Ben Vorlich, (Loch Earn) & Stuc a' Chroin

Saturday 7th August, 2010

Ben Vorlich & Stuc a' Chroin / Beinn Mhùrlaig & Stùc a' Chroin - "Mountain of the Bay" (?) & "Peak of Terror", - 985m & 975m - (Both Munros)

Some Ben Vorlich & Stuc a' Chroin facts!

There is a carved Stone by the side of the road just passed Ardvorlich House which seems to read 'Near this spot were buried the bodies of 7 McDonald's of GlenCoe killed when attempting to harry Ardvorlich House AD1620". It appears that these MacDonalds from Glencoe raided Ardvorlich when the Stewart's were away, but were killed when the Stewart's returned unexpectedly. The MacDonald's were buried without ceremony. The stone marks the spot where their bones were found when this road was being built.
An unusual feature of Loch Earn is that its waters are subject to a kind of tidal system. As it is aligned along the path of the prevailing wind, the surface of the lake is subjected to a fairly steady pressure from west to east. This results in a slight but measurable oscillation of the depth of the water along the loch, with a period of 16 hours. This effect is called a seiche and occurs on just a few fresh water lakes around the world.

..Ahhh at last a perfect walking day - sunny, bright and lovely.

The most direct ascent to Ben Vorlich is from Ardvorlich House on the south side of Loch Earn. We followed the track up Glen Vorlich to the foot of Ben Vorlich's north ridge and then followed the path up to the summit. The views are stunning from fairly early on and towards the top you are treated to the rare pleasure of being able to see the trig point from quite far down. Thus no disappointing false summits at all. The views from the top of Ben Vorlich were just fantastic, the weather was clear and we had a brief rest at the top to change our t-shirts and eat some lunch.

The traverse to Stuc a' Chroin leads to the foot of its north-east buttress. The direct ascent is a fairly steep scramble. There appears to be a number of paths, we bore to the left around the boulders and then headed up the left side of the peak. This route is very direct, very steep, (all hands and feet required just don't look down), but it is grassy and was pretty firm. There is a kind of flat summit on Stuc a' Chroin with a cairn at either end. Views from both sides are really amazing! The return to Ardvorlich goes to col at the head of Coire Buidhe, and round this corrie to rejoin the uphill route.

Nature curiosities:
Interesting sighting of a corvid (quite large) which we saw at the top of Ben Vorlich. It was flying and then it dropped or dived down several feet making a strange guttural sound.... the noise was pretty weird, slightly hollow sounding like knocking on a hollow tree...On the way down twice my path was crossed by a fast scampering small mammal (bigger than a shrew, smaller than a rabbit) could have been a number of things but was just too quick for me.

New kit:
Jackson had not one, but two pairs of new fluorescent yellow, seal skin gloves. (one pair was intended for me but they were too big, I took some old woolly mittens). Gloves were a good idea for scrambling up Stuc a' Chroin.


...and very importantly - lunch...

A slightly less fancy sandwich than at Ben Lomond, but had the exciting edition of Gruyère cheese.
Apples
Apple juice
Snickers bar - eaten on drive home.
Doritos (bad idea they tasted too chemically - I am still searching for the ideal salty snack for hiking)

The pictures: