Climbing any mountain is an unforgettable rite of passage. Climbing one of Scotland’s 282 3000-foot giants could be the start of something massive. 1000-milers Neil & Elaine Hughes shared their first time, on Ben Lomond….
‘We catch our first glimpse of the summit. It’s that big imposing lump near the centre of the photo. To the left of it is Ptarmigan ridge where an alternate but more difficult path leads to the summit. First things first though... ‘
“Yesterday will go down in history as the day Elaine and I conquered our first Munro. For those of you who don’t know, a Munro is a Scottish mountain more than 3000ft in height. There’s 282 of them and the most southerly of them all, and therefore the most convenient for most of us to get to, is Ben Lomond. It’s also known as one of the easiest Munros to climb and 30,000 people do that every year. Where better to start then? We set off early and were on the hill by 08:10. Whilst we weren’t the first of the day, we most certainly weren’t the last.
‘Ben Lomond? We thought it would be a bit higher than that!’
‘The path is very easy to follow. It’s not always the case with paths up the Munros.’
It took us two and a quarter hours to get to the top. It might be the easiest Munro but it wasn’t exactly an easy amble up a grassy down. There were some steep sections and the occasional rocky scramble but the path is distinct and well maintained by the National Trust for Scotland. There’s still plenty of ankle twist potential though so it pays to tread carefully. The weather was glorious and for the most part we were sheltered from the wind by the hill itself. There was a stiff breeze on the summit though which I believe is hill walker code for blowing a hoolie.
‘And with a final push...’
‘We made it! We didn’t stay long though. It was really quite windy.’
On the way down we passed many others on their way up, some with kids, others with dogs. Three blokes were even carrying bicycles up to the top with the curious intention of cycling back down again. Taking out the stops for drinks, snacks, sandwiches, allowing others to pass and patting dogs it took us two hours to make it back to the car park. A day later our legs might be hurting a bit but it was a cracking walk on a beautiful day with stunning views. We should have done it sooner.”
‘Looking west across Loch Lomond and the Arrochar Alps’
