Easy Munros

Is there such a thing?! Well.. not really. What I mean by ‘easy’ is ‘straightforward’.

• There is a path the whole way
• There are no places where you could fall off an edge of some kind
• If you have vertigo you will be fine
• You will struggle to get lost (unless there is a load of fog)

OK great – well what are they?

I started my Munros from the south. Due to this, the simple ones which I have chosen are southern. The first two (and the above image) are an area called The Arrochar Alps.

Ben Narnain

I tried to climb this one 3 times before I succeeded. I will share the full story of all thee and one success in another post. The simplified version is: I did not have the right kit, it was snowy, I was cold, wet and underprepared on the 3 first attempts. Then it was spring.

but you said it was easy?!

Mountains are easier in spring / summer. This is the view from the top of Ben Narnain looking out over Loch Long.

Ben Ime

This one sits next to Ben Narnain, and you can in fact do them both at the same time. Again, I failed this one once in the snow. Not because it was impossible, but because I had already failed Ben Narnain that day, was tired and also late for work. I had tried to get up to a summit for sunrise and failed to make it anywhere other than a snow drift.

Full walk walk description will follow. Summary – gentle (ish) sloping hillside. Boggy when wet, snowy when winter, grassy and accessible without the need for special kit the rest of the time. Path to the top is obvious, and there are usually a few other people about so you will not feel completely isolated.

This is the view from the top of Ben Ime, out toward Ben Lomond (the pointy on on the right).

Ben Lomond

A classic. We did it in January and it was full of people wearing all kinds of things from flipflops to full winter kit. There were trail runners and bum sliders (people sliding down the hill in the snow instead of trying to pick their way down and risk falling over) and everyone else in between. We did it in trainers. We did not have winter kit at the time we started our Munro journey.

There is a clear path all the way up and the views from the top are excellent on a clear day.

Ben Vorlich

Not the one in Arrochar – the other one. This one is sometimes paired with its neighbour Stuc a’Chroin however we just did the one that day. Our calves were sore enough the next day without adding a second. It was my third or fourth Munro but my pal had not done one before, and she was fine. Clear path all the way. No scary slopes or bits you could fall off. We did it in trainers and with Lids’s own hiking poles bought that morning (which I still use now actually one year on).