In reply to Harry Jarvis:
> A quick post to thank Dave Hewitt for sharing his preferred route on Ben Lawers, starting at Tombreck Farm. Good weather yesterday tempted me out and I enjoyed a fine day out. However, I was struck by the very poor state of the path on the descent from Ben Lawers to Bheinn Ghlas - very badly eroded and ribboned.
Happy to be of help. Glad you had a good day. That initial moorlandy section above the track can be a bit of a grind, but it doesn't last too long and the top part is lovely. Did you meet anyone before the main summit?
Warm day for it yesterday - good effort. I went up Whitewisp from the Dollar back road in the afternoon and it felt a bit much. Couldn't even face the usual link to Tarmangie - flopped down at the Whitewisp cairn for 20 minutes and ate a Tunnocks that I'd somehow managed to keep from melting.
Re the main path off Ben Lawers, it is something of a trip hazard, especially in descent where the stepped sections need care and folk (me included, I must confess) tend to angle off left or right to easier ground. Mind you, it's not as awkward as the pitched section of the main Tarmachan path, in the steep little gully - that appears to have been built by someone with small feet!
> I was amused to meet a chap doing a water vole survey on the lower slopes. We agreed it seemed a very unlikely habitat!
Interesting about the survey - there are plenty of common voles around (again in the Ochils the southern slope of Blairdenon is a good place to see them), but water voles are more unusual.