Burleywhag Bothy

20 July 2013

Where - Burleywhag bothy, Southern Scotland

No hills this week, instead, a few pictures of Burleywhag bothy, maintained by the MBA.....

 

I hadn't been at a work party for ages. Anyone who has been on one with me will readily understand why- my talents lie elsewhere! However, work parties are great fun and there's always some small job that I can do without endangering the structure of the building.

The temperatures were still soaring so I set off early to get the walk in to the bothy done before the worst of the heat arrived. The estate allows folk to park at Mitchellslacks farm which is also a starting point for Queensberry, the highest hill hereabouts. When I climbed it, it was from the east side, a very rough and boggy way. The Mitchellslacks approach looks really good so I've put it on my list for another visit.

The track was excellent; it followed the course of the Capel burn up the glen at a gentle angle. It was a very pleasant walk in some fine scenery, the only problem was that I had to be alert for clegs, they seem to like taking blood out of my hands for some reason. It had been a bit misty early on but that lifted as I made my way up the glen.....

I passed two former estate houses that were fast becoming ruinous and then the bothy came into view.....

Here are a few pictures that I took of the bothy. It was routine tasks that were being undertaken, essential if these buildings are to remain available for use by future generations of hill goers. These buildings would quickly become ruinous if left to the mercy of the elements. I think that everyone who enjoys the wild places should be a member of the MBA. Although like me, you may not have technical skills, there are other ways in which you can help and your membership fee will help buy the materials that are essential to keep the buildings wind and water tight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beneraird

14 July 2013

Participants - Just myself
Where - Beneraird, 439m/1,439', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 76, NX 135785

It is not often that a heat-wave keeps you off hill walking in Scotland but for the past week it had been almost too hot to move. However, the heat and humidity had eased, at least for the time being, so I set out to do the last of the sub-2k's that I still had to do in this part of the world. I drove up the narrow road that left the A77 south of Ballantrae and went as far as the farm at Kilwhannel but there was nowhere to leave the car so I turned and went back to the road junction where I was able to get it on to the verge in the bell-end of the minor road. Although it left over a mile and a bit of tarmac walking each way, it was better than parking in Ballantrae itself. I had thought about taking Ben on this walk but was glad that I hadn't; just after passing the farm I had to walk through a herd of cows with calves and after that there were lots of sheep on the pastures. The track was a good one and after such a long dry spell not squelchy in the slightest. As I climbed, the view to the north was of Knockdolian.....

Higher up, there was a good view back to Ailsa Craig and Knockdolian.....

The track got a bit rougher after passing under some power lines and shortly after, my intended hill came into view.....

The track wound its way gradually up the hill to a col and the trig came into view.....

There were a group of people at it; they had come up from the south, a much shorter way but which would have meant a much longer drive for me. The track went to within a hundred yards or so of the trig and a path had been carved out between the two. I hadn't realised just how much moorland there was in this part of the country- a sort of "no man's land" between the Galloway forest park and the Ayrshire coast.....

I could see the Irish ferries arriving and leaving the port at Cairnryan but apart from that there was no real focus to the view. This is looking east to the Galloway hills.....

I went back the same way to complete an 8 mile walk that took 4 hours. It was a pleasant enough hill but I think that of the 4 sub-2k's in this part of the world, Knockdolian is by far the best and the one that I would do again.

 On the way back up the road, I stopped to have a look at Crossraguel Abbey near Maybole. Although it has been knocked about a bit, there is enough left standing to show what the pattern of life must have been like in these buildings during the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. It's worth a visit.....

Belling Hill

6 July 2013

Participants - Just me
Where - Belling Hill, 354m/1,161', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 80, NT 642118

This was a sightseeing day with a new (for me) sub-2k Marilyn thrown in. It turned out to be a very easy hill although I believe that it has been quite difficult of access in the past when the forest was all standing and could be tricky again when the replacement conifers reach maturity. But today it was a leisurely 40 minutes up and down by track and then path. I drove through Jedburgh and took the minor road signed for Chesters. The start of the walk was opposite a farm called Fallside and there was lots of parking. Then it was a simple case of following the track which turned into a path where it left the trees. And as the starting point was at a height of 300m there was virtually no ascent either! This is on the path approaching the summit.....

The path went directly to the small cairn which was just before an old wall.....

The view to the north was to Rubers Law.....

and on the way down the view was to the north Keilder hills.....

It was a hot day so I wasn't bothered about finding another hill to climb. I had got my new tick! Instead, I had a wander round Jedburgh and visited the abbey, must have been a grand building in it's day.....

and on the way home also made a small diversion at Pathhead to have a look round Crichton Castle; built in the 14th century, it served as home to the Crichton's and then to the Earls of Bothwell. There is not much left now although some of the stonework is interesting.....

It had been a pleasant day out.

The Bochel

26 June 2013 (afternoon)

Participants - Just me
Where - The Bochel, 491m, Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 36, NJ 232232

It brightened up as the day went on so I decided that as it was only a 5 mile drive to get there, I would climb The Bochel as well. It would have been a shame not to have done it when I was so close and this was one of my feeling fitter days! The Bochel is one of the hills that didn't make it on to the original Marilyn list but was subsequently found to meet the relative height criteria. This hill is on the Glenavon estate which also welcomed walkers. I parked in the Allanreid car park about a mile south of Tomnavoulin. Ben had to stay in the car as there were a lot of sheep in a field that I had to cross and as I also found out there was a fence to cross. So the way up the hill was not dog friendly. This is a view of the hill from near to the car park.....

I crossed the footbridge and almost immediately went into a field, crossed it, went through a gate onto rougher ground, crossed that, then a fence and I was on to the heather slopes. It was steep but there was not too far to go. As I climbed, I could see this morning's hill, Carn Daimh, to the north with the Ladder hills behind it.....

Higher up, there was the semblance of a path. The angle eased and in less than an hour after leaving the car, I was at the cairn. The Cairngorms formed the backdrop to the west.....

but it was the hills closer by that caught the eye. This is looking back to the start of the walk- in the trees to the left- with the Corryhabbie hills beyond. The top of Ben Rinnes is just visible above the hill on the left.....

To the south were the Ladder Hills. The highest point, Carn Mor is a Corbett that I climbed years' ago; I seem to remember it as a long slog across heather slopes from the Lecht road.....

This was another fine viewpoint, well worth doing and it only took 1 hour 30 minutes.

Carn Daimh

26 June 2013 (morning)

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Carn Daimh, 570m/1,870', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 36, NJ 181249

We had moved down to Tomintoul, handy for lots of hills. I hadn't heard of Carn Daimh before I started searching for hills that I could take Ben on but the map indicated that there was a viewpoint at the top so I decided to go for that. There were a number of possible starting points but I opted for the car park at Glenconglass which would give us a longer walk than the route from Tomnavoulin. It was Crown Estate land and there were lots of waymarked walks; cycle trails were also being put in in several forest sections. We got a good view of the hill shortly after the start of the walk which was marked route 6.....

however, the track to it took a roundabout route through the forest. Once again it was not all conifers so there were views, this is looking towards Creagan a'Chaise, one of two Grahams across the glen in the Cromdale Hills.....

the track eventually left the trees a few hundred metres short of the top and joined the route of the Speyside Way. This is the approach to the top with its viewpoint topography, cairn and summit marker post.....

Unfortunately it was still a bit dull as this really was a fine viewpoint. The background to the west is Beinn A'an and Beinn a'Bhuird in the Cairngorms.....

to the east it is Ben Rinnes.....

and to the north it is Creagan a'Chaise.....

A close up of the marker post.....

We could have carried on down the western side of the hill to make a circuit but there was livestock in the fields in that direction so it was back the same way. This gave a walk of about 8 miles and took about 4 hours. And it was starting to brighten up as we headed back to Tomintoul. I started to have thoughts about doing something else in the afternoon!

Hill of Nigg

25 June 2013 (afternoon)

Participants - Just me
Where - Hill of Nigg, 205m/669', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 21, NH 828713

Cnoc Corr Guinie had only taken just over two hours so I drove round to Nigg to climb Hill of Nigg, one of the lowest of the Marilyns. It was made even easier by the side road to Castlecraig that reached 140m on the south side of the hill. It was a very quiet road so I parked in a lay-by. I was looking directly down on the Nigg energy yard and as I had seen from Cnoc Corr Guinie, there were some oil rigs in the Firth as well.....

The route went through fields. Unfortunately, I could see that there were cattle in the upper field and I guessed that there would probably be calves so best avoided. The field next door was just grass so I went up it keeping out of sight of the cattle, contoured part way round the summit area and sneaked up to the highest point from the other side. Although they had left their calling cards, all of the cattle were further down the hill. The top was marked by a few stones.....

and this is looking across the Moray Firth to the Banffshire coast.....

The walk car to car took only 40 minutes.

I just had to cross the Cromarty Firth on the ferry. This is what travel in the Highlands used to be like! The ferry crosses between Nigg and Cromarty and takes 4 cars. It uses a turntable to turn the cars round when they are on board- no RoRo here! The route is called the King's Ferry and is the route taken by King James VI when on pilgrimage to the shrine of St Duthac at Tain between 1493 and 1513. It took 10 minutes to cross and cost £9 for the car, Ben and me. Well worth it! Here are a few pictures.....

And this is the view of Hill of Nigg from Cromarty, the highest point is to the left of the shot.....

Cnoc Corr Guinie

25 June (morning)

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Cnoc Corr Guinie, 397m/1,301', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 21, NH 672754

I was having some work done in the house so Ben and I escaped for a few days for a short tour of  the north taking in some new sub-2k's- up the A9 to Inverness, down to Tomintoul and home by Braemar. The weather was a bit dull but the visibility was excellent and it was dry. Not that I expected to see wide panoramic views from Cnoc Corr Guinie which is another forested hill. It is difficult to find hills that don't have fences or livestock or some other hazard that prevents me taking Ben but generally the forested ones are ok so I tend to favour them when I have him with me.

I drove over the Kessock bridge, then the Cromarty bridge, past Evanton and up the B9176. We were up this way last year when I climbed Cnoc Ceislein. The start today was at the end of a forestry track where there was space for a couple of cars.....

Through the open gate and we immediately turned left and shortly after right on to a track that went all the way to the summit. Approaching the end of the forest, it swung right through some old gate posts and then went more steeply uphill......

At the top we were out into the open on some rough ground.....

There was a large cairn at the end of this clearing I suspect that there must have been a wall or a building about here at one time and the remaining stones have been formed into the cairn. It wasn't at the highest point, that appeared to be somewhere nearer the end of the track where I emerged onto the open ground. Anyway, the best view point was at the cairn, this is looking down to the Moray Firth.....

All the views had been behind us on the way up so we got them on the way back. From the high point of the path we were looking straight down through the gap in the trees to the oil rigs moored off Invergordon.....

It wasn't blanket forestry and there were glimpse of the hills to the west; this is the Graham, Beinn Tharsuinn which I have still to do.....

And this is looking towards Cnoc Fyrish and Cnoc Ceislein with the eastern corries of Bern Wyvis in the background.....

The walk was just over 4 miles.