Ben Lomond (With Clear Views) - 11/12/09

[James_McG]

Helloooo!
Man o' man am I glad I took my last days holiday from work before Christmas on Friday 11/12/09. Decided to head for Ben Lomond after checking the weather report. Attempted to climb it last year just after Christmas but had to give up just below the summit due to zero visability & it being VERY icy.
Left East Kilbride at 7am and reached the carpark at the foot of Ben Lomond at 8.30am, traffic crazy busy at that time of morning, will definitely need to leave earlier next time

The drive in was very misty (as the weather report said) and so was the initial climb up the first section of the route. After climbing through & out of the mist the weather was AMAZING, the views from the top are the best I've enjoyed yet in all the climbs I've done. Hope you enjoy the photo's!

Mist over Loch Lomond, the mist didn't lift the whole day.

Nice sky & more mist over Loch Lomond.

Mist & sky again

Better than the yellow brick road .

Looking towards the Trossachs.

Looking towards the Arrochar Alps.

Heading for the summit.

Towards the summit again.

You gotta love snow topped mountains.

Shadow against the snow taking the photo.

Looking towards the eastern corrie.

Corrie & path.

Mon up ma man' the view is crackin!

Ice on the summit.

Summit photo, I made it weeh heeey .

A wee chap I met at the top heading down the Ptarmigan, gon yerself mate.

Another wee chap I was talking to havin' a cup of tea

Looking up Loch Lomond & towards the Arrochar Alps before I head off back down.

Mist still over the southern end of Loch Lomond heading home, amazing!

What an amazing climb, and when you get the weather & the views it just tops it off!
Hope you enjoyed the report.
Jim

[ikt68]

Great pictures; very vivid! Have done this one twice and never seen a darn thing from the top!

[James_McG]

Great pictures; very vivid! Have done this one twice and never seen a darn thing from the top!

Thanks mate, glad you liked the pic's! It was just one of those days where you could see for miles. I know where your coming from, the last 3 hills I've climbed I've had no views at all, Ben Ledi, Ben Lawers & The Cobbler, got lucky this time around

[37lumleyst]

some fantastic pictures there - really get a feel for space and distance in those shots, loved em

[Paul Webster]

Great pics - prove that Ben Lomond is a magical place, no matter how busy it gets

[HighlandSC]

Fanstasic report Jim

Do you use a fancy camera?

[James_McG]

Thanks 37lumleyst, glad you liked the photo's. Was just one of those days where eveything looked great no matter where you looked.

Thanks Paul Yeah your right, had about 1min to myself on the summit before others arrived from both directions. Its the 1st time I've had a view from there, absolutely loved it!

Thanks HighlandSC Glad you liked the report Its a Nikon D40 & a couple of Hoya Circular Polarizing filters I use, Its really a starter DSLR camera for photography, excellent value for the money. The polarizers do the trick increasing contrast & colour saturation.

[kevsbald]

Amazing clarity and the sky is so blue! A day to live long in the memory, I'm sure.

[James_McG]

Amazing clarity and the sky is so blue! A day to live long in the memory, I'm sure.

Cheers Kev, Yeah it was a great day mate, weather up ontop was spot on!