People Have A Thing For Mountains!

People have a thing for mountains.

God has a thing for mountains, too. God chose to do some of his best work and made some stunning revelations of himself to people at high altitudes. On the tops of mountains, God made a promise to Noah, supplied a substitutionary sacrifice to Abraham for his son Isaac, talked to Moses through a burning bush, gave Moses the Law, participated with Elijah in a definitive showdown with false prophets, gave a glimpse of his glory in the Transfiguration of Christ, who later ascended to heaven from a mountain top.

So why do mere mortals climb a mountain?

George Leigh Mallory replied on being asked why he was climbing Everest in 1923 “Because it’s there”.

Our motivation for ascending the mountains is not for spiritual enlightenment or the fact that there is an abundance of them in Scotland nor is it derived from a wish fulfilment fantasy to climb every Munro in Scotland. Our simple motivation is derived from looking at the weather forecast and deciding which hill will endure our presence the next day. The choice of mountain can often be a head scratching conundrum entailing a trawl through various mountaineering websites rammed with climbing gobbledygook incomprehensible to anyone who doesn’t know the back end of a compass from a GPS system.

It is through this haphazard decision making process that we happen upon Ben Venue (pronounced Ben Venoo, gaelic = mountain of the caves). Rising proud from the wooded slopes of the Trossachs, Ben Venue is a rugged little climb. Dark cliffs and rocky knolls may suggest an air of impregnability, but the fortress-like defences of the peak's summit can be breached if you know where to look. There are two different starting points to choose from, we choose the longer path rising from Loch Ard. This route like some other ascents we have traversed recently throws up the bizarre anomaly of not being able to see the summit you are about to surmount. This method of ascent via a Google print out adds an extra spice to the climb as we continually guess which of the peaks above us will be our final destination. It also leads us up many blind summits which further add to the excitement of the mountain.

The weather today sees the mountain blessed with brilliant sunshine as we set off mid-morning in one of the hottest days of the year so far. The bottom quarter of the climb cuts through a mixed forest of beautiful deciduous trees followed by geometric blocks of commercial sitka spruce plantations which offer welcome cover from the burning sun. Eventually the route bears right for the final ascent to the bealach where a low fence is crossed by a stile and Ben Venue comes into view at last and our guess attempts about our final destination prove wildly inaccurate. Once across the stile the route takes on an alpine feel as the route to the summit lies enticingly ahead of us. We capture the summit just as ‘The Sir Walter Scott’ departs below on its afternoon sail from Trossachs Pier around Loch Katrine. Once the summit is attained we gaze admiringly around us as views open up of the Firth of Forth, the Clyde, Isle of Arran, Paps of Jura and to the north Ben A'an, Ben More, Stob Binnein, Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps.

Our retrace back down the hill is blessed by a large grey cloud which makes the descent an enjoyable trek that passes all too quickly allowing the sun to reappear as we hit flat ground at our start point.

Previous walks in this locale have made us aware of a spectacular waterfall and pool at Inversnaid which is situated by the north banks of Loch Lomond on the West Highland Way. Foresight and anticipation of extreme heat and a sweated brow have ensured that bathing costumes of a fashion have been packed in the car as we make haste to rest our weary limbs in the natural black eddy, fashioned by peat soaked water cascading over clashing rocks to form natures own hydrotherapy pool. The remote location of this organic spa ensures that we have complete seclusion as the sun slowly disappears behind the surrounding hills.

Ahh Bliss.

Shouldn’t every long hot day finish this way ;-)