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It doesn't get any better than this!
After a totally glorious Good Friday, the high pressure was holding for the Easter Weekend, so I arranged with Peter, who had never done Ben Cruachan before to head up there and do the complete horseshow walk, taking in both Ben Cruachan and the second munro Stob Diamh.
I picked Peter up from Glasgow and we headed up the A82 - BTW The road surface around pulpit rock is like the moon, unbelievable potholes!
We deviated for a few early morning snaps of Kilchurn Castle but were parked in the layby at Ben Cruachan for around 9:30am. We started the route going under the Railway station underpass but followed the slabs for too long (it SHOULD be an immediate left!!!) and ended up scrambling through the woods until we eventually reached the path up to the Cruachan Dam!
We decided to go clockwise and get Ben Cruachan under our belts first, so headed up the left side. It was a wise move, as the subtop just before Cruachan affords great views of not only Cruachan but the whole of the horseshoe ridge walk.
When we reached the summit we didn't fancy the traverse downhill over a snowfield to meet the ridge, and as I'd done the ridge before anyway I didn't need Stob Diamh. We retraced our steps but on reaching the beallach, dropped down the steep path to the reservoir and then followed the landrover track back to the dam before heading down the equally steep gully back to the railway station starting point.
Please enjoy the photos as I enjoyed taking them!
1 - First Glimpse of Ben Cruachan behind the dam
2 - Peter with the reservoir and Stob Diamh behind
3 - Ben Lui, Loch Awe and the distant Arrochar Alps
4 - Ben Cruachan from the subtop
5 - The Beallach, Ben Cruachan and the ridge
6 - Loch Etive with Ben Trillien to the left, Ben Starav to the right, and a snow covered Ben Nevis behind
7 - Cruachan summit with snowy ridge and Rannoch Moor behind
8 - Reservoir, Loch Awe and Arrochar Alps
9 - Slabs on the ridge
10 - Closeup of those slabs
11 - Ridge and Three munros - name them?
12 - Closeup of the ridge
14 - Cliffs
15 - Cruachan Dam
16 - Ben Cruachan from the dam wall
Me at the summit of Ben Cruachan:
Video of the climb:
Snow bunting:
Kilchurn Castle on the banks of Loch Awe:
