This is a report of my 1st Munro.


Where - Ben Vorlich (Loch Lomond)
When - Saturday 13th March 2010
Who - Me, Rona and Daisy the Dog.
Weather - Dry for the most part with a stiff breeze and broken cloud. However VERY cold, damp, cloudy and windy on the summit.
Time - About 7 hours.


We left Glasgow about 0800 and after a quick stop at Sainsburys on Gt Western Road for supplies (and a Mothers day card) it was back on the A82 up to Inverulgas.

Parked up about 0900, got our boots on and headed off. There were a couple of guys ahead of us, and we half thought about keeping in touch with them in the hope they would show us the best route. However Daisy put pay to that by going to look at some sheep.

We got her back and on the lead, and by then it seemed like the two in front of us were off West to Ben Vane.

We continued up the tar road as suggested on the map until we got within sight of the dam. It is here the route just veers off into the hillside with not a hint of a path in sight.



We felt we could see beaten tracks where people had been before us, but to be honest I think we were kidding ourselves on and just had to scramble up the open hillside. There was no one else about at all, however eventually we made it up to where we could see a gap in the crags and there was a semblance of a path that seemed to form.


We continued up here until the path dived into a small valley that had obviously been shaded and still had a lot of snow lying. Rona was a bit cautious about continuing here however I'd had two failed attempts at mountains the previous two weeks and wasn't to be denied here.

Just before we headed into the snowy abyss I managed this snap of the valley with Loch Lomond in the distance.



We met an N. Irishman on his way down who advised us there was no view at the summit but that we would definately make it without too many problems. So upwards we headed.

There was a further bit of scrambling that was awkward given the ice, but we made it ok, before it leveled out slightly to a trudge up a slope through deep soft snow.

We then ran into the 3 other ascenders who we climbed the rest of the mountain with. We managed to largely follow footprints the rest of the way as visibility was very poor by now and the wind was picking up.

It was a tough slog but barring a few steep bits there was nothing more than hard work, and eventually we made it to the summit.

Here are the three mountaineers we met.



They kindly took our pic... forgot my gloves (a harsh lesson, well learnt!)


On a better day I would have liked to have stayed at the top for a while and posed for more pics, but this was not a day for that. My camera was also getting a lot of moisture on it with the driving wind carrying rain / clouds through the air.

We headed back having bagged our 1st Munro. The descent was pretty tough. Decided on sliding down a few of the steeper snowy bits. Stopped for a bite to eat on the way down, and there was no sign of the horrendous conditions we'd experienced a while earlier on the summit.



The descent was a slow one as the open hillside we'd scrambled up was very sore on my feet going down but thankfully we made it back to the tar road for a leisurely stroll back to the car park.

1/283 bagged!

Intro - Munro Bagging

Hi,

I am Grant. This is my Munro blog.

I will use this blog to record all Munros I climb, or bag. As well as any other trips, that perhaps failed, or didn't involve a Munro.

Munro bagging is a popular past-time in Scotland which involves climbing each of the 283 peaks over 3000 feet or 914.4 metres.

I first thought about climbing Munros in February this year. I was on a short skiiing break at Aviemore one Friday. I became fascinated by the number of people out on the hills in the middle of nowhere on a workday and really enjoyed the aspect of escapism - getting away from work and the city. Although I enjoyed skiiing, I quickly realised this is a very expensive hobby and clearly very seasonal in Scotland.

As the spring came round I started doing regular walks each Sunday with Rona, and as the weather improved managed to start getting to Munro peaks - despite it being VERY winrty on the summits and having a few failed attempts.

To date I have currently hauled my 15 stone ass up 12 Munros.

My current list (in order) is as follows;

12th March - Ben Vorlich (Loch Lomond)
13th March - Ben Chonzie
27th March - Ben Narnain (guess date)

10th April - Ben Vane
11th April - An Castail & Beinn a Chroin
25th April - Ben Lomond

3rd May - Ben Ime
9th May - Ben Vorlich (Loch Earn)

15th June - Ben More

5th Sept - Beinn Ghlas & Ben Lawers

Some problems I will encounter on my quest for 283...

Me - I have modest levels of fitness, which is generally ok for a 5 or 6 hour hike up one, or even two peaks on a route, but as I harvest the 'easy' Munros - harder routes will require 15 or 20km+ walks which would require legs of steel!

Geography - So Scotland is not a big country, and as I go on I accept that a 2 hour drive to the start of a route will become a 3, 4 or 5 hour drive. Obviously that will provide restraints, timewise and financial what with the fckin cost of petrol!

However, there are also plenty peaks that require scrambling or climbing to access these. I am not experienced at this, and will obviously have to add this string to my bow as and when I come to less accessible peaks.

Navigation - I have had no formal navigational tutoring. Most of the Munro's I have climbed thus far have had a well defined path or beaten track to follow. However less popular ones will not have this. I can just about read a map, but would hit major problems when visibility is poor. Already I have climbed a few Munros with maybe 10 or 20 metre visibility at the top, due to being in the actual clouds. If there was no clear route, and no visibility I would be pretty much jiggered... and could die.

Solution to this is hopefully to get a GPS device which would allow me to see precisely where I am and check progress. My mate Jonathan, has an iphone which he has managed to get a GPS system loaded onto - this has proved a handy luxury on certain routes thus far. Hopefully a fit for purpose Garmin type device plus software would be within £100 or so.

My Feet - As a hefty chap I have managed to give myself some very painful toes upon descending Munros - and even bleeding stumps for toes upon a well paced descent from Ben Lomond. I guess this is just something I will have to manage, and perhaps investigate more suitable footwear that may appease this problem slightly.

Weather - During the winter months there is a LOT of snow on almost all high ground. This makes peaks difficult to access, slippy and dangerous. There is also the chance of avalanches, which are tricky to forecast as well as heavy wind and rain (in all seasons) that can make walking near impossible.

There is often poor visibility - which makes peaks less rewarding as views can be down to just a few metres, but still accessible.

Anyways - that's enough for now. Will try and start putting up some reports of the peaks I have already climbed, as well as new reports as and when I get to any more Munros!