free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Temp-12 degrees
cloud cover- 3/4
cloud height- 3500 ft
dry under foot
wind- breeze at start point- gusting at top
Greetings folks,
Yesterday, I decided to go up a hill but swayed whether to do the cobbler or alternatively go up ben more and stob binnein. A brief moment of bravado flushed over me and i decided to take my mate up Ben More.....
This was his first munro...oh dear.
We arrived at the small wooden sign at 10:00. Had to double back as i missed it the first time.
Upon getting out the car and getting ready it is quite an awsome sight to see the continuous steep rise of this mountain.
I tried in vain to see if there was any points on the climb which leveled off or a place in which I could take a break....errr no.
Off we set then...I have to say that I didnt get into the climb as there is no way to warm up at all. From the get go it is up and at em. There is a winding path that goes a mile or so which isnt too bad a start. You then arrive to the gate which then means your on the main part of the climb.
Its at this point that I decided to immidiately cross over the small stream and start the climb up following the stream coming down from the mountaion.
The climb really is relentless and unless your fit or in need of a mental health assessment ( I NEED ONE) you should give it a miss i think.
At around 800mts you will notice the drystone dyke. Follow this and you will come onto a clearly defined path.This is the first path on the climb.Ths path leads you up to the summit. Please note that the wall is there giving protection from the high sloc curraidh corrie. stay to the left of the dyke.
There is a couple of false summits on the way up.
but eventually we reached the top.
The summit is marked by a large cairn and there is a trig point a short distance away.
At this point I decided that my initial decision to attemp to go onto Stob Binnein was a little too adventurous for me.
we also considered the safest way off the mountain. Going down the way we came up looked a bit too steep at points, so we decided to go down to the bealach. At the lowest point on the bealach (gref- nn 433236) we turned to the west and headed down a small stream to ben more glen below.This is a boggy section in places and the path isnt clear.On a point of caution we didnt get on the track at first attemt. Thir is a track before the one your meant to take. This false track takes you aroung rocky steep sections of the mountain.-beware.
Upon gettin into the glen, the walk becomes very pleasnt and after a mile or so you get onto the dirt road and return to the gate that the mountain climb really starts from.
I found this climb to be arduous. A very long slog for me who is built for comfort not for speed.
However, very chuffed that i done one of the harder munros, even although it took over 7 hours