ron-t climbing
24 August 2016 ................ Ben More
I gave myself a bit of challenge - I set off to see if I could get up Ben More - it is a big mountain - 1174 metres - and you start from the roadside at 158 metres, so you are climbing over 1000 metres - straight up - it is mostly a huge cone, so it is a constant climb climb climb. A lot more of a climb than my previous trip up Carn Chòis.
I got there eventually there, and it does have some fantastic views - it wasn`t just the best visibility, but quite good all the same.
Starting off to the north east, and going round in a big circle - this is looking across to Ben Lawers above Loch Tay.
Round a bit to the right, and the long rather uninspiring view of Ben Chonzie. Carn Chòis is the shallow peak about a third of the way up from the right.
A bit more impressive are the two peaks of Ben Vorlich on the left and Stùc a` Chroin on the right. Somewhat surprisingly, just off to the side of Ben Vorlich you can see two peaks away in the distance - they are the Lomond Hills - quite surprising to see them, they are a long way away.
I wonder if it means that if you are up on the Lomond Hills you can see Ben More - that would be quite impressive !
Round a bit more and another mountain - I was a bit confused about which mountain this is - but then I realised that it is actually two mountains, one behind the other. So the nearer summit just left of centre is Ben Vane, and the further back one just on centre is Ben Ledi.
Looking right down to the south now - and Ben More`s closest neighbour - the very fine peak of Stob Binnein - they are joined or separated by a coll some 300 metres down, called Bealach-eader-dha Beinn.
Stob Binnein is just 9 metres lower than Ben More, but it is a very different shape, as it has a long high level ridge away down to the south - you can just see a bit of it in the picture.
Away across to the west now, and a cracking view over to the Ben Lui block just left of centre, and behind it the distinctive shape of Ben Cruachan, and a bit further over, the two munros Beinn a' Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich.
If you closely, you can just make out the mountains on Mull off to the left of the Ben Lui block.
Here is a closer view of the mountains of Mull - they aren`t that clear, but quite visible. This picture was taken a while after the previous picture, which is why the clouds are a bit different.
If you look around to the northwest there are just so many mountains that they just merge into one another, and identification of them would take forever - the Loch Etive hills, Glencoe, the Mamores - they just go on and on.
However one mountain stands out head and shoulders above everything else - it is of course Ben Nevis. So here is a rather hazy long focus view across to Ben Nevis.
I spent about half an hour up on the top, and I noticed that the visibility was very slowly getting better - there was quite a strong west wind at the top, so maybe another air mass was coming over.
The above picture of Ben Nevis was obtained just as I left, there was no sign of it earlier on.
Having climbed up the never ending northwest slope of Ben More, I didn`t fancy going back down the same way, so eventually I headed off southwards down to the coll Bealach-eader-dha Beinn.
It would have been nice to have then climbed up to Stob Binnein, but I knew that I was going to have enough trouble getting back down from the coll, without also including another 300 metres of ascent and descent. So I had to give it a miss.
However as I was heading down to the coll, I was watching the visibility just ever so slightly get better - and I realised that I could now just make out Jura.
Not quite so clear, but visible all the same, was Arran.
Quite impressive, when you can see from the same mountain - the Lomond Hills, Ben Nevis, Mull, Jura, and Arran !
When I was sitting there taking these pictures, a ewe and her lamb was watching me - and after a while they came around, stood right in front of me, and demanded to have their pictures taken.
Which of course I did. Then they walked away.
If she had left me a e.we address, I could have sent her a copy of the picture by ewemail.
As I thought it would be, it was quite a long way back down to the road, so a fair relief to get back down.
Later on, and driving down Glen Dochart, I got a glimpse of Stùc a` Chroin just catching the last of the evening sunshine before it dropped down below some intervening hills.
It is an impressive view of Stùc a` Chroin from there.
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