What a scorcher on Scotland's most southerly Munro! Great weather, good company (apart from hordes of the great unwashed!) and another step on the way to good hill fitness.
Today's weather forecast was for temperatures of 15 degrees, wall to wall sunshine and no wind to speak of, so my daughter Rachel and I made an early start, loaded up on the sun cream, ditched the waterproofs and headed for Rowardennan to tackle Ben Lomond (translated - Beacon Hill). Having climbed nearby Ben Ime (Butter Hill) and been nearly blown inside out only two weeks previously, we looked forward to improved weather conditions and felt reasonably fit and in good condition ourselves.
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| Heading up The Ptarmigan in fine sunny weather |
However, we were taken somewhat by surprise at the weather on the day. It felt a lot warmer than forecast - so hot, in fact, that even after liberal doses of sun cream I managed to burn my napper! Being in possession of slightly more hair than I, however, Rach had a tad more sun protection and escaped the rays almost unscathed. Note to self: apply sun cream before leaving house next time! Maybe even take a sun hat! Maybe even grow my hair long (impossible!)!
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| On my way from misery to happiness today - uhuh! |
The other thing that caught us unawares was the sheer volume of traffic on this mountain, and with it being Good Friday it seemed that we weren't the only ones with designs on climbing the Beacon Hill. On our ascent of Ptarmigan Ridge we only met seven others going up (a fair few more descending via Ptarmigan - crazy!!!), but perhaps as a result of it's proximity to the Central Belt, we jostled for a lunch spot at the summit and passed at least a hundred hot and bothered walkers on our way down the tourist route.
Ptarmigan ridge provides the best route of ascent up Ben Lomond. It runs, south to north, roughly parallel with the large whale-backed hump of Sron Aonaich ("Tourist Route"), before turning on a fine curving ridge to attain the summit via the north-western shoulder. Today, we met many a soul descending by this route, and probably wishing they'd done the circuit in reverse. Still, I suppose the first time I climbed this hill I blindly followed the Tourist Route, trudging expectantly up the four-lane highway to the top.
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| Go east! |
The summit provided a great spot to tuck into our rolls and a stunning northward panorama over which to pick out a veritable multitude of Munros. Most of the hills visible had almost completely shed their wintry garb, apart from Ben Nevis, which still seemed to have a fair covering of the white stuff. By the time we'd filled our stomachs, quite a crowd had gathered at this serene spot to do likewise - once the obligatory photos had been taken at the trig point, of course!
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| Selfie at the top |
The best thing that can be said about the descent route is that it's gentle on the knees. However, we couldn't help but wish we had our mountain bikes to hand, which would've eaten up the seven kilometres in no time and provided a refreshing breeze to boot. No such luck, however, and we plodded slowly downwards, dodging the crowds heading uphill and arrived back at the car five and half hours after we'd started, thankful for fresh clothes, Lucozade Sport and Toby Mac booming out the stereo on the journey home.
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| Burnt barnet! |
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| Arty Selfie |
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