Ben Vane- Three men and a mountain.

Three men and a mountain. (Thanks Ally)

Today I was nervous as I drove round Loch Lomond, I had kept an eye on the weather as Ben Vane I believed was not one to do in poor weather conditions. The forecast was good until about 4pm and so I bit the bullet and went for it. I parked up at Inveruglass visitors centre and after a wee visit from a very curious Robin I set off on my way, there’s a longish tarmac walk in, that lulls you into a false sense of security. The clear day allowed for plenty of time to take in the magnificent mountains that surrounded me, Ben Vane stood doggedly in front of me calling me on. It looked magnificent, steep and intimidating. I missed the path that went off to the right from the track, but I soon realised and retraced my steps and found the path which started leading me up towards the Munro. There were good stone steps to follow, but patches of the route were boggy and a bit slick; ones to remember on the way down! It was slow going, it was steep, it looked down on me and sneered! As I snaked my way up the Munro, I could see small figures above me and seemingly walking on extremely vertical precarious paths. I was not sure that I had my mountain goat feet on today, but it looked like I might need them. On and up, on and up…..

I had read quite a bit about this hill, and expected scrambling, I had underestimated it, I was getting tired and the false summits nearly had me scunnered, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other. A few walkers had overtaken me on their way up, but as I got higher the three men behind me kept me moving forward, as I really didn’t want overtaking as I got nearer the top……I had the thought I may need their help! As the scramble paths snake over rocks it can be hard to follow, I think I chose the hardest climb for the last bit. Luckily the three chaps behind me had taken the same route. I came to a huge block of slippery stone that I needed to climb up and I literally hit a wall. I just couldn’t do it, I contemplated turning around and leaving it there, less than 500 metres to go!! The three men came into view and I just shouted to them that I needed some moral support. Ally a seasoned Munro bagger came alongside me and offered supportive advice and assistance, but I just didn’t have the upper body strength to pull myself up. Then as we were perched on this steep, grizzly open face, he put out a knee and told me to stand on it and pull myself up……I was scared, well actually I was terrified, but here I was being rescued and I needed to dig deep and just get on with it. It was absolutely mind over matter and in a very inelegant fashion I pushed myself off this strangers leg and dragged myself onto the flat, smooth slab. We still weren’t there, but  I was not giving in now, although the fear of having to descend through these rocks was really playing havoc with my head. I decided my best chance of making it in one piece was to stick with these guys. There was one more hard going, slippery steep scramble, and then I basically crawled up to the summit on my knees. I had made it, thanks to the kindness of strangers, we all shook hands as we touched the Cairns that are on either side of the flat summit. But my concern was how the hell I was going to get down, I was assured but my new companions that we would stick together and get there safely.

After a brief and well deserved lunch break, we started our descent, these guys didn’t treat me as anything other than another walker heading down the mountain. Ally followed behind, keeping a watchful eye on our slippery walk. We found a much easier path down; well I say much easier it wasn’t really, but just not as scary as the one up. Often it was an on my bottom slide, but before we knew it we arrived back at the easier but still precariously steep path. Good company, good chat and wine gums provided by Wullie eased the walk down this grizzly Munro.

It felt so good to arrive back at the car park, it had taken me 3hours 45 minutes to reach the summit and just under 3 to get back down, walk Highland described this as a wee terrier, in my opinion it’s a bloody Rottweiler, that snapped and snarled at my feet and head all the way up and down.  But I had done it! I now needed a swim, Loch Lomond was calling and I had brought my swimming stuff. Twenty minutes later I pulled into a lay-by along the Loch and waded my aching body and feet into the welcoming waters. It was a perfect end, to a gruelling day.

Today I set off by myself up a Munro and I managed to accomplish that with the help of people I didn’t know, but I think I came off that mountain with a lot more than sore feet. I came off with a wonderful sense of community, we had a shared experience and I’ll carry that with me into all my future walks, and I will always be thankful for Archie, Willie and Ally who came to my aid! I shall be following their adventures on Instagram and maybe I’ll bump into them again on the slopes of some Scottish slopes.