Sunday, 8 August 2010

Ben Ledi

Saturday 24th of July, 2010.

Ben Ledi / Beinn Leitir- "The Hill of the Slope" - 879m (Corbett)

Some Ben Ledi facts!

Ben Ledi was immortalised in Sir Walter Scott's Poem - The Lady of the Lake. The summit of the hill was supposedly used for Beltane rituals in ancient times.
A cairn was built on top in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.
The Balquidder cemetry just outside Callandar, was not only the final resting place of Rob Roy but also of the two main characters from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel,
Kidnapped, - David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart.

A beautiful sunny day in the Trossachs. It was very warm on the lower ground of this walk so for about the first 3/4's we were sweltering even in t-shirts. The views were intermittent on the way up and pretty much entirely obscured from the top, but when there was a gap in the clouds they looked spectacular, (wonderful 360 degree views on a clear day). The top of the hill was almost entirely engulfed in cloud and was pretty windy/chilly.

Ben Ledi was an excellent walk, starting off relatively brusquely through the Queen Elizabeth Forrest Park. You make a good deal of height in the first quarter of this walk. Once you are out onto the hill the walk follows a broad stony path round and up the south shoulder of the mountain. There are several false summits to this route but when you do reach the summit you are greeted by a rather eerie cross which looms out of the mist. The cross was erected to commemorate a member of the Killin Mountain Rescue Team, killed in a helicopter crash on Ben More. Having reached the summit if you carry on along the top of the ridge and then make your way down to the first forestry track that you see, it makes for a nice round route.

Nature curiosities:

Curious flying beasts with long dangly legs found in the bogg
ier areas. Can somebody help me identify them?
Blaeberries (also called Bilberries or Whortleberries),
(Vaccinium myrtillus).


...and very importantly - lunch... (which was eaten cowering behind the hill, sheltering from the wind)

ham, lettuce and tomato in a brown roll...a little too much mustard unfortunately
2x apples
packet of salt & vinegar rice cakes
orange juice
and some chocolate chip cookies on the way home..
.

The Pictures:


ooooh and a panorama... 


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