Ben More (A' Bheinn Mhòr) & Stob Binnein - The Great Mountain & The Conical Peak - 1174 m & 1165 m (Both Munros)
Ben More & Stob Binnein are two mountains just outside Crianlarich, in the same range of hills as An Casteal, Beinn a Chroin & Beinn Chabhair which we completed last August.
Ben More dominates Crianlarich and the road east, an enormous snow topped pyramid offering no obvious easy approaches and a pretty unrelenting ascent.
In a last minute decision on Thursday J and I decided to skive work and head out for some hill walking instead. The weather looked more promising for Friday than for Saturday so it seemed a reasonable decision.
So just before reaching Crianlarich we parked just off the A85 beside Loch Iubhair, just before you reach Benmore farm. There was no path for the early part of this walk. It was just a case plotting your route using trees and rocks and heading straight up towards them. The walk was pretty much straight up from the moment you leave the car and the ground was fairly boggy for the first half of the walk.
Oh and exciting new kit: A very welcome birthday gift of new hiking boots. Scarpa infinity boots no less....... so other than wearing them around the house to try and break them in this was their first test and I have to say they passed with flying colours - no blisters, good grip and perfectly waterproof - excellent! Jackson also had new boots: Scarpa terra GTX which also behaved admirably...
After heading straight upwards for half an hour or so we came across an antler. Here modelled by J.
So after a good old slog upwards, heading towards a ridge we came across an old stone dyke and a bit of a path, which really beats picking your own way through bogs, so we followed this instead. You got amazing views pretty quickly with this walk.
The path winded up in a very steep zigzag over fairly rocky terrain. Having started this walk in glorious sunshine wearing a t-shirt, the temperature dropped dramatically at this point, as we started to pass small patches of snow.
As we increased in height we passed frozen streams and waterfalls and patches of grass which were still completely frozen.
Finally we reached the summit after a few little scrambles and lo and behold there were no false summits - marvellous, so finding the trig point so quickly came as a bit of a surprise. The views from here were really spectacular.... snow topped mountains stretching off for mile upon mile.
A happy albeit a little chilly J at the trip point, at 1174 m.
Making my way from the cairn to the trig point and heading towards Stob Binnein.
The spectacular view from Ben More to Stob Binnein. A good volume of snow still on the east side of the ridge leading to Stob Binnein.
Looking back past the cairn at one end of Ben More, with mountains stretching off for miles.
Past the trig point, looking south to the elegant peak of Stob Binnein - the next destination for the walk. The descent between the two peaks is considerable, but there is a clear path. The route down from Ben More is rocky at first, with one short wall requiring a bit of scrambling - though this can be avoided. Further down the slopes are grassier though the path is a little eroded, and the Bealach Eadar da-Bheinn (the pass between the two hills) is reached at 862 metres, marked by an enormous boulder.
Heading down to the Bealach. I am circled to give some scale. So whilst the Bealach helps considerably with the second hill, it is still a fair old drop down and the climb up the second mountain is not inconsiderable.
J about to descend to the bealach, as the sun comes out. We did stop for some sandwiches at this point but I got pretty chilly as soon as we stopped and was very keen to press on. Beyond the bealach the ascent up to Stob Binnein begins. Again the path is clear and it zig-zags slightly to ease the long climb. There are no real difficulties except the snow which was hard and icy and braxony being without pic axes and crampons had to find ways around it. We did meet one guy on his way down with the full winter climbing kit. He slipped on the snow just after I passed him and had to dig his pick axe into the ice to stop himself skidding off down the hill. So yes the snow was best avoided as much as possible, without such equipment.
At 1165 metres it may be slightly lower than Ben More, but Stob Binnein is the finer and more elegant peak. The views south are stunning and takes in much of the Trossachs.
After heading back down to the bealach being careful not to come a cropper on the ice, we practiced a few climbing skills on the massive boulder. before heading off down the hill to the west. The slopes are very boggy at first, but soon a path formed alongside the stream. This descended on the left side of the stream all the way down to the glen, where eventually we met a track, which wound it's way back towards the road.
Nature spotting! Our best find was undoubtedly a veritable mass of frogspawn which filled the ditch beside the track on the way back. Not only were there just heaps of the stuff there were masses of frogs as well. We even witnessed a rather gross frog ball.
I think that J has been busted by the frog underwater!
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