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My brother and I decided to celebrate his retirement from teaching with a walk not in the (English) school holidays for the first time. We travelled up from Skipton on Thursday 29th September. 6am train to Carlisle, change at Carlisle for Dumfries train, quick bacon butty at Dumfries (nice cafe bloke) before 2.5 hr bus ride to Stranraer, passing through lots of lovely villages with views over the Solway Firth. Quick lunch in Stranraer (Fig and Olive is highly recommended) before a taxi down to Portpatrick (£10 but saved us waiting for a later bus and got us going sooner).
Distances all from Garmin Fenix GPS. Walked in Brooks Cascadia GTX trail running shoes with gaiters. Didn't keep feet dry over worst bits - wading through calf-deep water - but were tough enough for the job. The walking is on the fast side - lots of stretches of good trail and roads on this section. I understand it gets slower / hillier from Sanquhar onwards. The mileages in the Cicerone guide book were very accurate. Mileages in some of the blog posts on here less so...
Day 1 - Portpatrick to Stranraer - 10.8 miles. As we only got going at 1pm, we decided to divert to Stranraer and spend the first night in the Aird Donald campsite where I had booked the two camping barrels they have. They were excellent (at £40 each) - dry, spacious, with solar-powered lighting and USB charging points. It meant we didn't have to pitch / unpack and we set off on day 2 dry after the early morning turned wet. Plus we got to go into Stranraer for pasta at Lando's - another strong recommend.
Day 2 - Stranraer to Beehive Bothy - 18.65 miles. Rain soon started and turned heavy with very strong winds. Found a folly shelter in the grounds of Castle Kennedy for a brew, then a really lovely route (despite the weather) through the woodland edge of forestry, across the Water of Luce and up onto the moors on the other side. Found a derelict building to shelter in for lunch - in the only room that still had (most of) its roof. Did the job despite being full of sheep ****. Onwards in improving weather onto moors with massive wind farms and then into forestry and a close encounter with a beautiful large fox. A bit sooner than expected, we came upon the Beehive Bothy which we had to ourselves as the weather resolved into a beautiful sunny calm evening. Showers overnight.
Day 3 - Beehive Bothy to White Laggan Bothy - 25.8 miles. Long day - too long probably with the packs we were carrying. Distance includes half a mile or so of diversion for lunch at House O' Hill at Bargrennan.
Up and out at about 0710 up a hill for morning coffee on top of Craig Airie Fell. Across fellside to a long very quiet road section followed by a tough boggy section to Bargrennan for lunch at the House O’ Hill hotel. Haggis and black pudding fritters and chips and a great pint - Summerside ale from the Steam Packet Brewery. Lovely riverside section - first the River Cree and then the Water of Minnoch.
In amongst bigger hills now as we skirted Loch Trool and, tiring as we passed the 20-mile mark, headed up over a pass to Loch Dee and, finally, nearly 26 miles in, the White Laggan Bothy. Found four men from Penistone / Sheffield there - friendly enough and offered us beer and whisky. Pitched and then cooked up the gnocchi, pesto and chorizo as 72-year-old Peter arrived in the dark. Showers again overnight.
Day 4 - White Laggan Bothy to somewhere above Stroanpatrick - 23.2 miles.
Up and off at about 0730 in improving weather. Lots of forestry track walking, coffee on edge of Clatteringshaws Loch followed by a climb over some great woodland scrub and open fells followed by a bit of road down to a lovely river. Finally a climb up over Waterside Hill and then down to St John’s Town of Dalry. Don't listen to the Cicerone guide book which says the underfoot conditions improve from here - they don't, at least as far as Sanquhar.
Lunch (after some persuasion as they were fully booked) at the Clachan Inn, followed by a fortuitous free strawberry tart from the shop opposite. Up the high street and out onto the fells again, mixed walking, some good, some boggy over Culmark Hill and down to Stroanfreggan Bridge. Gathered our energies for a last push about half a mile or so up from Stroanpatrick to find a great camping spot immediately off the trail in amongst the footings of a now lost farmhouse. Good food in the sunset and then a very quiet, still, dry night!
Day 5 - Stroanpatrick to Sanquhar - 17.9 miles.
Up at 6am to break camp for the last time. Left at 0715. A climb to begin up Manquhill Hill and then a stiff climb to Benbrack and the Andy Goldsworthy striding arch.
Mentally and physically gruelling next bit up and down over very boggy ground and finally into forestry, Allan’s Cairn and a big track down to the Chalk Memorial Bothy for coffee and an early lunch. Cracked on along road, past BT Openreach engineers laying fibre and then back onto the fellside to climb Cloud Hill before a long cross-country descent to Sanquhar. Sandwiches and beer from the Co-op and then the 1632 train back to Carlisle and then onto Skipton, getting home just before 8.30pm.
KIT LIST:
Jetboil
Fuel x 2
Bowl
Cup
Spork
Trowel
Pack cover
Charger pack x 2
Microfibre towel
Toilet paper
Ibuprofen
Sudocrem (for feet!)
Handwash
Blister plasters
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Lighter / matches
Rucksack
Sleeping bag
Silk bag liner
Mat
Tent
Head torch
Penknife
Water carriers (2 x 1.5l), plus extra one for carrying sourced water for boiling
Dry bags (small and large)
Trail shoes (Brooks Cascadia GTX - stood up well!)
Socks x 7
Camp socks
Trousers
Shorts
Long johns
Running tights
Pants
Base layers x 2
Mid layer x 1
T-shirt x 1
Fleece
W’proof jacket
Waterproof trousers
Gloves x 2 (hands run cold)
Hat
Phone
Phone charger cable
Watch charger cable
Cash / card
Glasses
Contacts
Flapjack
Cheese
Apples
Various energy bars
Peanuts
Gnocchi
Chorizo
Pesto
Breakfast mix
Teabags
Hot chocolate sachets
Coffee
Filters
Aeropress (luxury item)
