This was my first experience with walkhighlands, and what a great experience it was!! Although I've done some trail running in the foothills and low ground around the Trossachs, I'm very new to hill walking, not having been since taken by my Dad some 25 years ago.

With a promising morning weather-wise I left Edinburgh early and got to the Ben Venue car park (the at the western point of Lach Achray, off the A821) for around 8am. I followed the directions in the walk description pretty meticulously and found them to be very accurate and reassuring with all mentioned way posts and markers present. The saplings described in the felled area are growing well, and the quality of the footpaths was accurate. As a beginner, I found the boggy areas surprisingly boggy, requiring some fancy footwork to keep my boots dry. The rocky scrambles were slightly more technical than I had anticipated but I enjoyed them thoroughly - quite slippy on the way down.

The views were stunning and the weather fair but with a developing southerly wind that was chilly at the summit. I'm not one for photos and took just two with my phone.