free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
So, again I will do my usual of additive comments only and I am still too lazy to work out how to easily add photos.
Weather forecast on mwis looked promising, left a cold, misty and wet Edinburgh and got to Inveruglas just before 10am. Toilets etc there are great and coffee at end was nice too - bit of a coach trap but great wee spot and plenty of parking spaces.
Set off at 10am bang on, crossed the road and then up the tarmac road to the right under the railway as per the book(s). Turn off is 0.8km from car park, not quite the full 1km stated in the Munros Book. walk in is a nice way to warm up although results in a shock to the system when you cut off for Ben Vorlich (which we did first). The cairn is on the RHS of the track and hard to miss even if only a few feet high. The path is fairly easy to follow and not nearly as eroded on Ben Vane. However, the ascent quickly makes up for the easy walk in and gets the quads and lungs going ! Weather was very clear by now so broke into a sweat quickly - mwis said 9-14 degrees but it was much warmer (19 when we got off the hill). Views up to dam excellent and we were starting to look for ascent options on the other side ...
Got to top at noon bang on, windy and cooler at the summit so couple of photos of the various mountains on the horizon. Not far from the top we had spotted a descent option to get down to the dam and, by chance, bumped into a fell runner who confirmed that was the race route for the Arrochar Alps run. Quick sandwich and hula hoops here. So, down we went and boy do you drop quickly. Dry conditions def helpful as did not slip at all. As we got to 100m or so above the dam we kicked right to avoid some vertiginous drops and nasty rock faces. It's a long way down from the top, pretty much a 650m drop ...
Lifted muttley over gate and headed to far side - bugs now appearing and I noted other reports of midge fests so very pleased to get these done in relatively bug free conditions.
We had spotted what looked like a decent ascent just past the pylon on the right of the dam - effing hard work getting ascent muscles back in gear after dropping 650m in c35mins ! After ascending about 400m on that side we headed over to the shoulder to our left and followed that up to a bit of a plateau which has some wee lochans (great for dog). Water in need to refill so went directly over to a burn and boy does cold mountain water tase good in the Scottish sunshine. Decided to head pretty much straight up as there was snow in several "gullies" but this one was fairly clear and had mix of rocks/boulders and grass so great for the whole "family".
Onto the ridge, path right there and headed over to right to summit - no issues with false summits if you join where we did ! 4hrs 10mins to second summit, decent effort (noting boy only 13). Bit more food on board and down we went. Getting down some sections on Ben Vane requires a bit of effort almost minor scrambling, bit of a contrast to Ben Vorlich. Boggy section for a km or so before getting back onto the tarmac. However, all very straightforward and back at car with 5hrs 51mins walking, 1632m ascent, 15.87km distance. Cracking day.
Looking back, glad we did it that way round, there were several possible routes up Ben Vane but not so many to get up Ben Vorlich when you look back. Bugs must be horrible here in July ........
