Ben Vorlich & Stuc a'Chroin 21 April 2011

I was very tired after a full days work and driving up to my usual stopping point at the Munro Inn in Strathyre with a friend.  We had arrived at the end of a funeral wake where the alcohol had flowed and it was after 1am when we found our bunks.  I had only 3 hours of sleep so it was going to be a day of 'sleep walking'

We parked up at Ardvorlich and set off on our way.  There was a nice easy track to follow. There was plenty of gossip to chat up on so I didn't particularly want any difficult navigation.  We also had a good chat with other walkers and took the opportunity to have a 'team photo' taken.

East top of Ben Vorlich

As we headed up the steeper sections there was a chilly breeze.  We arrived at the summit and I thought lower east top looked much more appealing so I suggested that we walk over to it.  The north side gave a little protection and lunch was declared while we admired the views.

Me on Ben Vorlich

We eventually had our individual summit photos by the trig point before heading on to Stuc a'Chroin.  I knew that I really had to push myself has I hadn't walked for over 2 months in addition to the lack of sleep.

Ptarmigan were relying on their camouflage as we descended down into Bealach an Dubh Choirein.  I love to see them whenever I am in the mountains. I also observed to my friend that the number of walkers had deceased somewhat.

We elected to take the bypass path up and avoid the scrambly bit. I had to lead a group a couple of days later and due to fatigue was just about   managing to put one foot in front of the other.  Injury or accident was less of an option than normal.

My friend posing near the summit on Stuc a Chroin

Eventually we managed to turn a cornice which was at the top of the by pass path and head towards the summit.  Another walker was quite pleased to see us as he had difficulty in locating where the descent path was.  We also found out that he was involved in the new Hydro electric power system on the side of the mountain which he couldn't commission until there was some substantial rainfall.

Ben Vorlich from Stuc a'Chroin

We visited all the cairns and admired the views before finding a a little shelter to raid our lunch boxes for the second time.

We slowly started the descent from Stuc a'Chroin and the sun came out to dry out any dampness from the early drizzle.  We knew we had to get a move on.  Food shopping was required and we had to drive on to the hostel at Pitlochry to meet 2 others for a walk the following day.  We were satisfied when we returned to the car and had both added to the Munro count whilst retaining some energy reserves for another 3 days of walking.


Thankfully the boys weren't too grumpy about having a late tea when we arrived at Pitlochry.  I think that they were looking forward to getting the walking boots out the following day!