Stob Binnein and Ben More, Crianlarich - 4th March 2012

Pronunciation/Translation: Stob Binnein - stop binyan (hill of the anvil), Ben More - byn moar (big hill).

(Entry by Shona)

These are a couple of mountains that we considered doing last year but due to a bit of confusion over the parking at Ben More farm, we did Ben Chabair instead. However, today is the day that we decided to get these 2 monsters done, and monsters they were!

After a long, winding drive along a single track road from Balquidder to the farm at Rob Roy’s house, we get our kit on in beautiful sunny weather. A quick look at the map and we decide to go straight up the shoulder of Stob Coire an Lochan instead of walking east along the road and up the valley. It doesn’t look it from the car park but this way is steep and boggy with a lot of little rivers due to melt water higher up.

We make our way at a steady pace up the path and Eric decides to cheat and uses Alfie to pull him up on the lead. I trudge on, trying to keep pace with Eric and the dogs but struggle to catch a proper breath. Eric and I then have a 5 min discussion on how the change in weather affects breathing.

Eventually we cross the sheep fence and head up onto the shoulder of Stob Coire an Lochan where we take some pictures of the surrounding mountains. From here, we can look south east and see the summits of Ben Vorlich and Stuc O’Chroin. To the south we have the other Ben Vorlich at Loch Lomond side.

We can also see right up the valley to the west, which is beautifully lit by the midday sun.
After getting another layer on, buff pulled up and gloves on, we head up and are soon ploughing our way through snow covered boggy ground. We head along the shoulder and up towards the summit. The weather is getting worse and the clouds are rolling in. Soon we are being battered by freezing rain and then snow. Visibility has dropped and we eventually pass a couple of hikers that started out in front of us (who didn’t look like they were well equipped).

I foolishly think that this is the summit of Stob Binnien. How wrong was I?
After heading along the wide ridge, we are faced with what feels like a never ending steep ascent. Being weather beaten isnt helping and we cannot see the summit from here…which is maybe a good thing! We just keep heading up at a steady pace. Eventually we reach the summit, quick tap of the small cairn and we walk off the north side, heading towards Ben More.

We descend steeply here and after 5 mins, I start to think that we are heading too low. The map shows the descent between the 2 mountains is approx 350m, but we can’t see any surrounding mountains due to cloud cover, so we check the map again and plough onwards, passing a group of 4 tired looking hikers heading up to the summit of Stob Binnein.

We reach the bealach and see some people descend off here to the west, which seems like it could be a good way down after we get Ben More bagged. So we start our long slow hike up the side of Ben More. It is pretty steep and covered in about 6 inches of snow, so going is steady as we kick steps and make sure our footing is good.

This mountain is full of one of the most frustrating things for me, false summits. Im drained and at one point I actually don’t think I can carry on. But a wee nudge from Eric and the dogs sees me finally reach the summit cairn. The last push made my legs burn, but it is a good feeling. I havent been physically and mentally challenged like that for a long time. It feels good to be pushed to the limit.

We hang around for 15 mins and take some pictures before starting our descent. We have to take our time dropping off the summit of Ben More as it is very steep and the snow is soft. Can’t afford to slip now! As we get further down, the cloud parts just enough to show us the side of Stob Binnien. WOW. Super steep and seems to rise up into the clouds for an eternity. I don’t fancy doing that again to head back the way we came.

We check the map and decide that it is a good idea to head west off the bealach and curve round the side of the mountain. We suddenly hear the sound of helicopter blades cut through the clouds and eventually see the bright yellow RAF rescue chopper hovering near the summit of Stob Garbh across the valley. Something must have happened and we watch as it circles the area for a while before heading out of the valley.

We continue heading down through the soft wet ground, working our way round and down towards the small pass of Creagan Liatha in the valley. From here it is a slow descent through boggy ground, separated with small rivers, which eventually lead to bigger rivers. We have fun rock hopping and getting our feet a little wetter than they already are. Progress is good and the temperature has risen so the ice and snow on my hat starts to melt.

I keep hoping that my water bladder has defrosted but no such luck! I need to do what Eric does and bring a back up bottle of juice, which won’t freeze as fast! We soon hear the helicopter heading back into the valley and it flies right over the top of us and then circles in to land on a flat area near two hikers a little further down. We trudge on and soon pass the helicopter. The dogs’ arent phased and Eric decides to take a picture of me and the dogs with the chopper in the background.

As we drop a little lower, we see two 4x4s which must be the mountain rescue teams. They shout over to ask if we are okay, to which we give the thumbs up. They drive down the track and we hear the chopper leave the valley and we are left all alone as the sun drops behind the mountains.

We continue down the dirt track and it feels good to have solid (dry) ground under of feet, even though Bracken looks slightly sore as she wanders lowly down with us. We reach a gate and the sign points us into a muddy field, so we navigate across it, and get our boots dirty again before joining the road that will lead us back to the car.

We enjoy the evening sun as it sinks into the valley behind us and take our time walking back to the car. It’s warmer down here and the air is still. Back at the car, we take our soggy, mud splashed gaiters off and settle in for some well earned food and drink before heading back down the single track road to Balquidder.

Ben Ledi, Kilmahog - 26th February 2012

(Entry by Shona)

Today we decided to give Munro Bagging a miss and do a slightly smaller hill.
At 879 metres, Ben Ledi only misses out on munro height by a little, so it was still a fair walk. After parking up, we set off through the woods at a steep incline and come out at the logging road where we cross over and set off up a well made path.

The going is still pretty steep here and it’s slightly warmer than we first thought, so we have a quick stop to take some layers off. As we descend higher, we end up in cloud cover and the wind picks up as the path circles round the eastern side of the mountain. We reach the slightly boggy shoulder and continue on towards what we think is the first false summit. We soon discover that it wasn’t the first false summit as the next part of the route gets steeper.

We finally reach the first false summit and power on over the next before winding our way through deep snow and rocky outcrops, past the large metal cross, to reach the top in cloud cover. Patches of snow are still scattered around. Big change from when we passed Ben Ledi last weekend on our way to Ben Lawers as it was in complete snow cover!

A few rain soaked snaps on the summit and we decide to head back down at a fast pace.
We soon reach the boggy part and dodge our way through vast areas of bog. Its fun jumping over large wet areas, where we know our boots could be sucked in at any moment. At one part, Eric takes a massive leap off a high part and right over a really wide bog. I decide it isnt worth risking my knees now that they are much better. Plus, I over thought it and by then, the moment had past.

We keep winding our way down the path and before we know it, we are back below the clouds. From here, we slow pace just a little and chat as we walk down, enjoying the views and the river as it flows through the pine trees. We cross the logging road again and head down through the forest, where we see a couple of lads on a quad bike trying to negotiate round a rather large fallen tree.

Soon we are back at the car and taking our slightly soggy gear off. Good, brisk hike but even the dogs’ arent overly tired this time!

Ben Lawers via Beinn Ghlas - 19th Feb 2012

Pronunciation/Translation: ben law-ers (hill of the loud stream), byn glas (green grey hill).


It was well over a year since we'd last been up on Ben Lawers. On that occasion we had fallen victim to a slight navigation malfunction while experimenting with an unorthodox descent in cloud cover. Let's just say... it was our longest ever walk-out. Today there would be no wrong turns, the snow covered range was topped with beautiful bluey grey skies.

The old Ben Lawers visitor centre has been removed and the car parking area is now on the other side of the winding road. We realised this a little too late, so ended up parking just beyond the start point. We quickly got our kit sorted as the dogs frolicked in the snow covered heather, then set off across to the gate that would take us into the Lawers reserve. As we reached the gate, another couple of hikers were approaching from the proper car park. We all had a laugh at Alfie and Bracken desperately trying to beat each other through the deer gate. They were looking rather cute in their doggy waterproof coats.

Following the path up towards the valley, we crossed over the stream as the trail veered to the east slightly and starts to gain altitude on it's way up to Beinn Ghlas. We could no longer see the couple from the gate, so assumed that they were maybe breaking northwest onto the slopes of Meall Corranaich. A path continues north alongside the Edramucky burn, but it's better to stay on the higher track which moves east then northeast up onto the lip of Coire a' Chonnaidh.

The views get much better as you move up along the ridge to the steeper ground before the summit of Beinn Ghlas (1103m). It's only as you near the summit that you are rewarded with clear views of the next target, Ben Lawers. It was touch and go here as to whether we should switch to crampons or wait. We decided that the snow was still a little soft so waited until we were at the bealach between Creag nan Gabhar and Creag Loisgte before strapping on the prongs. It was a good thing too as much of the path up to Lawers summit was now frozen hard snow and ice.

With the skies being nice and clear, there were quite a lot of winter hikers on the Lawers range making the most of the crisp conditions. On Lawers summit (1214m) the trig point and cairn stood frosted and two other climbers were soon to join us coming up from the direction of Creag an Fhithich and An Stuc. Shona and I took a few snaps with our cameras but chose not to hang around for long as temperatures were way too fresh for standing on summits.

Descent was basically back the way we had come. Many people decide to drop off to 900m and walk down from the head of Edramucky burn, but we thought it would be good to climb back up over Beinn Ghlas again, does that count as two ascents in one day? From Beinn Ghlas we strolled down, taking in the amazing views out over the Tarmachan Ridge and Loch Tay. Crampons removed after the steep sections, we enjoyed the sensation of warming up again in the late afternoon sunshine and had fully thawed out by the time we got back to the car.