My second trip to Scotland this year. The primary purpose of the trip was to go sea kayaking in the Outer Hebrides but I managed to fit in a day of walking in the hills when we were back on the mainland.



We chose Ben Cruachan as we could easily reach the start of the walk by public transport from Oban. It turned out to be a great choice, an interesting walk with wonderful views and even a little bit of scrambling.

We followed the usual route around the western side of the loch then cutting up the boggy slopes to the bealach and over the stones up to the summit. The day was fairly windy and the clouds repeatedly covered and uncovered the summit but we were lucky enough to arrive at a point where we could appreciate the views over Loch Etive and beyond.

The second Munro of the day, Stob Diamh, was reached by crossing a ridge heading eastward from Ben Cruachan. A great walk with fantastic views all around and an easy path to follow. By the time we reached Stob Diamh the wind had picked up so we put our hoods up and trudged into it. We failed to find the path down to the loch so made our way down the grassy slopes as best we could.

Once we arrived at the dam it should have been an easy stroll back down to the train station. Unfortunately the ground was very boggy just below the dam and I had become overly confident. I stepped on a patch that looked reasonably solid and proceeded to sink up to mid-thigh. It took by friend and another hiker who luckily happened to be passing, to pull me out. Lesson learnt – test with a stick/one foot first before plunging in!