So, I walked up a mountain today. It was the hardest physical thing I have ever done!
Ben Lomond is one of the most popular of the Munros, basically a range of Scottish mountains, Ben Lomond is one of them. It gives some of the best views of Loch Lomond you will ever see and the walk and sense of achievement you get hitting the top a bucket list item.
We started off in the Car park,
This is my very good friend Steve. We decided last minute that Sunday was for climbing up a mountain. It a fairly clear path up in places but some parts can and were, rough terrain wise.
We passed through the visitor centre, it has some interesting wall pieces and something on the floor, to be honest we were both itching to get started. I took a few pictures to share with you good Steemites and then moved on.
So off we went up the first path,
I'll be honest, if I had known what a climb it was it would have given me pause, but hey life is for living and would still have went.
This is some of the scenery at the start of the walk.
It didn’t take long to get to first gate and was a cool sign showing some more information on the place and the walk.
and very kindly showed where we were on the map,
This was some of the terrain going up, and it could be hard going at parts.
I apologize in advance this is going to be a picture heavy blog, I just want to convey the sense of how amazing the place was and the views, the views were stunning.
We checked the weather beforehand, and it wasn’t supposed to rain, we did come prepared but the climb and the stinging rain was soaking us, but our spirits weren’t dampened.
I would have loved to show you some of the steeper climbs up, but it being a rainy day it demanded your full attention, as the stone was getting quite rain slicked and I didn’t fancy a broken ankle!
We stopped off every so often to look at the view behind as we climbed up.
Steve was like a mountain goat as he bounded up the track, but I think he regretted ever so slightly wearing shorts on the way up.
Every time we looked up it seemed to be further to the top.
Then we started to pass through more cloud and rain,
Even the clouds looked awesome in their natural majesty.
We plodded along, following other faster people, at this point I’m not ashamed to say I was tiring fast.
Every time we asked people would say it was only half an hour to the top, but then joy of joys we seen the peak getting closer. My legs were like jelly, but the sight of the end and the top spurred me on.
I stopped to take some more pictures, because just as we were getting to the top and amazing thing happened, the clouds opened up and the view was stunning, I have never seen anything like it, it’s one of those moments you remember for the rest of your life.
We were closing in on the top, after three and a half hard slogging hours we were nearly there, but you know what I wanted to share this with Steemit and took this picture,
then we were there, the top, I have never felt such a feeling of accomplishment, it was euphoric!
I was a bit wet by that point!
the fog and the cloud had closed in, but I took a video so you could see what we saw, ha ha, nothing much!
The moment passed, as these moments always do and the long trek back down started.
I will be honest, like I said earlier, this was one of the hardest physical challenges I have ever undertaken, what with the rocks being slick on the path below, the steepness going down and a very poor choice of walking boots, I honestly didn’t think I would get down with the thigh burn, the slippery slope and the sheer physical exhaustion, but there is a camaraderie of those going down meeting those going up, we encourage and don’t say how difficult the walk up is, and that’s the way it should be, we should always cheer on people wanting to challenge themselves, and it doesn’t matter if that’s with a mumbled breathless hullo, or encouraging someone to keep going. Either way we help each other.
I would also have taken more pictures of the descent, but I didn’t fancy tumbling down, it took all my concentration to stay on my feet!
You know what though?
I have never been so glad to see a car park in my life and my ride home!
It's a long post but I hope you good Steemites enjoy!