Cairn Pat

2 May 2014

Participants: Just me on the hill.
Where: Cairn Pat, 182m/596', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 82, NX 044563

The weather forecast was good, particularly for the west, so a trip down the Ayrshire coast beckoned. I fancied making it a multi-purpose day out stopping at a couple of beaches so that Ben would get a good run about and I would get my last but one sub-2k in this part of Scotland. Cairn Pat is one of the easiest of hills, a few hundred yards up a track from the road. But it apparently had gates on it, so Ben had to stay in the car. He doesn't mind, he just curls up on the back seat and sleeps. For anyone wondering where this hill is, and that will probably be everyone who reads this blog, it is the highest point of the Rhins of Galloway, about two miles west of Stranraer.

 

While the sun was coming out in Kirkintilloch when we left, by the time we reached the hill it had clouded over, although the tops were well clear. Apparently the sunshine was in the east of the country. Weather forecasts, don't you just love em!  And all the gates on the track were open, so Ben could have come up. Ah well!

Parking is at a premium for this one. I managed to park near the top of a minor road opposite the track end where anyone coming round the corner could easily see the car. Not ideal but there was no-where else. The track up was good.....

 

In days long ago, Cairn Pat was crowned by a hill fort. There is nothing left of it now but you could see from the small plateau that is the summit and the wide views of the surrounding countryside what an ideal place it must have been for a small settlement. This is looking up at the trig above where one of the walls would have been.....

 

 

Today, the hill is crowned by a radio mast and a building. Fortunately, the highest point proved to be outwith the compound. This is looking west.....

 

and this is the view north, looking up Loch Ryan. You can just make out Ailsa Craig......

 

 

 So not bad for such a modest hill.