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!
2 comments:
I`ve been saving this one for years Neil.Don`t know whether for a good day or a bad day :)
I think I`ll take your advice though and do it from Kirkland and hope the farmer/access officer have made some sense of it all.
Ben seems to be in a state of permanent hyperactivity in all his photos :) Nice looking dog...
Alex.
St Connel's churchyard is worth a look if you're coming in from Kirkland, Alex. It is, or at least was when I was there, kept in good condition.
I think that Ben's motto is "don't walk when you can run"! He's a great dog though. Neil
Post a Comment