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Plan A was Glen Lyon, Plan B was Glen Dochart somewhere, both hastily abandoned due to the road conditions: we'd already been delayed by heavy snow on the M9 and decided to minimise the driving for the day. We turned off the A84 just past Callander and parked up below the Glen Finglas Dam. We set off in heavy, wet snow but this soon cleared as we got our first views of the reservoir. At the gate beyond the farm the track was blocked by an unfriendly looking bunch of cows, so we took a prudent detour to avoid them!
As we left the track and headed up towards the long south ridge of Benvane, three fine stags ran across the hill above us.
As we climbed the sun came out...
..but then quickly disappeared as a heavy snow shower blew in. This lasted until near the summit, but the next one followed on swiftly and we reached the top in driving snow and no visibility. After a quick lunch, the weather cleared again, and we made across for the ridge which connects to Ben Ledi, but unlike our ascent route, much of the ground here was sheltered from the wind and had collected a lot of fresh snow.
The going was quite slow, with waist deep drifts every so often. By the time we reached the Land Rover track at the first col, we had had enough, and baled out down the track. This was much easier going, despite quite a few ups and downs. Just before we reached the car, the snow came on again in big heavy flakes.
So not what we had set out for, but a joy to be out in the snow again, and some good views in between the blizzards!
Wildlife tally: one eagle, two pairs of ravens, small flock of snow buntings, some geese on the reservoir, lots of deer (one herd of 50 and several smaller groups), couple of red grouse. And no humans!
