
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
- Slippery
I would expect and be happy for someone to laugh at me if I skid along the ground or hit the deck (Tim and Nick certainly did) but like my Mum always said, you must take in what you give out! Munro #2 the following day certainly helped that!
We had hoped that some of the recent snow might have lead us to use our crampons and axes but sadly the remaining snow was not anywhere near the path nor in sufficient quantities. We did have some fun cutting a wind shelter into a deep drift and practising traversing at around 800m but otherwise the crampons and axe were surplus to requirements though it’s always worth having them.
- Not much of a snow line
Above 800m we really had to focus on the path as the cloud was low and dense, definitely reminiscent of Gorillas in the Mist or Gangs of New York (the film set link gets worn out here!). The biggest threat is the drop towards the dam, that would be a slip not to laugh at (the caveat mentioned above), so keeping aware of where you are walking in visibility that low is vital and conversation dwindles as a result. Usually, I don’t bother with photos in this windy, foggy weather as you could be anywhere but a few at the trig point before remembering the summit is north of it meant we captured a few moments.
- Me on 'not the summit'
- Something sweaty this way comes
- Not quite there yet boys
At the summit, we were rightly chuffed with having only 281.5 left to complete but we didn’t hang around as the cloud only seemed to get thicker and the gusts were more insistent on knocking us over. GPS as a back up to navigating with maps seemed fair to use at this point to be certain of retracing our steps. The cloud was now fully obscuring Ben Vane which it hadn’t been earlier so any chance of doing that as well was put to bed as we decided on safety rather than ticking boxes. We were also absolutely shattered from the early start so when we got to the road (there is a film called ‘The Road’…..) and the threat of slipping had gone we started planning the next day’s options. What a choice!
- The real summit. ONE DOWN!
- Nick's first
- Tim's first
I suppose the start of our Munro-bagging was inauspicious because of the weather at the summit hence the lack of photos for this, and it seems Ben Vorlich would be great fun in clear conditions but you have to take the rough with the smooth. That said, we achieved our objective, had no trouble, got down safely and headed victoriously back to a good pub meal at the Village Inn in Arrochar before a few whiskies and more carb-loading back at our digs.
This was a good day.