Over The Hill

Keen to return to the Moffat hills, Ian had earmarked White Coomb as a possibility for this weekend, and by Thursday we had opted for Saturday, with Lesley also deciding to join us for the day. Coincidently, Carn Dearg were in Moffat for the weekend too, but we had made no plans to meet up with them, and so it was by pure chance, that, as we turned off the M74 and drove through Moffat we literally joined a procession of Carn Dearg cars along the A708 and into our start point at the Grey Mare's Tail National Trust car park; not only were they parking up beside us, but they were also heading for White Coomb.

So, with our numbers swelling from 3 to 11, we all set off on the well constructed path up the steep slopes of the Tail Burn and immediately into the gloom and mist which covered the hillside. The path climbs high above the gorge down which tumbles a series of waterfalls forming "The Grey Mare's Tail" but such was the density of the mist, we could hear, but not see the waterfalls as we traversed the steep hillside.

Above the gorge, the ground leveled a little , and it was here that we searched for a suitable point to cross the burn, which, we managed, but not without the odd wet boot or two, as the water was deep enough to cover the majority of good rocks, and those that stood above the water level were coated in a rather slippery moss. Nevertheless, everyone crossed without any major incident and 0nce over the burn, and with the mist still swirling around us, we checked our maps, set our compasses and trudged through the deep heather tussocks until we picked up the rough track which followed the line of an old stone wall, winding its way over the minor top of Upper Tarnberry, through Rough Craigs and onto the broad grassy summit of White Coomb, at 821m a fine Corbett, which ticked yet another box for those Corbett baggers amongst us.

It was here that we three departed company with Carn Dearg, and headed off into the mist making our way along the broad, grassy ridgeline via Firthhope Rig and Donald's Cleuch Head to Firthybrig Head, by which time the mist had started to break up, and we were beginning to see signs of blue skies and sunshine ahead, and, by the time we had made the short ascent onto Lochcraig Head we had blue skies and white clouds, with any remaining mist stubbornly clinging to the sides of the dips and gullies of the lower hillsides.

A sweeping descent on the grassy slopes of Lochcraig Head and a trudge through heather and boggy ground to the east of Loch Skeen brought us back onto the track at the outflow of the Tail Burn from Loch Skeen, and onwards down past the waterfalls of The Grey Mare's Tail, now just visible through the mist which had thinned considerably since we had made out ascent on the track earlier in the day.

A fine day, on a fine hill - Thanks Ian.