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Ben Venue

Ben Venue


Postby 2dalmatians » Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:08 pm

Route description: Ben Venue from Loch Achray

Fionas included on this walk: Ben Venue

Date walked: 29/08/2010

Time taken: 6 hours

Distance: 14 km

Ascent: 792m

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Another great day!

We set out at 11am from Loch Achray car park with fine weather and high hopes for the day. On the trip we had the "usual suspects" - Gaby, Molly and Ruby (dalmatian no 1) together with Molly's dad Hans (a bit of a "pro" but with modesty and and understatement) and her mum Terri (an all round great lady), and bringing up the rear (at least at the start) my 12 year old son Jamie. I have been trying for a while to get Jamie to join us (he has done a couple of walks this summer but really this isn't what a 12 year old wants to do on the weekends). I offered to let him choose the moutain this weekend if he joined us. He took the bait and opted for Ben Venue because you can see if from Kippen where we live. Another bonus was having Hans and Terri with us. They are great fun and it was a real pleasure spending the day with them.
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As always with us the start is a little subdued however we quickly made progress and quickly found overselves at the Achray Water Bridge
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Gaby full of energy


A little further up the path and Ruby decides a photocall is necessary with Jamie
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one boy and his dog


Then it was Molly's turn...
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And Hans...!
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Even though the going was getting tough there was time for a giggle :-)
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Working as a team we made good progress and it wasn't long before we had the top in our sights.
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We made the decision based on fellow walkers reports of strong winds and colder temperatures further up to stop in a sheltered spot to have lunch first. Ruby was delighted as she had been deprived on breakfast deliberately as she has a severe reaction to car travel which always results in a "hurl"!!
IMG00248-20100829-1336.jpg
woof woof Im starving!


As we got further up the scenery was stunnning. Ben lomond, the cobbler, Arran...simply breath taking.
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The scambling was really good fun and I'm sure we all learned some useful skills that will come in handy in future. Finally after much effort and determination we reached the cairn.
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However the true summit was calling us and the boys decided it simply had to be done!
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Jamie on the top!
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and Hans!
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and Ruby too!
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This has to be one of the finest panorma's in Scotland. At the top in one direction we were able to see Stirling Castle the Wallace monument, the campsies, Glasgow's skyscrapers and Edinburgh in the distance in the other direction we had Arrocher Alps, Ben Lomond, and Arran in the distance. Down below loch Katrine and Loch Arrachy. And best of all we could see home - the Kingdom of Kippen too!

To cap it all off on the way down Hans spotted the majestic sight of a stag deer on the side of the hilltops. Unfortunately the Blackberry just wasn't powerful enough to let me take a good picture.

All in we were around 6.5 hours form start to finish which included several rest stops and luch too. I think to date this has been my favourite walk and one I'm certain I will do again in the future.
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2dalmatians
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Re: Ben Venue

Postby ceebeeby » Mon Aug 30, 2010 1:00 pm

I love the pictures!

Looks like an amazing walk!

Was a beautiful clear day yesterday - glad you had stunning views.
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Re: Ben Venue

Postby 2dalmatians » Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:13 pm

I use a blackberry for pictures during our walks which is really convenient, but the quality isn't as good as a normal camera, but that's ok as a good camera would be wasted on me! What I really like though is the thought that in 10, 15, 20 years time I could have a hundred walk reports which will provide a personal diary of the kids growing up over the years - priceless :) and my mum and dad love it too - they live in Florida and don't see the kids often
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2dalmatians
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Re: Ben Venue

Postby Lottie » Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:24 pm

Fantastic! You look like you're all having such a great day. And well done Jamie (and you for using that wise tactic to get him up there!) I bet he loved it at the top, and hope he wants to do another now!
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Lottie
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