This Month’s Munro of the month is Beinn Ghlas

Height: 1103m (3619ft)

Location: Ben Lawers region, north of Loch Tay

Name meaning: Grey/Green Mountain

Rock types: Grey Schistose rock

Map used: Harvey Maps Ultramap XT40 (1:40000). Also available is their 1:25,000 giving you more detail if you prefer

Beinn Ghlas was my 2nd ever Munro and was one I did whilst still in the early stages of my learning how to navigate. Myself and a good friend, Kyle, headed up with the plan of doing the full Ben Lawers circuit. Full of a young sense of ability and ebergy we drove up with the idea of having a coffee at the Ben Lawers visitors’ centre before heading up into the hills to complete our mission.

Upon arriving we discovered that the visitors’ centre was indeed a notice board! 🙂 After some giggling we decided to get the boots on and head up the hill. A very cloudy and wet start made sure we were fully kitted up for the expedition. Map and compass in hand we headed off.

From the Ben Lawers car park we headed north east which takes you up through the nature reserve. A great leg warmer before heading up onto the hill proper. Once we had navigated on to the shoulder we then took a bearing and headed up the path and further into the rain clouds.

Once at the summit of Beinn Ghlas we decided to sit and have some grub and a cuppa before heading off again. Whilts there many people walked past smiling before continuing on their way to Ben Lawers. Cuppas and snack finished we headed on to start the descent before climbing up to Ben Lawers. But…….to our surprise…….the ground kept rising. We carried on and eventually came to the actual top of Beinn Ghlas where many of the people that passed us smiling, were sitting having a cuppa 😀 This was where I first discovered what a false summit is!

From there we then headed downhill before starting the ascent to Ben Lawers…….. but that’s for another day 🙂