It's the middle of our week long stay in Aberfeldy and everything has been fantastic, including the hiking. I'll write more about the whole trip in the near future but wanted to do a quick post to share pictures and video.
From the top of Ben Lawers looking back at Beinn Ghlas
The forecast called for a crystal clear autumn day but we've been hiking, or walking, every day since we arrived and Elle wanted a rest. So off I went off to hike up Ben Lawers; the 10th highest mountain in Scotland at 3985 feet. The pictures will tell the story, but a few details might help.
The route starts at 1000 feet and tree line in Scotland is considered to be between 1500 and 2000 feet. That said, below tree line the mountains are mostly swathed in heather with only small trees and shrubs present. This is mostly the result of centuries of sheep grazing and above the lowlands trees are present only where the sheep are fenced out.
The views are expansive the whole way up Ben Lawers. The route I took first crossed a second peak, Beinn Ghlas (3500 feet). From there you drop down to a col (pass) and then up Ben Lawers. I went over the top of Ben Lawers and down to a second col with the intention of also going up a third peak named An Stuc. But, reaching the col, and looking at the up --and down-- my old knees would be required to endure to climb the third mountain, I thought better of it. So I headed back up and over the top of Ben Lawers and down to the col between Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas. From there a different track returns to the car park. It was just stunning the entire way. The entire covered about 8 miles with 4000 feet of elevation gain.
Half a mile from the car park, looking up at the summit of Beinn Ghlas
From the second col, looking back up at the top of Ben Lawers. The trail climbs up the rocks to the left and up over the top of Lawers.
This may have been my favorite part of the whole day. The trail passes around the end of the ridge in a long gentle descent back to the car.
