Ben Venue

Friday 22nd April 2022

On my final day in Scotland on this holiday I tackled a mountain that has represented failure to me on a number of occasions. I first attempted to climb Ben Venue in 2007, but I couldn’t even get to the car park because the road was closed so I had gone up Ben Ledi instead. In 2013, I tried to catch a bus to the foot of Ben Venue, but there isn’t a bus service to the Trossachs so the closest I was able to get to was the village of Aberfoyle, which is a useless starting point for going up Ben Venue with my attempt eventually being stopped by rain. Finally, I had planned to climb Ben Venue in 2020 before Covid cancelled everything. Now, in 2022, I was camped beside Loch Achray with blue skies overhead and nothing could stop me climbing Ben Venue until, after leaving the campsite, I realised that I had left my walking poles behind. This was not the first time I had done that on this holiday having done that when I went up the Brack earlier in the week, but since I had few problems then I kept going along the footpath that is marked as the hill path up Ben Venue. This took me through conifers before emerging into Gleann Riabhach where the trees have been felled leaving a desolate scene with decaying branches littering the valley floor, however this was still better than a constricting view of conifer trees in all directions.

An excellent path took me up Gleann Riabhach, but as I slowly climbed the wide valley, strong, cold winds began to attack me all the way up to a broad, boggy saddle, where I really wished I’d brought my poles, though not to ease the pressure on my knees, but to help me get over the bogs. Beyond the bogs, the excellent path resumed up to a large cairn where I turned right onto a gloriously rocky path that crosses the windy, southern slopes of Ben Venue to climb all the way up to the crumbling remains of the trig point at the eastern top of the mountain. From the top I had amazing views particularly east over Loch Achray and Loch Venachar while to the south were the subsidiary tops including Beinn Bhreac and Creag a’ Bhealaich with Ben Lomond behind them on the horizon. Turning my back on the eastern views, I couldn’t help thinking that a top to the west was higher than this point and a quick look at my map revealed that the western top is two metres higher even though the main path goes to the trig point. Therefore I headed off along a faint path that crosses the windswept hilltop until I reached a small cairn that marks the summit of Ben Venue.

Now I had great views west towards the Arrochar Alps and across Loch Katrine, though it was striking to me how low and interesting the hills were immediately to the north in comparison, while higher mountains were far away in the distance, but most striking was the effect of the Highland fault that leaves the land to the south and east comparatively flat. Beside the summit, sheltered from the strong winds, I had my lunch before I moved off and joined the main path battling against the strong winds back down to the saddle and the large cairn that I had passed earlier and marks the junction. If it hadn’t been so windy I would have stayed high to explore this gloriously rocky mountain and visit the subsidiary tops. Despite only being classed as a Graham, which is a mountain between two thousand and two and half thousand feet high, it has an abundance of rock that makes it feel like a proper mountain that would merit exploration. Feeling that those subsidiary tops could be visited next time when I might climb from the south, I turned left at the large cairn and made my way back over the bogs and onto the good path that descends through Gleann Riabhach and away from the strong winds.

Retracing my steps, I made my way all the way back to the Trossachs, but it was still quite early and I had no idea what to do for the rest of the afternoon. With hindsight, I should have stayed an extra day in Arrochar as I didn’t need two full days in the Trossachs. Nevertheless, these two days gave me plenty of time to explore, which is what I did by turning left at Achray Water to follow an increasingly sketchy path until I reached the dam for Loch Katrine. After a wander back to the pier I made my way back to my campsite beside Loch Achray, which is rather a pathetic end to a great walk up a rugged mountain. I was relieved to finally climb Ben Venue and it hadn’t disappointed me as it is a proper mountain with enough rock to make it a satisfying climb.