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!