Duncolm Dauner

[WeeHills]

Wednesday is supposed to be my day off yet every one this month has involved some vitally important meeting that work think I can't possibly miss. Stupid work, messing with my weekday wanderings. Thankfully, given the not too shabby forecast, today's averagely tedious affair is at least scheduled for first thing in the morning leaving ample time for a quick nip over the water to Old Kilpatrick and up the braes. By 11 I'm parked up, boots on and on my way.

The ascent is steady, tarmac giving way to wide, gravely track. The sun is shining but the wind has a definite bite to it and I can see rain showers rounding the Tail o' the Bank in the distance. Views south across the Clyde are pleasing, taking in the Victorian grandeur of Mal Hall and the Muirshiel hills, Misty Law proudly prominent and the wind turbines on Corlic Hill looming ominously over Port Glasgow. It is the first time I have seen them from this angle since they were installed last August and weirdly they strike me as far uglier and more menacing from this distant vantage point than my normal up close and personal perspective.

In time the slope steepens. A buzzard hovers above me, diving every now and again. Each time I try to grab a picture it moves away before reappearing, as if toying with me. After a while I find myself catching up with a bloke struggling upwards by bicycle. I pause to dig out walking poles and he gives up and gets off. We share a blether and a breather before I press onwards leaving him to push his wheeled steed in my wake. Once the gradient flattens I keep expecting bike bloke to come whizzing past me but there is no sign of him. He must have taken another route, or simply enjoyed a free wheel back down the way we came.

Now the hard work is done the rest of the day's passage entails a leisurely stroll among the rounded, lumpy tops that dot the landscape. Scenes north begin to open up and after a short time Loch Humphrey hoves into view. Upon arriving at the loch I perch upon the dam wall for a coffee break. Mostly because I never have been able to resist sitting on dam walls. It is bright and breezy and there is no one to be seen.

Dam wall coffee stop at Loch Humphrey

Middle Duncolm

Caffeine topped up I continue on past the loch. The gravel track is replaced by grass. After recent, much needed rain this has a pleasing squelch to it, soft and squidgy under my feet. Given the ludicrously dry weather this year I had almost forgotten that this is my favourite kind of walking, gently undulating, easy on the joints, spattered with boggy sections to puzzle a reasonably dry route through. It is lovely and in short order I am approaching Middle Duncolm, choosing to skirt around to the west, prefering to tackle the steeper north side in an upwards direction on my return.

Approaching Duncolm herself I see a lady picking her way down. We pass and exchange pleasantries as I make the short ascent. The trig appears and I have the place to myself. It is a fine view point from which to take in the edge of the Campsies and Southern Highlands. Today the scene is a little hazy but clear enough to enjoy Earl's Seat, Ben Lomond just about below the clouds, rain showers passing through the Arrochar hills. I had half thought of heading that way for a quick nip up the Brack and am now glad I opted for the lower level amble. The sun is still shining here, though the wind has me donning a jacket and hunkering down in a dip behind a rock for some dinner.

Duncolm trig point

Campsies from Duncolm

Towards Loch Lomond, the Ben just below the clouds

Once fed I pack up and am just about to head off when two gentlemen appear behind me at the trig. I hadn't heard them approach at all over the wind but the timing is excellent. I have had the summit to myself and now it is their turn. The wind is now in my face as I drop back off the hill and head up the short steep pull to Middle Duncolm. A party of six are occupying this top so I don't stop, just pass on through, retracing my steps to Loch Humphrey.

Heading over Middle Duncolm on the return route

The whole way back to the loch I am dithering and swithering as to whether to head over the Slacks or just take the direct route back to the car. As I approach the pylon line a rain shower moving in from the west makes my mind up and I turn eastwards up the narrow path, hoping to stay ahead of it. I remain in the dry as I follow the easy path along the fence line, enjoying the views back to the family of Duncolms and the watery landscape. Soon I am down the dip and up the other side, heading for the trig. The wind has picked up now and a section of rainbow has appeared, vivid against the green and brown of the rolling hills.

Rainbow, Duncolm, Earl's Seat from the Slacks trig

Glasgow from the trig

And back toward Loch Humphrey

After pausing at the trig to soak in the view down over Glasgow I opt to drop slightly down to the south and the heather clad escarpments out of the blustery wind for another coffee. Then it is down and up and over and down and across boggy depression and up again. And just as I am clearing the last of the parallel features the rain catches up with me. It is a short, sharp shower but as I am already waterproofed due to the wind isn't the slightest bit bothersome.

Up and down the heathery escarpments

Now comes the gentle descent between two seas of head high bracken. Fortunately these paths are well trodden and the vegetation well to either side. Rain passed through the sun is out once more and the views down to the, from this distance, elegant Erskine Bridge and confluence of Cart and Clyde beyond are splendid. After a time I follow the westward path through the trees back towards the main track. There is a pleasingly autumnal feel to this section of the route with bracken starting to brown and the first leaves of the season littering the path. Sunlight dapples through the woods, chaffinches flit around, burns trickle. Could have done without the noise from two helicopters circling the river to the west of the bridge mind, but hey ho.

Shafts of light over the Erskine Bridge on the way down

Dappled sunlight and trickling burns in the woods

Soon enough the larger track is regained and just the short potter back to the car remains completing a pleasant and not overly strenuous day amongst the Kilpatrick Hills. Enjoyed that one.