Over The Hill

On my previous visits to Ben Venue I had always approached from the south, starting at Ledard on the banks of Loch Ard. However, today it was all change, and we were making our approach from the east, from Loch Achray; a route, that in the past had a reputation for being very boggy and unpleasant, not the most tempting of options.

Immediately on leaving the forestry car park and entering the woodland, it was obvious that this was yet another path that has undergone a makeover, it was narrow, but a solid base, and as we soon found out, with a fine boardwalk over an area of wet grasslands, so far so good. And, the surroundings were just beautiful, from huge clumps of heather, whose scent was filling the air, to wonderful views ahead to our objective, Ben Venue, standing majestic above the greenery and through a light covering of drifting clouds. Once across the bridge over Achray Water, with it's tumbling waters, the path rises gradually through the pine and firs, at times on narrow paths, and at times on sections of wider forestry track before eventually emerging onto the clear northern side of Gleann Riabhach, an area shown on OS maps as being forested, but is now cleared, and makes for very pleasant walking with a steady gradient.

Eventually, the old forest boundary is crossed and as the path swings to a northerly heading, the open hillside lies ahead, and with it, a change of pace as the gradient increases on the climb up to the 580m bealach, unmistakable with its huge cairn marking the convergence of the paths from Ledard to the south, and Loch Achray from the east. Beyond the 580m bealach, Ben Venue is quite a complex little hill, with a series of rocky outcrops, some shallow dips and rough rocky climbs; and to cap it all, it has two summits, with, oddly the lower of the two holding the prominence and the Trig Point, whilst the higher, and less visited, gives the greater views over Loch Katrine, views missed by those who only summit to the Trig Point.

WARNING! If you are a stickler for Covid protocols, then you may wish to skip this section!

As a group of six, we were all fine - However, we were soon to become a group of ten! But, in "extenuating" circumstances. On reaching the bealach, the low cloud drifted across the mountains, not too thick, but enough to restrict visibility somewhat. We had noticed a young couple tagging along just behind us as we approached the bealach, and as we regrouped they stopped just behind us, and, in conversation, admitted to being uncertain as to the way ahead and did we mind if they followed along, and so we six became eight. Off we go, and almost immediately bump into another young couple, stopped and looking ahead into the gloom; yep, you guessed it, can we join you was their plea, and so eight became 10. And that's how we stayed until we completed the climb to the 727m Trig Point and lower top. Fortunately, the cloud cleared once on the summit, and, by the time the "youngster" were leaving, having declined to continue with us onto the 729m true summit, they were able to make their own way back down to the bealach. Good deed for the day done, and we were now Covid secure once again.

Leaving the 727m Trig Point, we made the short detour across the rough hilltop to the 729m high, true summit of Ben Venue, and as previously mentioned, had those wonderful views over Loch Katrine, albeit, a little hazy today due to the low cloud. A short, twisting descent soon had us back on the main track and onwards down to the 580m bealach, where, we rejoined the fine path for a pleasant walk back to Loch Achray.

A brilliant day in the best of company. Thanks Everyone.