Some of the most accessible high mountains in Scotland are the Arrochar Alps. Less than an hour's drive from Glasgow, these are many people's first Munros (the mountains in Scotland that measure over 3000 feet), and so it was for me. Arrochar is within walking distance of five Munro peaks: Beinn Narnain, Beinn Ime, Ben Vane, Ben Vorlich and the most southerly of all Munros: Ben Lomond.

 

However, my reason for being here was not primarily to bag Munros (although Beinn Narnain was intended as my first) but to get up close and personal with The Cobbler, which falls just short of Munro height at 2900 feet. However, what The Cobbler lacks in height it makes up for with drama. Three distinctive craggy summits tower above Loch Long in an awesome display of brute strength. It ain't pretty but it does have a certain grandeur. And to gain the summit one must "thread the needle" underneath the rock tower, clamber up a narrow ledge (knees shaking) on the edge of a sheer drop and pull oneself up onto it's rocky zenith. The reward: a stunning panorama that takes in Loch Long, The Firth of Clyde, Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps. It is no wonder that The Cobbler stands proud, despite being surrounded by higher peaks with that special Munro status, as the undisputed king of the Arrochar Alps.