Over The Hill

The most southerly Munro, arguably the most popular after Ben Nevis, and right on our doorstep, Ben Lomond is great value for effort every time, especially if you can manage it on one of its quieter days, as, thankfully we did today.

An early off from Rowardennan and we were soon heading up the path through the thick bracken and shrubbery on the lower slopes of Tom Fithich; a summer visit to Ben Lomond is unusual for us, and so it was quite a shock to see just how high and thick the bracken was and how much it encroached on the rough, narrow path during the initial stages of our climb, the bracken and shrubbery finally giving way to the heather and grassy hillside as we ascended above the 350m height. The weather forecast was for a dry, hot day, but, at this point in the day, it was quite muggy with low grey cloud obscuring the summit, and giving hazy views back over Loch Lomond.

It is a steep ascent up Ptarmigan, but the nature of the ridge makes for an interesting and enjoyable climb as the narrow path twists and turn around the hillside towards the first of three minor tops at 731m, beyond which sits a small, but rather fine lochan surrounded by just enough grass and rock to allow plenty of points on which to park yourself for a well earned rest and to contemplate the final climb yet to come. Rest over, the path skirts to the east of the other two tops, at 751m and 778m, before crossing Bealach Buidhe to reach the base of the north west ridge of Ben Lomond, from where the final ascent begins.

A rough rocky path ascends the ridge in a series of twists and turns which take you from the north edge of the ridge, across the shoulder to the south edge and finally up through some broken crags emerging from which you step almost directly onto the summit alongside the Trig Point, marking the 974m high summit. Normally a busy summit, today it was surprisingly quiet with only a few other walkers milling around; and so, taking advantage of this, we spread ourselves along the grassy north ridge and settled down just to enjoy the time and place. The low, drifting cloud which was still the predominant weather feature restricted our views, but it was quite clearly hotting up, and patches of blue sky began to make an appearance. We relaxed on the summit for considerably longer that we would normally, until it was time to go, as the number of people now arriving from the direction of the "tourist" path was steadily increasing, and so it was time to go, and make our descent against the upcoming stream of new arrivals.

As we made our descent, the low cloud finally dispersed, and the sun shone through, and, it just got hotter and hotter by the minute; I was now quite grateful for the cloud cover on our ascent, as had it been this hot on the ascent, it would have been a much tougher task. Nevertheless, a slow, steady pace saw us cover the final stages back to the welcome shade of the forest car park at Rowardennan.

A great day once again on Ben Lomond - Thanks everyone for your marvelous company.