Ben Vorlich (Almost), Scotland Winter 2004


	The forecast for the day was quite promising, but the day still started with clouds and rain. I decided to drive out to Inveruglas anyway to see how the weather developed. By about 11:30 the clouds finally started to lift and I left for the hills. A last rainbow on the way and then I walked up the road towards Coire nan Each. Roughly at the height of the power station below I left the road and started the real ascent into the hills. I then followed a small burn up the hill towards Coire nan Each. The going was quite rough in places, there were some boggy areas to get around. After some scrambling I made it to a kind of plateau on which I continued towards the summit of Ben Vorlich. Despite some clouds moving in again the views from here were very nice.
The view to the south west was quite impressive: Loch Long, A'Chrois, Ben Vane, Loch Sloy and the summit of Ben Vorlich to name a few of the places in view. A QuickTime VR panorama of the view south west from the slopes of Ben Vorlich is also available for a better view.
Initially the summit of Ben Vorlich was shrouded in clouds, but then the clouds lifted and gave me a great view over Coire na Baintigheara to Ben Vorlich and the Little Hills just east of Ben Vorlich. Unfortunately it was getting a bit too late to continue to the summit, as I didn't want to walk large parts of the way back in the dark I decided to turn back now.
During my way back the clouds lifted again for a while and I had another great view over Loch Arklet, Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond. It was quite hazy, so I couldn't see as far as I would have liked, but the nice colours compensated for that. You can also view a QuickTime VR panorama of the view over Loch Lomond.
	It was almost dark by the time I returned to Inveruglas. Near the power station I had a very nice view over Loch Lomond and Inveruglas Isle in the fading evening light. A very nice afternoon out with great views, despite not making it to the summit of Ben Vorlich. My safety was more important though, returning in daylight was more important than making it to the summit. I'll return some time to make it to the summit, hopefully on a longer day and with better weather/ visibility earlier in the day.
Beinn an Lochain <- Scotland Winter 2004 -> Next: Glasgow Museums