Ben Vorlich

A little over a week later the first Munro beckoned and another solo walk

View from Ben Vorlich back towards Loch Earn

Following a twisting narrow road I parked up at the foot of Ardvorlich Farm. Hesitant as to the route of the walk-in to the foot of the hill I eventually discovered that it was though the farmyard itself and was easily signposted once you are within the farmhouse grounds. It was lambing season and the farm itself had a presence of bustle and purpose with unseen but clearly heard labour.

Meaning 'Hill of the Bay', Ben Vorlich is a Munro (1145m) on the very Southern Edge of the Highlands. With it's proximity to the Central Belt, fine viewpoints and excellent footpath for the most part it makes it a very popular walk.

The footpath made the going excellent with a few burns in full spate to cross.

Serious Doubts

After 20 minutes of fairly steep but good going a wee Suzuki 4x4 appeared driven by an elderly chap who I assumed to be involved with the farm. If he wasn't driving a wee Japanese motor he could easily have been transported from a by-gone age. Adorned with a full set of worn tweeds, a flat cap and enjoying a sweet and aromatic pipe, the friendly and weather beaten face asked my destination.

'Ben Vorlich' I replied.

'Ocht your on the wrong path then son'

'Isn't that Ben Vorlich'?

'That's Beinn Domhnuill, that's only a Donald*' was his reply with a wee chuckle.

*Named after Percy Donald, a Donald refers to a Hill in the Scottish Lowlands of over 2000 feet.

He directed me over boggy moorland and back to the main path towards the as yet unseen Ben Vorlich. Yet another early lesson was learnt. Don't let the weather, scenery, enthusiasm and optimism get in the way of proper planning.

After around 2 hours of slow progress I was roughly at the half way point and the first serious doubts didn't so much as creep in as jumped in. As stopped for a long breather and thought 'I can't finish this'. I was 39 and ridiculously unfit!

I progressed by giving myself smaller targets to aim for, promising that I'd assess myself at each point. At each point I was shattered and sore. Still, I kept plodding on. It wasn't much fun at this stage. I soon hit some fairly deep snow banks and an element of uncertainty began to emerge from another direction. The path pretty much disappeared. As I stood contemplating the possibilities an experienced walker descending advised me to follow the edge of the snow and it would lead me back to the path.

Around 15 minutes further on and the path gave way to open, rocky and scree adorned slopes and the Mordor effect was heightened by sheer silence and thick fog. Immediate visibility was OK and I soon made the summit.

My 1st Munro Top.

I sat with a flask of tea and contemplated my accomplishment. I felt pretty chuffed with myself but a sense of disappointment soon followed as I wished I had taken on this 10 years ago and wasn't so unfit. It was a strange thing to experience regret after an achievement.

At that point I knew that the Hills were going to teach me a few things about myself other than my fitness. For better or worse I was going to find out.