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The family dream team love the Lawers

The family dream team love the Lawers


Postby basscadet » Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:59 pm

Route description: Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas

Munros included on this walk: An Stùc, Beinn Ghlas, Ben Lawers, Meall Garbh (Ben Lawers), Meall Greigh

Date walked: 18/08/2012

Time taken: 8 hours

Distance: 18.04 km

Ascent: 1570m

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This weekend, my Dad was finally back from feeding his cycling addiction in France, and with Mum away in London with Granny, it was a great opportunity to meet up for some bagging. :thumbup:

I met him at Lawers Hotel carpark on Friday night, where we had a pint or two, and left my car. We had talked about camping, but Dad had brought the van, so we made our way up to the car park where the visitor centre used to be, and caught up over a few cups of tea before bed. Dad didnt get up until 9 on Saturday, so it was probably 10.30 before we got going up the tourist track toward beinn Ghlas, It was misty, but showed all the signs of being a cracking day in a whilie, so we took our time, waiting for the weather to clear. I'll skip the details of the route, because there are no doubt hundreds of descriptions!
We made the summit of Beinn Ghlas in the mist.

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But as we descended the short distance ti the bealach, the clag lifted :D

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We both agreed that Beinn Ghlas was the easiest munro either of us had ever bagged as we stopped for a tab in the bealach before tackling the ascent to lawers. The top was still a bit misty, so again we plodded rather slowly to give it a chance to clear.. and it worked! :D

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The mist came back a bit, but by then, we had eaten our scraw, and were taking a rocky path onward toward An Stuc.

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We stopped at the summit awhile, and 2 of the chaps we had chatted to on Lawers, were coming back toward us.. They were chickening out of going down the steep side of the hill! That made me a little worried, but my dad said that he had never heard of it being tricky so it must be OK.. We went down for a look, and sure enough, it wasnt tricky at all! :lol: Goodness those chaps must of been born without baws :D.. It was just a little steep. dad said he wanted to come back in Winter, as he thought it would be more fun then.

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So onward and upward toward Meall garbh. It was an easy path, but the rockyness made it a bit more interesting. We were soon at the summit for another tab break.

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Theres not a lot to be said about the journey to Meall Greigh really, a well worn path through the grass on easy angled slopes. Dad had bagged this one before, but was glad to do it again as the last time had been in poor conditions, and Meall Greigh offered the best views of the day.

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We found a wee baggers path that took us down To lawers burn.

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And we were soon winding our way through the forest back toward Lawers Hotel, with nowt but beer on our minds.

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It had been a hot sweaty day, but we were both in agreement that these hills were the easiest pentabag we had ever done. I still felt fresh as a daisy, and I wished we had done the ridge the other way round so I could of done the other 2 of the 7 as well.. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! :lol:
Still, what a day! Just beautiful.. 5.5 hours walking and 2.5 hours to absorb the views and Dad loves hillspotting. :)
From the way my dad was clinging to the bar in the pub though, it was a bit harder on him.. He still managed to walk on sunday, but thats another walk report :wink:
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basscadet
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby captainslow » Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:34 pm

So thats what it's supposed to look like! I did the reverse of this route last weekend in permanent clag.
Was a little worried about the ascent of An Stuc, but like you say, found it pretty straightforward. It leaves me wondering whether I could easily do all the other Munro's (with the exception of the ones on Skye) without any scramble-induced worry!?
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby quoman » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:26 am

Nice one again bc

the lawers hills are an excellent walk in the good weather, Goodness those chaps must of been born without baws .. It was just a little steep. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby dogplodder » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:46 am

When I went down An Stuc years ago I had no preconceptions about its steepness and it was no problem. Sometimes these places earn a reputation they don't deserve. Your report struck a chord with me doing it with your dad. I remember my dad going off to climb Ben Lawers when I was a kid. While he did that we mucked around on the shore of Loch Tay near Lawers village. Now I wish I'd climbed it with him. Do as many hills as you can with your dad while you've got him! :D
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby Fudgie » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:52 am

I found the descent of that side of An Stuc a bit tricky although the snow on it when I did it probably didn't help. The descent from Lawers down to the bottom of An Stuc is great fun in the snow and I had a few involuntary tumbles :lol: Still, looks like a great day out and that beer would have been lovely :D
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby basscadet » Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:32 am

Captainslow - The anxiety of worrying about these wee scrambles, gives you the adrenaline to cope with them better, so never stop worrying :D

Quoman - Well one of those chaps was wearing chords, so that said it all to me.. He must of been roasting!

Dogplodder - I spent half of my childhood hanging around bothys waiting for my dad to return.. :wink: Now I am frantically trying to catch up with him so we can do our last together.. He is being rather vague about how many he has left to do though, partly because I dont think he actually knows. He remembers all the ones he has done, but I pointed out a couple of hills he has to do in Glen Lyon that he wasn't even aware of! so that says it all.. We will get there though, hopefully in 2014, but definately afore he hits 70 :D

Fudgie - Aye, a bit of tumbling about in the snow is always good fun.. :thumbup: Notice how my dad organised it so it was my car left at the hotel, so he could drink as much as he liked and I was left nursing a solitary half while he had his fill :(
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby morag1 » Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:18 pm

I was interested to read your comments on this walk BC because I was up there in May and had a terrible time on Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers. I absolutely hated the scramble over the rocks on Beinn Ghlas, especially towards the end, and when we got on the tiny summit a thick swirling mist came down and we could see only about two feet in front of us. It was horrible to be caught up in that.
Having said that, Loch Tay is one of my favourite places and I am hoping to go back there next year.

Really nice to climb the Munros with your dad, why not make a Munro map on this website for him, every time he remembers a climb you can tick it off and then see how many he/you still have to do? :D
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby Huff_n_Puff » Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:45 pm

Great report - like Dogplodder I came down the steep side of An Stuc without realising it was a mite steep - although I'd describe my descent as a 'controlled bum slither' :lol: :lol:
Brilliant photos!
Must be honest though what I will copy from your report is your Dad's clever car planning :lol: :lol:
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby ChrisW » Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:58 pm

Great report of a beautiful hike in good conditions, but best of all you must have enjoyed the company. As a dad I can't think of anything better than spending time in the hills with my boy :D
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby AlisonFox66 » Tue Aug 21, 2012 4:37 pm

Hello

I remember you

You were the couple who gave me advice about my descent direct from Ben Lawers to the south past Lochain na Cat

Thank you :)

It worked well
I had to deviate a bit west as time was running short for the bus but I really enjoyed it

Next time I am going to ascend that route as Lawers looks great from that angle
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Re: The family dream team love the Lawers

Postby basscadet » Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:33 pm

Oh Alison, I'm glad you managed down to the bus OK.. Once we were round the ridge a bit, your descent route didn't look like it was too bad, so we guessed you would make it fine :thumbup:
nice to speak to you again, so many lovely folks out on the hill that day :)
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