walkhighlands

Ben Lawers 7 - my first full day of climbing

Route: Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas

Munros: An Stùc, Beinn Ghlas, Ben Lawers, Meall a' Choire Lèith, Meall Corranaich, Meall Garbh (Ben Lawers), Meall Greigh

Date walked: 22/06/2021

Time taken: 14 hours

Distance: 34km

Ascent: 2450m

Well that was a day and a half!

I came into this walk having bagged 21 Munros, mostly as singles or pairs. My first attempt at 'roughing it' between, on my first ever climb, resulted in me hitting the wall at the summit of Beinn Chabhair and needing rescuing by a kind group with some spare banana bread. I've learned since then to keep emergency fruit pastilles, and not to try and push too hard.

That said, I'd been eyeing up the Ben Lawers 7 for some time. It was always going to be a long day but didn't seem to be outside the realms of achievability. The elevation changes between the peaks weren't particularly great, and starting at the base of Meall a' Choire Leith meant a climb of only 400m to the first summit.

My plan entailed working from west to east, then doubling back - re-summiting Meall Garbh, An Stuc and Ben Lawers, before peeling off towards Beinn Ghlas and down, with a final trek from the Ben Lawers car park back to the far end of the reservoir. At my usual Munro pace I reckoned this would be an 11 hour walk, covering approximately 20 miles.

Warm up music: Le Chant de Roma, from Akame ga Kill!, performed by Maïa Barouh.


Image

Best possible weather to go for it!


Image

Look down Lochan na Lairige, 7am.


Image

Eyeing up Meall's pathless ascent.


Image

Ben Lawers starting to come into view.


Image

Summit of Meall a' Choire Leith.


Image

Terrific view of six of the seven peaks to be climbed - Meall Greigh is in hiding.


Image

Summit of Meall Corranaich.


Image

Finally there! Summit of Ben Lawers looking down to Loch Tay. The tallest Munro I've climbed to date.


Image

The next three in the chain - Meall Greigh looks a mighty long way away!


Image

Peak of An Stuc.


Image

The north face of An Stuc - easily the most dangerous descent/ascent I've touched so far. Correcting if you lose the path on the ascent is a challenge!


Image

Summit of Meall Garbh.


Image

Now just the long 3km trek to Meall Greigh.


Image

Finally reaching the summit of Meall Greigh, it's a long way back.


Image

Six down, just the one peak to go - Beinn Ghlas is within reach.


Image

A very rocky and anti-climactic summit but at this point, just glad to make it there!


Image

One final look over Lochan na Lairige at 9pm.


I honestly don't know how I managed to stay on my feet for a full 14 hours. My face and arms are pretty scorched (in spite of applying sun cream), but my feet are surprisingly comfortable the following day and I'm just happy to have set myself the target and not chickened out halfway round. Might need a week of recovery though!

Cool down music: For Whom the Bell Tolls, from Donnie Darko, by Steve Baker and Carmen Daye.

Click to mark this as a great report. Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).


HammerUK9


Activity: Hill Bagger

Munros: 43
Corbetts: 2
Donalds: 1
Islands: 2



Filter reports


Statistics

2021

Trips: 1
Distance: 34 km
Ascent: 2450m
Munros: 7


Joined: Aug 24, 2020
Last visited: Dec 04, 2023
Total posts: 1 | Search posts