
I organised a Meetup group walk to Beinn Tulaichean and Cruach Ardrain. There were five of us. The weather was rainy and a bit overcast. The ascent of Beinn Tulaichean was off-path and very steep. I had not done this walk before, and I was careful to find the recommended starting position for the ascent up the mountain, using compass navigation and a grid reference from my GPS app. At about 550m altitude, having climbed almost 400m, one member of the group said she didn`t have the strength to go on and was going to return. This surprised me, as she had climbed Ben More and Stob Binnen with a different group about 2 weeks earlier. It also really worried me, as the terrain was quite slippery due to the rain, and very steep, and I thought she might be in danger of falling if she returned that way, especially if she was feeling tired.
I considered going back down with her, but that would mean abandoning the rest of the group. Instead I tried to encourage her, saying that the worst bit was almost over and that in just another 100m of ascent the terrain would start levelling out. And if she went back down, she`d just be doing the worst bit all over again. The others also tried to encourage her, and we all started walking much more slowly to help her keep up.
I went on ahead to find the path to the ridge, and she seemed much happier once it appeared. Luckily the weather cleared up a bit when we reached the summit, and we ended up having a great day.
Area :
Inveraray to Crianlarich (Ben Lui)
From the Arrochar Alps to Ben Lui, this area is home to nine Munros. Half of the peaks in the area are within the boundaries of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, while the others lie to the west. The three summits of The Cobbler (884m) contain some of the best climbing in the Southern Highlands while Ben Lui in winter looks positively Alpine. Access is relatively straightforward from the A83, A82 or A85.