Walk Report

It is not often that I visit the hills of the Southern Uplands of Scotland, and so when our group decided on ––3 days walking based in Newton Stewart to take in some of the hills in the Galloway Forest Park I decided to tag along in the hope of getting a few new hills to log. As it transpired, the weather was to scupper our plans to such an extent that we only managed one day of mountain walking, with the other two days confined to a coastal walk and a low level river walk, the common theme of all three walks being the rain. Nevertheless, it was a great three days, as the following reports will show. The one mountain we did manage to climb was Merrick, a Corbett of 843m in height, and the highest of the mountains in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, so that in itself was a big plus.

In rather damp and misty conditions we departed the parking area at the end of the road along Glen Trool leading to the eastern end of Loch Trool and Bruce’s Stone and headed north climbing the narrow path which rises quite steeply above the Buchan Burn. There are occasional glimpses of the burn below until eventually the path draws alongside the flowing waters and minor waterfalls, before branching off once again and taking a higher level route through the woodlands towards the small bothy at Culsharg, an ideal spot for a short break and to explore the rather substantial structure of the bothy, solid and with a fine roof, albeit indoors there is only bare walls and floor, but, a dry shelter if needed.

Beyond Culsharg our route took us up through a short section of woodland before we reached the open hillside and an interesting concrete slab laid on the path informing us of the boundary between forest and mountain, or montane as the plaque reads. With the open hillside came the mist, drizzle and wind which only increased as we climbed towards the main ridge and swung northwest alongside a fine stone wall heading directly towards Benyellary and it’s fine cairn marking the 719m summit. This was the point when we now felt the impact of the weather, windy and decreasing visibility. It was here also that Ian and I let the main group go on ahead, as we took a slightly easier pace along the Neive of the Spit with the others quickly disappearing into the mist ahead.

We took a bit of a battering from the rain and wind along the Neive while keeping a careful check on where we needed to swing away from the guiding stone wall and head northeast for the final kilometre to the summit of Merrick somewhere there in the mist. On the final approach, the ridge broadens somewhat although a few cairns and the rather worn track is straightforward enough although I always like to check bearings when in mist, just to be sure, as I noticed Ian was also doing. The large stone shelter with a few head popping above was the give-away that we had reached the summit just as the main group were about to leave, it was as I stood and looked at them I realised just how drookit they looked, as no doubt we did to them. A wet, misty and windy summit is no place to hang around, and so after a very quick snack Ian and I also departed the summit, a summit which apparently offers some magnificent views, even as far as The Isle of Man on a good day. Today was not a good day by any stretch of the imagination.

Compass check and we were off retracing our steps down the ridge, along the Neive and back to Benyellary in what seemed like double-quick time, or was that simply the urge to get down out of the wind and rain. A few short stops on the descent to acknowledge a couple and one group of five battling the elements on their ascent and that was our only interaction with humans for the whole time on the hill. A pause a Culsharg for a drink and then onwards down the narrow and rocky path for our return to the car park and a chance to catch up with the other, no coffees today, just a quick return to our accommodation for a hot shower and sort out some very wet gear to dry before it was all put to the test again tomorrow. It is at times like these I thank Mr Goretex for his wonderful innovation.

An exciting day on Merrick, thank you Ian and everyone else for your company.