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After yesterday's outing there was a risk of trench foot if I took out the same boots so my back up pair made a rare appearance.
I fancied a single Munro outing today and not too long a walk in, Ben Vane seemed like a perfect choice. The forecast was good so hopefully a better day in store.
With the alarm going off at 5am I was parked up at Inveruglas and walking before 8am. I wanted to get there early as I wasn't sure how many parking spaces there would be and no doubt on a sunny Saturday morning they would be in demand.
- A'Chrois from Inveruglas Car Park
- Ben Lomond
There is a good path along the side of the main road for most of the kilometre south before leaving the noise of the road behind and heading up the road to Loch Sly and under the railway line. The tarmac road gains height fairly quickly but it's a good leg stretcher to start the walk with. At a power station I carried straight on and shortly afterwards came to a section of road with a number of cows straddling it with their young calves so a small detour was required. At this point I joined a chap who was heading for Ben Vorlich so we walked together till my turning point half a mile short of Loch Sloy.
About thirty yards after crossing a small bridge my track climbing the lower slopes of Ben Vane was in front of me and the real climb was about to start.
- Looking down on Loch Sloy dam
The lower slopes are pretty wet and a bit of bog hopping is required but it doesn't take long to get past and on to firmer ground.
- Looking down on the bog
- Loch Lomond, Arklet & Katrine
- Looking over to A'Chrois
- Loch Sloy dam
- Loch Sloy dam zoomed
There is now a good stony path to follow, quite steep in places but with the views opening out to the south and east, really enjoyable.
It took a while but eventually the views to the north opened out in front of me but there was still a bit of cloud cover around so a little bit limited.
Ben Vane has a couple of false summits but with the views opening up and a breeze on my face it felt like I was getting closer to the top.
On the last climb just short of the summit the path took me round to the left and there was a difficult rock to negotiate with little in the way of footholds but once up this it was a quick walk to the top. If doing this hill again I would probably pick a more central route up this last bit to the top.
- Two cairns on Ben Vane summit
The views from the top were brilliant, having been on Ben Lomond twice in clag it was great to finally get views down Loch Lomond to the islands to the south. To this point I had only seen the guy close to Loch Sloy and one other person who was at the top at the same time as me, that would change on the way down.
With most Munros I don't hang around for long on the summit but today was different so time for a sandwich and a drink while I had a good look around. I don't know this area at all so I was looking to see some of the hills I would be coming back to do.
Reluctantly, it was time to head back down and I would be taking it easy as it wasn't a hill to rush (apart from the views there are plently of places where it would be easy to trip or slip).
On the descent I'm not sure how many people I chatted to but everyone was incredibly friendly and very chatty (maybe they were looking for an excuse for a break as they plodded uphill), this included one guy who asked me if I thought the bog would have dried out by the time he got back down
With all the chatting it actually took me longer to get down off the hill than it did to climb it but the weather and the views were great so I didn't mind.
- Too warm to bother with blocking the road now
- Looking back to Ben Vane
By now the cloud had cleared off Ben Vorlich and several people seemed to be heading in that direction.
Heading back down the tarmac road it was a really easy finish back to the main road and the car park.
Having done a couple of Munros the day before I was just looking for a short walk today and this hill was basically picked at random as it seemed to fit the bill so it was a real surprise that I enjoyed it as much as I did.
At 915m it only just makes it as a Munro but it packs a punch and is tougher than a lot of higher hills and the views really are worth the effort. Having never really walked in this part of the country (apart from Ben Lomond) I'm now looking to get back again as soon as possible and if the weather is decent next weekend it might be time to head for Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnain.