Walk 87 – Ben Lomond – 7.6 miles

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Ben Lomond (974 m / 3196 ft) is one of the most popular mountains in Scotland thanks to it's proximity to Glasgow and it's title of 'Scotland's most southerly Munro'. The route below is the most popular one, starting from Rowardennan which is the furthest point along Loch Lomond's eastern shore you can reach by car. From here it is just over 3 miles to the summit along a well-maintained footpath. On a clear day you will be rewarded with fine views of Loch Lomond and across the Scottish Highlands.

  Car parking available at Rowardennan Car Park (G63 0AR) – chargeable. No public transport to start point.

os-logo   Click HERE to purchase the OS Map for this area

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WALK REPORT: 10th September 2016 – Munro #1

This was a hike which had been planned months in advance and one which I was really looking forward to! I was invited along to climb Ben Lomond with my husband and some of his team from work. Some of the group were also former colleagues of mine who I hadn’t seen for a long time.  Add to that the fact that this would be my first Munro of 2016 and the very first since starting my blog, I was more than excited!

I climbed Ben Lomond several times as a young girl and then again a few years ago with my husband when we opted to follow the Ptarmigan Ridge route. Today we were taking the tourist route which I was fine with as I held no real memories of it from my previous adventures.

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My husband and I were fortunate to be staying in some lodges at Rowardennan for the weekend so we were literally at the foot of the mountain.  Having arrived the previous night to gale force winds and heavy rain, I was delighted and relieved to have woken up to clear blue skies and a view of the summit!  In true ‘Craig’ fashion, we still managed to arrive last (and late) at Rowardennan Car Park to meet the rest of the group. Packed lunches had been organised for us so we each took our pick, loaded them into our rucksacks and after passing round the Smidge we were ready to go! There were 9 of us in total (including Mutley the Border Terrier), 6 of whom made it to the summit.

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The motley crew at the start of the walk 🙂

Navigation was easy thanks good visibility and lots of other hikers heading in the same direction. The route ahead could easily be identified by looking for the trail of people zig zagging their way to the top! We were blessed with stunning views the entire day….

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Looking back towards Loch Lomond
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Loch Lomond: 39km long, 8km wide, 60 islands! This is the view which accompanies you most of the way to the top.
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“The Cobbler”

I was elated to once again be at the top of a Munro! It is my happy place, albeit I do prefer things to be a little less congested but nonetheless we did manage to score a hiker-free photo of the trig point! The water around it is testament to the heavy rainfall the previous night.

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View from the summit

I spent quite a bit of the day chatting with Geert, our leader for the day. He is a keen outdoors-man between cycling, running and hillwalking and has a lot of experience of both solo hikes and walking with organised groups. I learned that he had so far completed 99 of the Munros! One of my life goals is to bag all 282 of them, just like our family friend Denis has done. I still remember joining him on his final Munro, although unfortunately I was too young to enjoy the champagne at the top! It is a shame that I do not have a list of all the Munros I completed as a child, however I made the decision a few months ago that I would start from the beginning again as though Ben Lomond today was my first. At least then I can blog about them, ensuring the memories stay alive forever <3.  The fun, as they say, is not in reaching your destination but in the journey itself and this is most certainly a journey that I want to enjoy and remember. To be continued….. 🙂

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