Ben Lomond with Lynne

Ben Lomond being situated on the shores of Loch Lomond and closest to Glasgow is one of the most popular Munros in Scotland. On a clear day like this you get some fantastic views!

This climb of Ben Lomond in 2014, Lynne (my other half) accompanied me on her first Munro.

Munros are mountains in Scotland with heights over 3000ft (914.4m) of which there are currently 282 designated ones. Ben Lomond is one of these at 3196ft (974m).

Ben Lomond is one of the closest and easiest Munros for us to reach from Glasgow and I try and climb it at least 2 – 3 times a year.

For me, not only is it a great source of fitness and calorie burning, but it clears my mind from the many daily work and life pressures.

I’ve climbed to the summit of Ben Lomond in all weathers. From the extremes of hot unbearably uncomfortable summer days, where you are plagued by the dreaded Scottish midge. To the depths of winter where it’s time for wearing crampons and navigating through thick mist and fog in blizzard conditions with an ice axe for safely.

However, from time to time the conditions are perfect and, on this occasion with Lynne they were amazing.

It gave me an opportunity to actually get some pretty decent pictures showing the colour specrum that you can get in Scotland on special days like these and to enjoy a great day out together too.

I just hope that Lynne doesn’t think that all hill walking days in Scotland will have this weather, with her now being really keen and going out and buying brand new boots!

Ben Lomond

So, let’s start out in the Car Park at 08:30am.

It’s nice and quiet if you make sure to get there early.

As this Munro is nearest to Glasgow it can get quite busy! Lynne is all ready and prepped.

As we start the ascent on the traditional route its a beautiful morning.

The colours and sunlight on the surrounding hills and plant life are stunning.

As it’s early morning its still a little cool so we both still have our fleece jackets on.

A quick stop to admire the view!

In the background you can see Ben Lomond.

The actual summit isn’t visible though. It’s behind what you can see from this angle.

The sunlight reflecting off Loch Lomond made the colour seem really blue and kind of like a tropical sea.

I can assure you the water temperature certainly isn’t anywhere near that though.

More like 16°C/60.8°F at this time of year. Some people do swim in Loch Lomond and there are watersports activities too. We prefer warmer climates for that!

I’ve absolutely no idea what kind of variety these toadstools are. But they were very interesting and no doubt poisonous.

If anyone wants to comment and let any other readers know, please do!

All I know is I ain’t touching them 😉

There is a clear path all the way up. Well maintained and pretty easy to climb.

Lynne found this part a bit of a hurdle having never climbed a Munro before.

This is a little one in comparison to the one’s that are to come!

Not all Munros have as defined paths.

Ben Lomond has on which is maintained by teams of volunteers.

Certainly most Munros don’t have flat parts like this either.

But it does gives you are great chance to admire the view and take a bit of a breather.

It was getting warmer now as you can see and our jackets were off!

At the end of the flat bit you get a great view over to the East.

You can see Abhainn Gaoithe (the loch in the distance).

Panning the camera round and nearly directly into the rising sun in the South you get this South East view.

Its not often you get a full 365 view when walking up.

And looking back down the path followed from the car park.

This view is just before a harder climb.

You can see all the way down Loch Lomond.

At the foot of the part of the harder climb Lynne admitted that she “wanted to cry”.

And also a dog had apparently tried to “maul” her here?

What actually happened was the dog was really friendly and went to Lynne for some affection……….

Up the harder part we go!

I hear gnashing teeth and certain expletives which are unprintable in this happy blog.

Lynne stops to survey “her” mountain.

Or tries to see if there’s a pub nearby!

Further up I nervously handed Lynne my camera.

Lynne immediately began snapping everything in sight, believing herself to be a member of the wild fauna paparazzi.

I quickly posed in order to retrieve my beloved camera.

We’re getting quite high up now, pretty much at the summit and you can see the distant Munro’s of the Crianlarich hills, including Ben More.

Again these mountains are normally shrouded in mist or cloud.

So we were lucky we got a really excellent day for this climb.

Not everything goes to plan when you’re hillwalking and on this occasion the summit photographs came out over-exposed.

I’m still learning to use my camera properly.

This one was taken on our descent, back down to the Car Park.

When you are hill walking you’re using muscles that you’ve probably never even heard of.

The next day Lynne felt that, but decided to buy herself a new pair of boots. Bravo!

We might not get much more walking done now together this year with winter descending on us, but hey, there’s always next year.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this then head over to my other post Skye Hillwalking. I’d love to hear any comments below. Thanks! 🙂