Auchnafree Hill

30 July 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Auchnafree Hill, 789m/2,589', Corbett, Map 52, NN 809308

A refusal at the first fence! There is a three step style over the fence at the Loch Turret dam and Ben couldn't get over it. As usual, he was in very excitable mode at the start of a walk and it was clear that I was not going to be able to hold him still long enough to get him over. So it was back to the car park, over the cattle grid, through a hole in the fence and a contour over some rough ground to reach the track along the north shore of the loch. Fortunately it represented a diversion of only a couple of hundred yards.

The tops of the hills were in cloud but it was one of these days when you knew that it was going to clear. It's a really nice walk along the loch side with Ben Chonzie in the distance; and the heather was in bloom- autumn must be on its way!

While Ben Chonzie is always in view, Auchnafree Hill keeps itself hidden and we were well along the loch side before we got a view of it (the rounded bump in the middle).....

This is a very easy walk in the sense that there is a good track all of the way. After passing the head of the loch, the path splits and the right hand branch contours up and across the east slopes of Auchnafree Hill. There is a good view back to the loch from here.....

Nearing the top of the track, Ben shot off up the heather in pursuit of a hare. The hare won.....by several lengths. Grouse were next to have a go, they won as well. I spotted a Ring Ouzel.

Where the track started to level off, we reached another junction and turned left; this took us all the way to the top. There were two cairns, the smaller eastern one seems to mark the summit but the bigger, western cairn is the better viewpoint.....

There were other people on the track along the loch side but they must all have been heading for Ben Chonzie and we had the Corbett to ourselves. The earlier cloud had by now lifted off the tops and the views on the way back were much clearer.....

Auchnafree Hill is not the most exciting of the Corbetts but I rather like it, especially in winter when a bit of snow gives it more character. The walk back along the loch side always seems a bit interminable though!

To finish, here's a pic of Ben and me taken earlier in the year from the other side of Loch Turret. Auchnafree Hill is the third bump from the right and you can just see the track slanting up its ridge. Gives a bit of an idea of the length of this walk.....

Craiglee (Loch Doon)

23 July 2011

Where - Craiglee (Loch Doon), 523m/1,716', Map 77, NX 470962
Participants - Same as yesterday.

Well that was a good one! It was helped by having a glorious sunny day, excellent visibility and a slight breeze that kept the midges and flies away. I had decided to venture south again to another bit of the Galloway Forest Park that I had not been to before- Loch Doon, south of Dalmellington. After stopping in that now terribly rundown village for a paper and a bottle of water, I turned off down a single track road and soon left the old industrial area behind. This was my first view of today's objective- Craiglee.....

With the hills forming a background to the loch, I could have been in the highlands. There was a big car park at the old castle- more of that later- and we were soon on our way up a grassy track that left the road immediately south of the building. The Merrick and its surrounding hills soon came into view.....

Where the path split, I chose to go right, only because that branch seemed to be gaining more height. This took me well up the Wee Hill of Craigmulloch and when I was level with the col between it and Craiglee I contoured round and tackled the mostly grassy slopes head on.....

It was a steady pull up, mostly on grass but with some heather and a few boulders to cross. We reached a cairn and the summit was then only a few hundred yards further on.....

It was a brilliant viewpoint. This is looking back to Loch Doon with Cairnsmore of Carsphairn background.....

Further round on the far side of the loch were the Rinns of Kells and Corserine.....

And round still further the Merrick and the hills to its north as far as Shalloch on Minnoch.....

There are lots of lochs in this area; immediately to the north of Craiglee was Loch Finlas.....

I hung about at the summit for a while before returning by the same route. Then it was time to have a look at the castle.....

This is all that's left of the inside.....

The castle was originally built on an island in the loch. However when the water level was raised in the 1930's for hydro purposes, the castle was removed and rebuilt stone by stone to its present location near the shore line. The water level was low enough today to see the original site out in the loch.....

The castle was built in the early 14th century and it played a role in the Wars of Independence.

The Forestry Commission have provided a forest drive linking the Loch Doon road to the road that goes from Straiton to Newton Stewart so rather than go back the same way I took that. The surface was better than a number of classified roads that I can think of! I had thought that I would be deep in the forest for most of the drive but the route was surprisingly open. The road passed a number of lochs including this one- Loch Bradan, with views to the Merrick hills.....

and to Shalloch on Minnoch.....

An excellent trip- one that I can recommend.

Cairn Table

22 July 2011

Where - Cairn Table, 593m/1945', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 71, NS 724242
Participants - Neil and Ben

Industrial East Ayrshire is not a part of the country that you would think of for hill walking but Cairn Table is a gem. I have climbed it a few times now and enjoyed it every time. There is a walkers car park at Kames, just south of Muirkirk and a couple of routes go on to the hill from there. There is a more or less direct path across rough moorland that turns into a good track higher up the north ridge and a more circuitous route following the Garpel water for a bit before striking up towards the west ridge. Although duck boards and bridges have been put down in the worst places, the direct route tends to be wet and muddy in its initial stages so after all the rain that we have had recently I decided to give it a miss and take the slightly longer west ridge route.

The Muirkirk area is rich in industrial heritage and there are a number of information boards scattered about.....

We had only walked a short distance before we came across a memorial to John Loudon Macadam who was born in Ayr and who owned tar kilns in the area and who pioneered a type of road construction in the period around 1820. Modern road construction still follows the principles that he set down....

We continued along the land rover track as far as the Sanquhar bridge over the Garpel Water where a rough path branched off and crossed the moor. This is the view of Cairn Table from the bridge.....

I suspect that this is now quite a popular way up as the path quickly improved and is a lot more distinct than I remembered it. There were good views back to Muirkirk when we reached the ridge. The hill behind the village is Middlefield Law, another Sub-2,000' Marilyn, and one of the roughest hills that I have been on.....

In no time at all, we were approaching the cairn. From industrial Scotland, we had been transported back to pre-historic Scotland. There are two prehistoric cairns on the summit, one of which is  largely intact. The stones from the other cairn, however, have been used to build a memorial to the folk from Muirkirk who fought in the 1914-18 war. This cairn is massive and can be seen from many miles away.

Cairn Table is a wonderful viewpoint on a good day and although there was a lack of sunshine today, the air was very clear and I could see everything that was mentioned on the view indicator- the hills of the Lake District, Arran, Ailsa Craig etc. Too far away for a good photograph though. Apart from the cairns and the view indicator, there is a trig point so here is Ben getting in the picture.....

We returned by the same route. An interesting day!

Ward Law

13 July 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Ward Law, 594m/1,950', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 79, NT 262159

I decided on another trip to the borders- to climb one of the few Marilyns in the Ettrick area that I had not yet attempted. So after a short stop in Innerleithen which was draped in blue and white bunting for its annual gala celebrations, I took the narrow roads heading south to the Ettrick valley- a nice piece of countryside. In the hamlet of Ettrick, I had a look at the monument marking where the cottage in which James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd had been born, had stood. Hogg is buried in the churchyard here.

Shortly beyond that I was able to pull off the road beside the war memorial at the start of a right of way that went through the hills to Riskinhope Hope and St Mary's Loch. The path was a bit faint in places but it contoured up the hillside above the glen of the Kirk burn with a view of my objective across the burn.....

After crossing the burn, it was simply a case of climbing the easy grassy slopes until the cairn came into view. There are a number of distinctive and well built cairns on the hills around here but this one was the daddy of them all- a cairn built to mark the jubilee of Queen Victoria apparently. So who is the £$%!£ who has decided to build a high fence across the moor and which now almost encloses the cairn, completely spoiling its situation?  Land management is important but this is just a bit on the excessive side.....
 

I returned by the same route making detours where necessary to avoid sheep so that Ben could run about as much as possible; I guess that the fact that this is sheep country might explain the need for a fence but they might have kept it a bit further away from the cairn! The view on the way down was to the hills at the head of the Ettrick valley.....

It would be possible to do a few Sub-2,000'ers in a day around here with little driving between them but I was feeling lazy and had climbed them already so we just went to Peebles and had a stroll along the Tweed instead.

Craigenreoch

2 July 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Craigenreoch, 565m/1,854', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 76, NX 335910

A change of scenery today and a new bit of the country for me. Craigenreoch is on the western edge of the Galloway Forest Park; all of my previous visits to the area have involved the Galloway Corbetts, further to the east and south. So it was an enjoyable drive once I'd passed Ayr- on to Maybole, then Crosshill and then a narrow winding road further south. This was my first sight of today's objective.....

The road actually has a name or at least part of it has, Nick of the Balloch. More importantly, there was a large lay-by at its highest point- very handy! A rough track started a few yards further back the road and this continued all of the way to the summit, although we left it for a bit to avoid bumping into some sheep. The first section was steep but it got us quickly up on to the moor above and that was virtually all of the ascent done. You can see the summit in the distance in this pic....

The first bump we came to is named Rowantree Hill on the map and it's top was marked by a few stones.....

Even off the path, the going was easy on shortish grass and in no time at all (well, about an hour after leaving the car) we were at the trig.....

It was a fine viewpoint. This is looking to The Merrick.....

and to Shalloch on Minnoch.....

and south-west where there seem to be an awful lot of wind farms.....

It was a bit hazy out to the Clyde estuary but I managed this zoomed shot of Ailsa Craig.....

This was a hill that only came on to my radar recently and I was glad that it had. I was aware that it was on the Marilyn list but I wasn't sure exactly where it was in relation to a road as I don't have that particular OS map. Although in appearance and terrain it was more "Ochil" than "Galloway" it was in a nice bit of country that I would not have visited had I not been doing some of the sub-2,000's. And it was a short day so on the way back I stopped at Prestwick beach and had a couple of hours in the sun looking over at Arran, an island that I have been meaning to go back to if we ever get a few good weather days on the trot.