Photographs, route description and map of a traverse of Ben More and Stob Binnien above Crianlarich

Location: west of Balquhidder, Stirlingshire
Map: OS Landranger 51 , 57 [GR M6185]
Distance: 6.5 miles [10.5km]
Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
Terrain: paths

This elegant and sophisticated peak is one of the highest and finest in the Southern Highlands, the perfect match for big, brusque Ben More to the north. Both giants stand head and shoulders above anything else in the vicinity and, as might be expected, require significant effort to reach the summit, particularly when you climb Stob Binnein from lnverlochlarig.
The ascent from the glen is exhaustingly steep, but thankfully much faster than Ben More's unrelenting ascent, and the reward is a fabulous high-level summit ridge with a more relaxing incline and panoramic views north to distant Ben Nevis.
From the A84 follow the minor road past Balquhidder, Loch Voil and Loch Doine to the car park near Inverlochlarig, the last home of Rob Roy MacGregor.
The path starts at the stile opposite, signposted Am Binnean ( an older name for Stob Binnein ) and Stob Coire an Lochain.
The origins of the Gaelic Stob Binnein are clear, "stob meaning prominent or pointed and "binnein" meaning peak.
However, as Peter Drummond points out in his book Scottish Hill Names, the Gaelic for anvil is "innean" and Stob Binnein's outline and ﬂattened top do have a striking resemblance to an anvil, especially when viewed from Strath Fillan to the north.
Zigzag up the hillside with increasingly good views of the surrounding lochs and peaks. The going is hard work and the path eroded in places, making this by far the toughest section of the walk.
The route, though, is easy to make out and if you keep a steady pace you'll eventually gain a fence and a stile below rocky Stob lnvercarnaig, where the route levels out. A rightwards traverse leads to a further short section of steep ascent, from where a more gently inclined shoulder leads to the start of the better defined south ridge of Stob Coire nan Lochain.
This gives delightful airy walking with only a slight incline to gain the summit cairn ( 1068m/3504ft ) and views of Ben More beyond.
From here, a short descent round the top of Stob Binnein's south-east corrie gains steeper, grassy then rocky slopes to gain the summit cairn ( 1165m/3822ft ) Ben More looks close but the time taken to complete the round trip ( at least two hours ) plus the extra total ascent can make for a gruelling end to what is otherwise an enjoyable day.
The route of ascent is the best return route, with the steep descent to lnverlochlarig putting as much strain on the knees as the ascent puts on the heart and lungs. so pack some walking poles if you have them.

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