This is another hike I’m a tad late posting! And by a “tad” late I mean like a year and a half. Started writing this one up in August 2022 and just finished it. But, well, never mind!
I found myself with 2 hiking days completely solo and to myself in Scotland early in August 2022. I hiked non stop for them. And my first route was 3 of the Lawers 7, a route from the Ben Lawers car park that takes in 3 munros in the Lawers range:
- Beinn Glas
- Ben Lawers
- Meall Corranaich
Here’s how it went.
| Hike date | 4th August 2022 |
| Weather conditions | Warm and dry. Some cloud cover here and there but essentially a really wonderful hiking day |
| Distance hiked | 15km |
| Walking time | 5 hours 26 minutes |
| Elevation gain total | 1,170m |
| Terrain | Incredibly well maintained paths almost all the way around, Rocky summit at Ben Lawers but, hey, it’s a mountain! |
| Hiked With | Solo |
As far as Munro hiking days go, this one felt like incredible value for effort. Starting at the Ben Lawers car park sees you already 400m+ up and the paths are incredible. 3 munros in under 6 hours made for a stunning and straightforward solo hiking day.
Beinn Glas, Ben Lawers and Meall Corranaich Route
This is the route I took:
The paths here (in summer conditions) are incredibly easy to follow. Look how well maintained so many of them are:
Parking at the Ben Lawers car park, you have a very straightforward footpath up to the first summit, Beinn Glas. From here, you descend slightly before re-ascending to Ben Lawers.
Now, as far as summits go, Ben Lawers might be one of my favourite to date. Excellent summit markers/cairns always add to the drama. I got amazing views over Loch Tay and the surrounding mountains too. It was beautiful.
From here I descended back off Ben Lawers the way I had gone up. but veered off to the right instead of back up Beinn Glas. This takes you to a footpath that skirts around Beinn Glas (no re-ascent needed).
You can follow that footpath right back to the car park. Or, as I did, you can take an off shot to the right to ascend Meall Corranaich and bag a hat trick of munros on one relatively simple hike.
Lots of people decided against the third summit from what I saw. But I decided to head on up it and I was so glad I did. These were the best views of the day in my opinion:
It was an incredibly quiet summit compared to others with only one other human up there while I was there.
How Hard Was the Hike?
It was relatively straightforward in terms of Munro hikes but bear i mind the weather was great!
In snowy conditions when the paths are covered, navigation wouldn’t be as straightforward.
Of course, it’s strenuous and as with any mountain climb, so much will depend on fitness and the weather.
But I managed this one without too much difficulty and it was one of the easier of the munro hikes I’ve done to date.
The Review
I loved this one. I think Ben Lawers is beautiful. That whole area is stunning.
For a solo hike, having the well kept and easy to follow paths was beautifully reassuring and it was just a gorgeous day up in the hills.
The summits weren’t too busy. The busiest was Ben Lawers itself on which I saw six people but I was there on a Thursday afternoon. That said, it was the summer holidays!
Would Ben Lawers be suitable for children?
This is something I always ask myself when I do hikes without any of my children! I took my eldest up Ben Nevis via the mountain path just 3 week or so after I hiked this. And actually when I was trying to talk him into other Munros instead of Ben Nevis (because I not long since done it via CMD Arète and didn’t particularly fancy the mountain path, selfishly 😂), the Lawers range was amongst my suggestions.
The easy to follow paths and high elevation start would make this a good shout for kids, I think! But of course it will very much depend on your specific children.
Would I do it again?
I’ll be back to finish the Lawers this year I hope. I love that range and, if someone asked me to accompany them to bag these munros, I’d have no problem repeating them. This was a beautiful hike!
