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Bothy adventures in an arctic Southern Scotland.After the massive dump of snow that fell during the days after the 21st March, which curtailed our trip to White Laggan Bothy and Newton Stewart (YH) that weekend, thankfully my disappointment was short lived as I found myself heading north again.
A spot of good fortune meant that with my regular days off and the Easter bank holidays I had 7 days off
After getting advice on road and snow conditions on Talk Highlands the plan of stopping in three Bothy's in Southern Scotland was on the cards, none of which I had been to before.
After roughing it for 3 nights I would head back over the border to Carlisle, where we had a Hotel booked for the night (I would be meeting up with the wife who was coming up on the train) After the luxuries of the Hotel it was back north to Newton Stewart for a rearranged stopover in the YH.
Wed 27th.Kettleton Byre from Durisdeer.Weather. Sunny spells, very cold, snow during the evening.
I reckoned that this would be the best Bothy to start my trip into the arctic wilds of Southern Scotland, because out of the 4 Bothy’s I had in mind, this was the best one to judge the conditions that I would encounter in the following few days, it is the closest to a main road and the walk to it just was just 1.5miles.
As I drove nearer to Durisdeer all of the roads were clear, although drifts of around 5ft had been ploughed through on the minor road that leads to the village.
I was off walking by 4.25pm a little daunted by the depth of snow that confronted me at the start of the track, this could be hard work I thought.
At least it was fairly firm and others had walked over it before me, and after a few hundred meters the going got easier where the wind had swept the snow elsewhere.
I reached the Bothy in around 50minutes, outside was discarded wood probably left from a work-party and lots more cut ready inside, so along with my bag of coal I was going to have a cozy night by the fire.
It snowed lightly during the evening as I spent a nice night by the fire.
A full moon during a clearing of the cloud.Thurs 28thWeather. Mainly sunny, very cold.
I managed to keep the fire going during the night (due to paying the usual visit’s outside for the call of nature) so awoke to a warming fire in the morning.
Morning and the bonus of a fire still going.Outside the sun was shining and the sky blue…. time to amble up the hill behind me.
An estate track wound its way up most of the way, most of the time it was hard work with around 1ft of snow covering it. Once the track stopped I made a beeline for the summit again though deep snow.
View from Glenleith FellI reached the summit in 1hr, dropping back was a quicker affair, a direct route got me back to the Bothy in 15mins.
Leaving the Bothy.
I was back to the village by noon.
I then drove east, stopping at Moffat en route for an hour or so, then drove to Talla reservoir. Again the roads were clear until I had driven half way along the reservoir, where some deep snow had drifted across the road, some vehicles had got through (must have been a 4x4), so I tried to drive through the first drift….mistake! The banking of the drift pushed the car towards the iron fencing, and the way though the next section looked worse and furthermore I could not see ahead to know how long the drifting was or bad it would carry on along the remaining stretch of road, so I reversed…3 times before I got back out of the drift. So there was no other option but to park up here and walk the extra mile or so along the road.
Gameshope from Talla reservoir. 2.6m.Weather, Sunny spells, very cold.
The drifting snow across the road.After about 100m of walking I was out of the drifted snow and back on tarmac until I reached the farm at the south end of the reservoir, where the snow had settled again.
After the farm a road goes uphill over a high pass, not that you could see it today….
Somewhere by the fence is a road.I left the road after the farm to walk up the snowy glen. A good track leads to the Bothy.
Part way up I found a 6ft plank of wood, which added to the coal which I was carrying would come in handy for the Bothy fire later I thought, so this was carried awkwardly up for the remaining half-mile.
A river has to be crossed to get to the Bothy, a little tricky as it was mainly ice.
As I approached the Bothy I must report that I saved a sheep, as I found a fat (pregnant I think) sheep on its side with flapping legs several inches above the ground not able to get any purchase, I don’t know how long she had been stuck in this position, but I gave her a quick tug of her fleece and she was up and away looking no worse for the experience.
The sun had already deserted the freezing glen, so I was looking forward to another nice night by the Bothy fire.
Once inside I scanned the room, did a double take…and a further swift 3rd glance around…my stomach sank…NO STOVE!!!
I should have done my homework and checked the Bothy notes on the MBA website…Dunce!
When entering my notes into the Bothy book later I commented that I was not sure if I should write notes or 100 lines!
Not a time to cry over spilled milk I thought….After all I’m a tough mountaineer …. I’ve camped in temperatures of -15C, much colder than this would be….It’s character building ….think positive….it was still good to be here, all these thoughts went through my head, and actually it was fine, after hot soup and a meal I got into my sleeping bag as the light faded and had a cosy warm night. If fact I slept very well from 10pm until 9.30am.
A good hot meal.
As cosy as it got!
Moonlight. Friday 29thWeather. Mainly sunny, very cold.
As these walks to and from Bothy’s are fairly short there was no need to hurry in the morning, so the lie in was very welcome.
Leaving the Bothy
Leaving the Bothy
Back down by the Loch.
Another drive and stop through Moffat, here I found that my mate Alan Ross would not be joining me tonight as his wife had the flu (She is not a tough mountaineer!)
So off again on my lonesome to the Ettrick Valley for my 3rd Bothy night.
Over Phawhope Bothy from the Ettrick Valley. 1m.Weather, Mainly sunny, very cold.
This was just about the shortest and easiest walk in of the 3 Bothy’s.
A good track leads past a deserted farm to the Bothy (20mins) by a bridge over a river, a lovely spot fro some photo’s…
Start of walk.
Once inside I was pleased to see that it was all clean and tidy, as someone had posted on the forum that it had been vandalised just a week ago, anyway if it had, someone had been in to clean it up.
A grand fireplace.
Happy again by the fire.It was looking as if I was going to spend the night by myself again, but just as darkness was falling at 7.30pm, 2 men arrived, Charlie and Dave, who announced that they were going sea fishing that night! A bit of a strange plan I thought as they explained how their evening would unfold….
They had left Dalkeith, south of Edinburgh to travel to the Bothy that evening, have a meal and a few cans before getting their heads down for a few hour’s, walk back out then a 1.5hr drive to start fishing for sea bass by a Power station on the east coast at the high tide of 3.30am. Bizarre!
Apart from their plan they were quite sane and good company.
At 10pm they pulled on their sleeping bags staying seated on the chairs and dozed off. I stayed by the fire in silence until I departed to the other room at 11.20pm. I heard them packing in the early hours, but otherwise slept well though the freezing night.
Sat 30th Weather, mainly sunny and very cold again.
A cold night.I was up at 8am, after breakfast and packing it was time for more pictures before I left….
Back at the car by 9.30am….
Then it was time to head to Carlisle for a night of luxury in a Hotel, where I was meeting my wife who was travelling up from Wales on the train for the rest of the Easter weekend.
Sun 31st.A walk from Craigcallie House to Loch Trool, via White Laggen Bothy.
(And the tale of the tortoise and the hare!)Weather. Mainly cloudy, and still very cold.
We drove back north leaving a sunny Carlisle, but it became more cloudy as we headed west.
A minor road leads from Clatteringshaws Loch, increasingly snowy as we neared the lodge. Ele decided not to walk today so she would drive around to Loch Trool to meet me later.
The track through the forest was deep with snow, there were some footprints for me to ease the way.
About halfway to the Bothy two all terrain buggy’s passed me making my walking easier, until after several hundred meters later I caught them up as they struggled up through the deep drifts, their undercarriage getting beached on the snow. I chatted to the 4 guys, they were heading for a night in the Bothy…eventually lol.
Stuck!
I continued ahead of them, after a short time I heard them approaching me again, turned around to see the driver fly through the air as the buggy hit another drift leaving him spread-eagled in the snow! Laughter followed, so he was uninjured, I continued to the Bothy to check it out, another I had not been to before, there was lots of wood by the track and inside…oh I wished I was stopping there that night.
Swans footprints near the Bothy.
After a break of around 20mins I left to pass the 4 guys now within spitting distance of the Bothy, but struggling to make any headway in the deep snow for the remaining 100mts. I quipped about the tale of the tortoise and the hare, as I left them still standing around and wondering if they could get any nearer to the Bothy.
Short video of the Buggy getting stuck...http://youtu.be/p9IZM7oAi84The walk west now was somewhat easier, the snow not so deep and drifted and also now mainly down hill.
Loch Dee
Loch Dee panorama.
Looking back up the track.
Loch Trool.
Loch Trool panorama.
So back at Loch Trool and the end of my Bothy extravaganza, one I thoroughly enjoyed the snow and cold actually making it more enjoyable in a strange type of way.
Just one more night in Newton Steward before we left for home….
Newton Steward at dusk.
