Paul Shorrock – One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks

For the best viewing experience, left-click the images and maps to zoom in to a new window, then exit that window to go back – go on, it really does work!

The Scottish Highlands are well known for the grandeur of the scenery and for their magnificent mountains, but UK outdoor folk frequently use British understatement when describing our highest mountains (e.g. Ben Nevis), often just referring to them as ‘hills’.  In the case of Ben A’an in the Trossachs, the word ‘hill’ is quite accurate, with a height of a mere 454 metres, but get to the top and you can certainly see the mountains.

In fact, Ben A’an is a well-liked little hill.  From the summit, the views towards the Arrochar Alps and Loch Lomond are outstanding, but Ben A’an has another great advantage – it’s a short and easy walk.   Because of these factors, and the close proximity of Glasgow and the densely populated Central Lowlands of Scotland, the popularity of Ben A’an is guaranteed.

On our Scottish trip of May 2021, Chris and I were back in the Trossachs, filling in the gaps of places we had never been to, as well as looking for a short hill day to give Border Collie ‘Mist’ her daily walk – Ben A’an fitted the bill exactly.  Mind you, it is just a little hill, so this is a shorter blog post than usual – hopefully the views in the photos make up for that.

Unfortunately, the promise of the clear dawn over nearby Loch Venachar wasn’t to continue, and before long a blanket of cloud covered the sky.  However, the clouds did occasionally lend a bit of texture to the sky as dog and humans set out.  The Loch Achray path was surprisingly steep in places for such a lowly hill, but the views compensated as we gained height.

According to Wikipedia, “The name “Ben A’an” is an erroneous Anglicization by Sir Walter Scott. Its original name is uncertain, but it has been suggested that it may have been ‘Am Binnean’ which means “the Pinnacle”, although some sites cite its meaning as “the Small Pointed Peak”.  Recent tree harvesting in the forest at the halfway point wasn’t a good look, but the views of the ‘Small Pointed Peak’ ahead of us more than made up for that.

Sure enough, the views improved as we reached the col to the north of the summit, before heading on to the top.  Loch Katrine drew the eye at first but then looking at the monitor screen of the camera on full zoom, I could recognise the distinctive top of The Cobbler, 25 kms to the west, where we had been just eight days earlier (see blog post #301).

With the summit being so popular, I had to wait my turn for pics or run the risk of being ‘photo bombed’.  Ben A’an might be a small hill but it has big views and a big heart, and is as good a way as any to spend half a day surrounded by mountains.  A lunch break at the summit filled in another half hour before it was time to head for home (and the next hill!)

Text and images © Paul Shorrock

For the best viewing experience, left-click the images and maps to zoom in to a new window, then exit that window to go back – go on, it really does work!

In April 2021, the governments of England, Scotland and Wales were finally united in relaxing Covid-19 regulations to allow cross-border travel between the nations – about time too, as we wanted to travel in Scotland and would have to cross out of Wales to pass through England to get there!  First on our list of places to visit was Bute and the Argyll Coast, an area not really noted for its mountains. 

This was probably our least planned trip to date, with decisions on destinations being made whilst still travelling.  A water-service stop for the campervan found us near to Arrochar, a place I had only driven through in the past (also a place that does have a mountain or two!).   Scottish Forestry had opened up a couple of venues nearby for overnighting in campers, one of them just round the corner from Ben Arthur, a mountain we had never visited.  So, that was the next day’s fun sorted.

Ben Arthur (Beinn Artair in gaelic) is much better known as ‘The Cobbler’, so called because the summit rocks are supposed to look like a cobbler bending over his last.  At 884 metres (2900 ft), The Cobbler misses out on achieving the status of being a ‘Munro’ by just 30 metres (100 ft), but the unusual summit features and easy access make it one of the most popular mountains in Scotland – that would do nicely, thank you.

The day started cloudy, with the possibility of rain always there – mind you, that means nothing in Scotland, where you can easily experience all four seasons in one day.   The trick is to ‘travel hopefully’ and as we emerged from the forest on to higher ground, we had patches of blue sky to go with our first view of The Cobbler. Behind us was the impressive profile of Ben Lomond, last visited just seven months earlier (see post #295) and yet another popular mountain in the Southern Highlands at 974 metres (3195 ft).

Our route for the day was a simple ‘there and back’ version.  The area is steeped in mountaineering and rock-climbing history and is known as the Arrochar Alps.  Although this was my first visit, I already knew the history of the two large boulders known as the Narnain Boulders – they were once a popular climbers bivi site, especially in the late 1800’s and the 1920-30’s, when rock climbing exploration was at its peak, but they also provided us with shelter for a coffee break.

Then it was onwards.  The path climbs gradually to a meeting of the ways near to the mountain pass of the Bealach a’ Mhàim – from there, our route headed roughly south up a steep set of steps, but the best views were across to some of the other peaks of the Arrochar Alps, Beinn Ime (1011 metres) and Beinn Narnain (926 metres), both of them Munros.

It’s The Cobbler that commands attention though – there are three high points distinctive enough to be called peaks.  We passed under the North Peak on our way to the Middle Peak, the highest of the three.  The true summit of the Middle Peak, known as Arthur’s Seat, involves a ‘hands on’ scramble ascent of a rock pinnacle with a drop below, but the lower South Peak is accessible only by rock climbers.  We passed a few minutes chatting to a guy who had last been on the mountain thirty years previously, but then it was time to head down.

Returning by the outward route gave us the chance to take in the views from fresh angles, with the distant Ben Lomond competing with the Arrochar Alps for ‘view of the day’.  Near the Narnain Boulders we came across a pair of red deer who were clearly used to humans and Border Collies.  ‘Mist’ likewise showed no interest in them – it was nearly time for the dog’s dinner, and time to head for home.

Text and images © Paul Shorrock except those tagged Colin Park and Peter S, which are taken from the Geograph Project and are reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

(For the best viewing experience, left-click the images and maps to zoom in to a new window, then exit that window to go back – go on, it really does work!)

I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that I’m a creature of habit, and most of my trips to the mountains of the Scottish Highlands follow the same route up country.  On my first visit, a long long time ago, I travelled via the A84 through Callander to Lochearnhead, the A85 through Crianlarich and Tyndrum then the A82 to Glencoe and beyond, and to travel any other way just seems odd – well it does to me anyway.  So, that’s the way I usually go.

I’ve returned south via the A82 on the west side of Loch Lomond on a handful of occasions, but that way takes you via Glasgow, which a poor finish to a Highland trip.  What’s more, until a couple of years ago, I had never turned off the A84 to the Trossachs and the east side of Loch Lomond.  So, the autumn 2020 trip to Scotland was a good chance to fill in that gap, which is exactly what we did.

After years of being “not really bothered about going to the top”, Chris had become a ‘born again’ Munro bagger after her day on Meal nan Tarmachan (see post #292), so another Munro ascent before heading south seemed like a good plan.  At a height of 974 metres (3195 ft), Ben Lomond fitted the bill nicely – what’s more, it is one of the most popular Munros in Scotland, so a good one for Chris to tick off.

Setting out from Rowardennan on the shores of Loch Lomond, the first part of the route is through forest, which isn’t much good for impressive views.  Once out of the trees, things open up a bit, but most of the views are down to Loch Lomond, with the summit of Ben Lomond out of sight for most of the way up.  As there’s little to measure progress against, there seems to be quite a bit of uphill, but steady away gets you there eventually.

On our trip, the final summit ridge was clouded over, which effectively killed the views.  Chris and Border Collie ‘Mist’ posed for a summit photo before we turned round to head back by the same route through the mizzle and drizzle.  Photos of the ridge in good weather show a far more interesting scene than the one we had, wrapped up in a big cloud.

Going down was pretty much the same as going up, with the views to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs opening up as we left the clouds behind us.  Perhaps Ben Lomond won’t get your pulses racing with excitement but it’s a good day out and its proximity to Glasgow and the central belt of Scotland makes it a favourite with many hikers. Try to arrange a cloud-free day though, unless you enjoy wandering round in the mist.

We will probably go back sometime soon, as there’s more to see in the area.  Since 1995, the area around Ben Lomond, including the mountain summit, has been designated as a war memorial (the Ben Lomond National Park Memorial) dedicated to those who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars.  There are also some more interesting hills to check out in the area, so it looks like I might have to change my route north in future.

Text and images © Paul Shorrock unless stated otherwise – the image above by Cunikm is reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence.