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Sunday 11th October 2009 and Ben Vane at Loch Lomond was the single munro of choice today. Doing it by myself.
Parked up at the Inveruglas visitor centre and walked it down past the Sloy Power Station and under the railway. Followed the road (locked by a big gate, so no driving down it!) avoiding the numerous cow pats until the fork for Ben Vane. A majorly boggy section ensued but by the time you hit the distinctive path the route gets much better.
- The knobbly Ben Vane
- Rainbow near Sloy
It's pretty steep but no exposure - very enjoyable actually. You gain height quickly and there are many false summits. Then, near the top there is a bit of cracking scrambling (again no exposure here at all), and then you are on the large plateau summit. Looks good to combine this one with Ime and Narnain.
- Ben Vorlich and Loch Sloy
- Narnain, Ime and The Cobbler
I just stayed at the top for ages taking photos of the changing conditions. The autumnal colours over at Ben Lomond were superb.
- Plateau Summit with Ben Lomond
- Ben Lomond, Lock Artlet, Loch Catrine and Loch Lomond
Trace back the same path to descend.
- Sloy Dam with Ben Vorlich behind. Ben Lui in the distance I reckon.
- The path up Vane
- Ben Lomond
After hitting the boggy section at the bottom I spent a few minutes in the river getting my boots cleaned. The walk out back to the Inveruglas carpark took much longer than expected. I had a deadline to be home and got stopped for speeding through Dumbarton by an unmarked police motorbike. He let me off with a warning, nice man.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wqvD53f4RY[/youtube]