Ben Ledi

24 June 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Ben Ledi, 879m/2,883', Corbett, Map 57, NN 562098

"A weak ridge of high pressure will move in calming down the showers temporarily before another front moves up from the south-west this evening". Well, that's as good as it seems to get this dreadful May/June in this part of Scotland so Ben and I headed out to take advantage. To whet the appetite, I had a look first at the picture of Ben Ledi that I took earlier on in the year.....

I parked in the car park over the River Leny at the start of the road to the forest cabins; for a Friday, there were quite a few cars there already. The path through the forest is like a well maintained motorway compared to what used to be the route years' ago when I climbed this hill fairly regularly. All the boggy patches have been eliminated so boulder hopping is no longer required to make progress. Past the forest, the views started to open up behind us, this is looking back to Callander with the Ochils in the distance.....

The "classic view" from early on in the walk is of Loch Lubnaig with Stuc a'Chroin behind it and the Ben Lawers hills in the "V".....

I put Ben on his lead temporarily in case there were any sheep lurking where we turned on to the south ridge but it was all clear today and he was soon running about freely again. I remember this as being a good winter hill- broad and easy angled so not too much to go wrong in snow conditions. The summit was in sight most of the way up the ridge so it was head down for me while Ben charged up and down!

Getting near the top, my attention was caught by a smallish bird which looked like a type of wader with a pronounced eye stripe. There were obviously chicks about as well; I could hear them in the grass and the adult didn't fly away any distance. I wasn't sure what it was but checking the bird book when I got home it seems most likely to have been a dotterel. The markings certainly looked like the picture in the book. I didn't think that they were found so far south.

As has been the case for weeks now (with only a very few days' exceptions) there was a lot of cloud about although visibility was excellent. This is looking west over Glen Finglas Reservoir to Ben Lomond and the hills around Arrochar.....

and north to Ben More and Stobinian.....

One advantage of doing a hill like this as against a sub-2,000 where I usually don't meet anyone else is that I can ask someone to take a pic of me and Ben. Normally it is just Ben in the summit pic. Here we are at the trig with the Ben Lawers hills behind.....