Craiglee

[rob munbett]

I was driving down to Glenlee Cottages to spend a walking weekend with friends and decided upon a slight detour to climb this hill on the journey down. I had never been down the road on the west side of Loch Doon so this was all new to me. The weather wasn't being particularly kind, but it was warm and dry, if a little misty on the tops. I parked in the large car par by Loch Doon Castle and saw a large green waymarker "Craiglee Trail". Ah good, I thought, a nice straightforward day - but this was a lie! Admittedly, a good path did wend its way up through the head high bracken to the top of the Wee Hill of Craigmulloch but after that .... forget it.

Ascending the Wee Hill of Craigmulloch

On the summit of the Wee Hill of Craigmulloch looking over to Craiglee

From here there was quite a steep descent to a lower flattish area of very long grass with ankle-breaking tussocks hidden beneath. I ploughed through this, aiming towards a green grassy rake running right to left up the hillside but the vegetation here was even higher so I moved over to the right where the ground was more solid with occasional rocky sections which was much more pleasant. Soon, a cairn came into view but this was not the summit, which was the trig, a few hundred metres further on.

Approaching the cairn on Craiglee with the trig in the distance

The summit trig looking back to the cairn

After a brief stop for a bite and drink, I headed back down towards the Wee Hill of Craigmulloch.

On the summit of Craiglee looking over to the Wee Hill of Craigmulloch and Loch Doon

I decided, though, not to go back over the top but to by-pass this on the south, above the trees, and regain the track from the car park lower down. This proved to be a shorter route with less climbing but the terrain was horrendous and both knees and ankles took a pounding before the track was reached.

Looking back to Craiglee from the descent - with the 'testing' terrain

It was a relief to get back to the car for a seat.