The morning started out very misty, but the forecasts assured us that it would burn off during the day leaving blue skies and sunshine. At the unearthly hour of 8am two very disgruntled little Beagles were hauled out of (our) bed and bundled into the car. We were soon on our way to Arrochar to climb Ben Aurthur – more commonly known as the Cobbler.

At the start of the walk we were shrouded in mist and couldn’t really see much at all. However, it didn’t really matter as the first Kilometer of the walk winds up through the forest. As we emerged onto the open hillside the mist seemed to evaporate in an instant leaving some lovely views.

Looking back across the forest to the hills on the other side of the Loch.

Looking ahead to the three summits of the Cobbler

A good, not-too-steep path leads most of the way up the Cobbler.

Of course, Beanie and Biggles manage to complicate even the easiest of routes by one parking her bum exactly where you were about to put your foot whilst the other unexpectedly lunges in the opposite direction:

There is however a very steep climb up to the distinctive, rocky summits.

Beanie and Biggles stop to admire the views just below the little ridge between the Northern and Central summit.

If I look a bit tense in this next picture it’s because I’d just accidentally wandered a little closer to a sheer drop than any sane person would want to be whilst attached to two crazy Beagles!!

The Cobbler has three summits, but only the North and central summits are accessible without climbing skills. We headed up the North summit first. There are some scary sheer cliffs once up there, but the route up isn’t exposed – although it is a bit scrambly and tricky with two inquisitive little Beagles in tow!

We start to make our way up the North summit – you can see the central summit behind us and the infamous ‘eye of the needle’

The North summit – it was a busy little hill today!

The views from the North Summit were amazing!

Beanie and Biggles made lots of new friends:

Nothing like sharing a meal to cement a friendship

Up until this point Beanie and Biggles had been surprisingly good. In fact a lot of people commented on how well behaved they were. But as we started to scramble down the North summit they figured this was the ideal time to go off on a noisy Beagle frenzy. There was much baying, squabbling, lunging and general commotion. We reluctantly concluded that with all things considered the safest way was to shuffle down on our bums! It’s one thing to have to use the “bum” method at all, but it’s quite another to have to do it when your dogs are ensuring that all the other walkers see you. Very embarrassing. But then embarrassment is a way of life with our two mutts

By now the central summit was shrouded in thick mist. There didn’t seem much point in going up if we couldn’t see anything. We hung around for a few minutes to see if it would clear then headed back down saving the delights of the central summit for another day.

The route up the back of Cobbler. You can just make out the ‘eye of the needle’ on the central summit. Our destination for Monday, weather permitting