I set off reasonably early, driving through heavy rain which cleared significantly as I drove east and south. As I arrived at Inveruglas car park the weather was gorgeous, but looked like it was closing in.
I set off along the road, past the Hyrdo Electric pipes and then into the hills - along yet another access track....
I knew I was going to do Ben Vorlich, but hoped to do Ben Vane too, but equally I'd adopted a different attitude now to just "ticking off" the Munro's and decided that the main thing was to have an enjoyable walk.
The ascent up Ben Vorlich was steep and pathless. But never difficult. There were some potentially more exciting routes I could have taken, but I chose the safer ones, usually successfully.
It was fascinating to see some of the caves under the rocks which were breaking away from the mountain - many of which looked like they were part of the mountain itself until you saw the caves and chasms underneath them.
The weather was the best of what Scotland has to offer, a cyclical mix of sun, cloud, rain and gale. It would remain so for the rest of the day.
The views down over the damn and over to the sea were spectacular.
I decided that I really didn't want to Ben Vane, which would have been a real slog and involved a fairly dull descent from Ben Vorlich also. I decided I wanted to see if I could descend over the opposite side of the mountain and so cut off some of the track which I'd entered on.
This looked to be possible as I looked across a valley with a small lochan and a bealach which I could ascend back from if there was no way forward when I got there. This felt a bit more like an adventure and less like a project task!
The sheep seemed pretty freaked out by my presence - my guess was that not many people went this way!
This was good though, this was fun, this felt like walking fo the sake of walking, rather than ticking something off a list!
I came to the bealach and a valley opened up before me which was completely clear of paths, but there was an exit point which would come out near Loch Lomond. I checked on the map and it would be a mile or 2 north on the A82, but it looked like there was a path I could take to return to the car, or I could walk along the shore of the Loch. I continued with the descent.
The ground was uneven but not unpleasant. Some care was needed not to trip, which I did on several occasions. The most alarming being when I slipped down into a crevace while staring at a bog patch, I fell down a couple of feet, but head first toward the bog, and the outcrop of rock which hung over it. I wondered how long it would be before someone found me here.....
As I got closer to the point where the stream exited the valley I realised that there was going to be a waterfall of some description and there was still some elevation to lose. As I got very close to it, I realised just how much. I didn't check the map, but it must have been a couple of hundred metres. But the waterfall wasn't steep and I could see ways to descend - even though it did mean hopping over a barbed wire fence.
I crossed a small damn and proceed down the the side of the stream. The ground became increasingly uneven. There were the faintest signs of where people had walked previously, and these typically ran the route which I felt most inclined to take. But the going was very very slow and I slipped and stumbled repeatedly. The grass was wet, the wood was rotten, the rocks were slippy, the bushes were overgrown. Fun though!
I remebered other time when I descended along streams only to find this kind of terrain. If I couldget myself 50m to either side it would probably have been much easier, but I kept pressing on - sure that the end was near, but it repeatedly wasn't. Luckily there was no point where the stream turned to sharp waterfall and I eventually found a path, which led to a farmhouse which I could easily walk around.
There was a small tunnel under a railway track. And here I "rescued" a lamb which had got "stuck" in a very shallow patch of mud. Somehow....
I tried to find a path to the side of the A82, but couldn't. So I resolved to cross more barbed wire fence and walk alongside the A82. Not good.
I attempted on a couple of occasions to walk the other side of the barrier and even to walk along the Loch shore, but it wasn't possible to continue for long before I was blocked. And then return from the shore to the road turned out to be more treacherous than anything else encountered up to this point - trying to gain footing and height from piles of rotting wood, grabbing onto the road barrier with finger tips and lurching myself onto the road.
I was relieved when I passed signs for Inveruglas as I was worrying that I was actually to far down the road (though I knew that this couldn't have been possible). And even more relieved when I got back to the car.
And this time I hadn't lost my wallet or crampons, or anything else.....
Uneventful drive home. Beer. Bed.
Munro - Ben Vorlich
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