Nutberry Hill and Middlefield Law circular after the rain

[gld73]

3 weeks working in Glasgow for COP26, so I'd hoped to get out and do some new hills on days off, not really knowing this area. Rained pretty much non stop for my first few days, so when I got a couple of days off, I ruled out heading to big hills and aimed for the nearest marilyns to where I was staying south of Glasgow. Did Corse Hill the first day off as it's an easy one done on windfarm tracks so no sodden ground to tackle. Fancied something more like a proper hill walk on my next day off, so headed to Nutberry Hill and Middlefield Law, 2 hills close to each other which I thought I would do as 2 individual out-and-back walks. Got to Nutberry Hill's summit though and decided to try and head straight for Middlefield Law without going back to the car, so my route ended up being this (approximately):

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I parked just off the east side of the B743 at the track entrance to Blackside and Priesthill (also a wooden sign for the Martyr's Monument of John Brown). As I ended up doing a circular route I could have parked in a couple of other places, but this was as good as any. I started the walk by heading over the cattle grid and following the good track all the way to the buildings at Priesthill, then going through a gate alongside a small copse of woods. I think a grassy worn track is maybe meant to continue from there, but I didn't see it if it exists at all, so just put my wellies on and headed in roughly the right direction.

After days of wet weather, the ground was sodden and wellies proved ideal footwear. I'd also put waterproof trousers on as it was raining when I set off, and was glad of these when going through waist high wet reeds. Couldn't see the summit of Nutberry Hill yet, but just headed towards the slopes of Priesthill Height ahead. After the reeds, it was mainly tussocks and wet grass.

I saw the Martyr's monument off to my right (zoomed)

From Priesthill Height, there was a low fence to cross, but at least the target of Nutberry Hill was clear and the large gap in the forestry to head up (on the left of shot) now easy to see.

More tussocky, wet ground to head up, then crossed a good track to reach a small quarry, went up through that and then found from there was an ATV track which pretty much led all the way to the trig point. Rainbow to the north.

The ground a few metres away looked higher than the trig to me, so I wandered over there to get a better view of the other end of the rainbow

Back at the trig point, the view west showed the way I'd come up Nutberry Hill (past the big transmitter, which I think might be fairly new? The ground around it was a bit churned up in places as if it had just gone up reasonably recently anyway), and Middlefield Law in the distance. I decided to just head for it from here rather than retrace my steps back to the car.

Left the summit back in the same direction towards the transmitter, down the forestry gap in the direction of Middlefield Law

Crossed the fence and headed down through more wet grass, tussocks and reeds. I crossed the Dippal burn quite early on while it was still easy to get across, though the reeds on the other side were even worse. Definitely glad of my wellies! Reached a good track on the north side of the Dippal Burn eventually and followed that past an abandoned hut then a lovely cottage/ lodge with an outdoor hot tub, before finally coming out on the B743 with Middlefield Law on the other side.

When I got to the B743, there was a gate on the other side just a short distance to the left (beside a layby which I could have parked at with hindsight) and a faint ATV track leading up initially. This is looking back from the track, the road running across the picture from the left, the track and Dippal burn running down the middle of the picture. Nutberry Hill itself isn't clear but is over there in the distance somewhere.

Looking back more or less the same way, but now from the summit. The ATV track had ended (or I'd left it) about a third of the way up, so I'd just gone up the rough ground directly from there.

Large cairn and trig point of Middlefield Law

My descent route was to the SE /S. I started down an ATV track which headed south to the single track road, but I left it to head south east, a more direct route to my car but over more tussocks and through reeds. The ATV track from the single track road (signed to the cattery from the B743) would be the easiest way to get up this hill as it goes all the way up to the summit area.

I crossed a fence at a gate near the NE corner of the fenced-in copse of trees. This is the view back to Middlefield Law from there. It was a wet, rough but straightforward walk from there towards the single track road.

2 non-barbed wire fences to hop across to get on the single track road (there was a gate where the ATV track joined the road and probably at some other places too), a left turn along it to get back on the B743 then a short walk along the verge back to the car.

Lots of sheep on the way to and from Nutberry Hill and quite a few cows on Middlefield Law .... and lots and lots of wind turbines in every direction ... (I thought the Highlands had a lot until I came here!). A good afternoon's walk; maybe if I'd left earlier instead of starting the walk at 1pm I could have driven a short distance to do a third hill, but as it had still been raining nearly all the morning, I was happy getting out to just do these two.