For nigh on thirty years I’ve driven past this hill and each time gazed up at its’ mighty grassy shoulder wondering what’s up there as I sailed on past to the western hills. I few months ago I took an afternoon recce and knew I had to return, this was that time.
It is a relentless climb up a steep and largely pathless grassy slope and just 13m shy of the magic Munro target of 914m at 901m, there is a brief respite three quarters of the way up where there is a small body of crystal clear water that tastes so sweet it is like nectar of the gods, forget your fancy bottled water. This means no need to carry water for most of the ascent saving around three kilos of weight.
Breaking over onto the small plateau like summit there are views a plenty but the first order of business was to find a pitch for the tent, not so easy as the summit is pretty rocky with a thin layer of moss.
Summit Pitch
With my camp set up it was of course time for afternoon tea as any civilised person should entertain and with that enjoyed a tour of the summit to plan shots and their timing. I’d hoped to capture some Milky Way images but there was too much moon that night lighting up the sky and washing out the lesser stars.
Checking out the lie of the land
Dusk soon was upon me and a shot over towards Ben More revealed a fine example of Earths’ shadow or the Belt of Venus.
Ben More, Stob Binnein and Cruach Ardrain at dusk
After a short relaxation for the tired legs it was soon dinner time with Pancetta and chicken pasta, lots of olive oil and parmesan followed by coconut cakes, oh and a little whisky and chocolate to round it off with :)
I took a little nap while listening to some music as I waited for the skies to darken for some night time photography.
The organised camper!
A glowing Hilleberg Soulo.
The next hour or so was spent setting up cameras for stills and for timelapse capture and trotting back and forth tending to their needs, a tired brain working out the various parameters.
Star trails over Beinn Dorain
The lights of Tyndrum
With all the planned images captured it was time to retire and curl up in the embrace of a warm sleeping bag for a couple of hours before emerging for a sunrise shoot.
All too soon the alarm was singing in my ear and reluctantly I crawled out of my warm cocoon to struggle getting the boots on. Up and with a stretch that was all that was needed as the fresh air washed over me and the enthusiasm kicked in.
Moonset over the western hills
Sunrise over Loch Lyon
With the sun up I took my last shot before breakfast with lots of hot coffee followed by a short nap having been up half of the night. As the sun ascended higher in the sky I awoke as things were getting a little toasty in the tent, it was time to pack up and head down. It had been a great little adventure and a location I intended on returning to.
Ben Lui
‘But wait’, I hear you say ‘What about the gold?’ Well on the way back down there is a rocky outcrop which I looked at briefly on my last visit but decided to explore a little more this time.
The gold mine ?
I see no gold
I dropped my gear and clambered down into the crevasse to examine what I thought at first was a cave, I then decided that it looked man made, a mine, a gold mine. My thoughts wandered to how this would be a great shelter in bad weather. Exploring over I climbed back out and I continued with the tortuous descent.
Back home I did a little on-line digging and found out it was a mine, just not a gold mine but in fact a lead mine, oh the disappointment. Guess I might as well cancel that Amazon order for a pick axe…