Kirkland Hill

22 November 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Kirkland Hill, 511m/1675', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 71, NS 731163

I had climbed Kirkland Hill once before. On that occasion, I approached it from the south, from Kirkland. An excellent track led from a car parking area to a farm and carried on through the farmyard to the old church of St Connel's; unfortunately, walkers were diverted away from the farm and the track through a couple of very muddy fields with cattle in them before rejoining the track further on. As there must be very few walkers in this neck of the woods, I thought that this was a tad unfriendly!

Not wanting to face mud and cattle today, especially as I had Ben with me, I decided to try a route from the east. The map showed a single track road leaving the B740 just before the junction with the A76 and going about 5 miles before ending at the buildings at Fingland. So I took this; it was a surprisingly good surface although there weren't many passing places. The hill came into view as I got closer....

About 4 miles in, after a big bend in the road, I reached a cattle grid at the start of a right of way to Kirkland and Kirkconnel. There was just enough room for a car at the entrance to the track.....

Kirkland Hill appears to be the highest point of the moors above Sanquhar and as I was already at 300m at the start point, there wasn't a lot of ascent. However although there wasn't much height gain it was pretty rough going mainly over tussocks until I got near to the summit.....

The weather on the drive down had been great but it clouded over as I approached the top, although it proved just to be some passing cloud and I was back with blue sky and sunshine before I reached the car again. The trig looked as though it wasn't exactly at the highest point but there wasn't much in it. The next picture is of the trig looking south east to the Lowther hills and the one after looking east towardsTinto.....

So not a long walk but an unexpected bonus to get such good weather in late November. Having done both routes, I reckon that the one from Kirkland is better, if you don't mind mud and cows!

Cairngorm

7 November 2011

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben
Where - Cairngorm, 1245m, Munro, Map 36

You don't get many days like this in November, or any other month in 2011 come to think of it! Clear blue skies and perfect visibility and hardly any wind. It was just a pity that daylight hours are getting short and as I had to drive home afterwards, the objective had to be a hill that we could be up and down in a few hours. Cairngorm and part of the Northern corries fitted the bill exactly.

We drove up to the Coire Cas car park and set off up the main track to the Ptarmigan. I had the notion to come back down on the railway so took a picture of the train going up.....

 The main track is a bit boring so after passing the upper buildings, we headed for the Fiacall a'Choire Chais which was broad and stony and led up the west side of the corrie to its top at 1141m. This was a very easy way up but got us away from the ski area and provided ever widening views into and beyond Coire an t-Sneachda.....

We paused for a bit at the cairn at the top of the ridge. This is a favourite viewpoint of mine; coming up this way it provides a first view into the main range as well as the distant views to the north and west. Today we could easily make out Morven in Caithness and whole ranges of hills beyond Ben Wyvis; unfortunately they are so distant that my photographs don't do them justice.....

It was far too early in the day to go to the summit so we dropped down to the col for a wander along the top of Coire an t-Sneachda as far as the high point at 1176m. From here, we could glimpse the tops of Cairn Toul and the Angels Peak.....

look across the plateau to Ben Macdui (this one taken on a previous visit; the sun was in the wrong place today).....

look south over the top of Carn Etchachan to Loch Etchachan and Derry Cairngorm.....

and round to Beinn Mheadhoin.....

The latter brought back memories of days when I climbed Cairngorm, dropped down the back to Loch Avon to visit the Shelter Stone, climbed Beinn Mheadhoin and then came back either the same way or via the Saddle. Wouldn't be able to do that now! Today, we simply retraced our steps to the col and climbed the stony west slopes of Cairngorm.....

Here is a summit pic, looking down to Glenmore.....

Not far from the cairn is the weather station, I noted that it said that the wind speed here had reached 176 mph one February day.....

I suppose that the train ride down is a bit expensive- £7.50 for an adult and £1 for a dog- but it is a bit of an adventure and I think worth doing if only because it is a different and unique Scottish hill experience. Dogs had to travel in the standing only compartment at the back of the carriage (with their owners of course); I suppose you could say therefore that I ended up in the dog house! Here are a couple of views through the window; glad that that deer missed us!!!......

The sun was getting low in the sky as we drove back past Loch Morlich so I stopped and took a picture of where we had been, and also looking across the loch towards Glen Einich.....

They summed up the day perfectly.

Creag Bheag (Kingussie)

6 November 2011

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben
Where - Creag Bheag, 487m/1,597', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 35, NH 745017

All of the forecasts were agreed- it was going to be good weather. So a chance- last of the year I would imagine- to do something further away from home. As it would only be for a couple of days I didn't fancy driving too far so we booked into Aviemore which would let me do this for me new Marilyn on the way up and something more substantial the following day before driving home again.

Creag Bheag stands above Kingussie and is another one of these good wee hills to break up a journey. We started at the main car park behind the big hotel; again no problems with route finding on this one, it was well signposted.....

The path wound a way through birch woods, then pine trees before reaching the open hill. The summit area was a series of knolls, each with a cairn on it. It was a bit difficult to decide which was the highest point and the map showed two 487m spot heights. We concluded that the west top might be slightly higher but as we were traversing the hill anyway it didn't matter as we visited them all.   Here I am with Ben at the west top with the Cairngorms in the background, it was a bit breezy so another bad hair day.....

Here's a selection of views from the ridge. This is looking to A'Chailleach in the Monadliath.....

back along the ridge with Creag Dhubh beyond.....

and over Kingussie to the Cairngorms.....

There was a substantial stone shelter just below the east top....

and the hill drops sharply and roughly to the north to the trench containing Loch Gynack.....

The east ridge was much steeper and the path rougher and also muddy and Ben was more brown than white by the time that we got down to lower ground. However the loch was close at hand and a few minutes swim cleaned the worst of the mud off. From the loch, the path, still signposted, went through a gate and into more woodland and we soon arrived at the edge of the golf course and then the public

roads that led back to the car park. And the forecast was promising even better weather tomorrow!

Barbay Hill, Great Cumbrae

1 November 2011

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben
Where - Barbay Hill, Island of Great Cumbrae, 127m/417', Island high point.

I keep meaning to visit more islands although to be fair, the poor weather this year has provided a decent excuse for failure. Islands need good weather to be appreciated properly and 2011 has not been good. However there is a wee island in the Firth of Clyde only 30-odd miles from home that always satisfies the craving for another few months- Great Cumbrae or Greater Cumbrae as the local tourist association says that it should be called. The 10 minute ferry trip from Largs transports you to another world- at least outwith the main tourist season! There are lots of walks to do and things to see so as well as the pictures that I took today, I have added a few more to give a better flavour of the Island.

Today, the normal luxurious ferry- the Loch Shira -seen here on a previous visit leaving Largs for Cumbrae slip.....

 was having some work done to it and the route was being operated by one of CalMac's older vessels- the Isle of Cumbrae- here at Cumbrae slip looking back to Largs.....

We decided to visit the highest point of the island- Barbay Hill and the Glaidstone. This was a different sort of hill walk for Ben, the island is mostly farm land and the walk is on ordinary roads, although there is very little traffic. For some reason, the furry one was in a very excited state today and the least said about his behaviour the better. Let's leave it that his hearing seems to be a bit selective on occasions! However, he did settle down eventually and was quite calm on his first ride on a bus on the journey back to the pier.

Sitting slap bang in the middle of the Clyde estuary, Barbay Hill is a good viewpoint, despite its lack of height. There was a bit of a haze today so the mountains of the southern highlands were not as clear as I had seen them on previous visits and the Arran hills retained a cap of cloud all day. But the nearer views were excellent and for the first day of November it was not at all bad.....

After the summit, we carried on along the road and dropped down to Millport, the "capital" of the island. Most of the shops were shut; it was lunch time. We also had a bit to wait for the bus as the ferry takes a break in the early afternoon but it was actually very pleasant sitting in the bus shelter at the pier enjoying a bit of sunshine. I took a couple of photos of the harbour and the town.....

A "main" road, about 10 miles long,  runs right round the island hugging the shore. I have walked it a few times and also cycled round. The west side of the island is more rugged than the east and there are glimpses of  Goat Fell and the other high hills on Arran, with the southern tip of Bute in between.....

This is an island that I am sure that I will continue going back to again and again.