Ben Lawers + 4

[SMRussell]

We started the day with the somewhat unrealistic goal of bagging all 7 Munros from Meall Greigh to Meall a'Choire Leith. However, fatigue and a turn in the weather meant we had to call it a day at Beinn Ghlas.

Parked up at the Ben Lawers Hotel with a view to our first Munro of the day, Meall Greigh. We had a great view of Loch Tay as we ascended Meall Greigh over my most hated terrain: steep boggy grassland.

Views on the first ascent

That grassy terrain

This terrain made our first Munro a bit of a slog. The cloud moved over Meall Garbh, An Stuc and Ben Lawers as we left Meall Greigh but thankfully the sun stayed with us for some time.

Meall Greigh - bagged

Mist in the hills

Our walk to Meall Garbh was a mix of bog and steep ascent but supplied some great views.

Meall Garbh - bagged

view to An Stuc

The BEST part of the day however was the scramble up An Stuc. This was great fun - although my walking partner wasn't as enthusiastic. It is a steep scramble and was quite wet - care is certainly required for this one.

A view from An Stuc

We descended An Stuc on a high and headed on towards Ben Lawers. Within 10 minutes the heavens opened and the waterproofs were on. The downpour did let up before we got to the summit and the views were great. This summit was very busy and we could see loads of walkers heading up the tourist route so we didn't stay long.

The waterproofs were off as we seemed to have the sunshine back - not for long! The winds picked up and we soon found ourselves being battered by hail - which was pretty painful as it was hitting us at about 45mph! By the time we got to Beinn Ghlas it was just rain and mist.

The fatigue had really hit by now so we headed down the tourist route and walked along the road back to the hotel - that walk along the road felt longer than the whole rest of the day! We really should have headed back down Ben Lawers and passed Lochan nan Cat back towards the start of the walk. Oh well - you live you learn.

We returned to the hotel for dinner before heading home. I should add that the staff were really nice and chatted enthusiastically about the local hills - always a boost!

[ChrisW]

A real shame the weather and fatigue combined to end the walk early but better that than an accident caused by the same two conditions. Some beautiful photos before the weather closed in though, good effort

[Johnny Corbett]

Good effort. If you had the luxury of a 2nd car at the cairn where you would finish after coming off Meall a' Choire Leith you could probably have done all seven in the time it would have taken you to walk back along the road.There's nothing worse than a road walk at the end off a long day on the hills

[SMRussell]

A real shame the weather and fatigue combined to end the walk early but better that than an accident caused by the same two conditions. Some beautiful photos before the weather closed in though, good effort

Bagged the Glas Maol Munros with Tolmount & Tom Buidhe only a few days before and I spent 2 hrs in netball training the night before heading up the ridge - should have given myself a bit more of a rest!

Thanks for the photo comments ! Some of them are mine and others are the work of my other half.

Good effort. If you had the luxury of a 2nd car at the cairn where you would finish after coming off Meall a' Choire Leith you could probably have done all seven in the time it would have taken you to walk back along the road.There's nothing worse than a road walk at the end off a long day on the hills

True! We've thought about involving two cars for other walks also. Unfortunately we've only the one (and I've still to pass a test!!). Can always getting some friends involved to solve that issue. Mind you the weather looked like it wouldn't have made the last two all that enjoyable