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The plan was to head out on Friday but the weather forecast had other ideas, with winds over 50mph higher up we opted to head out on Sunday. Unfortunately George was unavailable so I suggested to Parminder as the forecast to the north was for lower cloud we could head south and pick off 3 hills in the Lammermuirs that George & I visited 5 years ago.
Parminder volunteered to drive so we met at Sheriffhall Park & Ride for the first time.
It was when we parked up for Meikle Says Law and I checked my phone I noticed that the routes I thought I had uploaded were missing. Parminder managed to download the WH route onto his 'vintage' Viewranger app so we wouldn't be wandering around aimlessly. Luckilly the visibility was fine so navigating wouldn't be a problem, my main concern is the third hill Sparleton as I know how George & I struggled to find the initial route uphill - more of that later.
We were on our way by 8.30 and the start point is just about 410m, that is the good news, the bad news is that you start with a descent of 65m.
Meikle Says Law route

The start of the walk, we are heading left & downhill

We would be in amongst the turbines soonish, we could actually hear them from the road and they are 2 miles away.

The road to Duns, note the yellow thing in the sky

Looking across the road to Sparleton which would be our third and final hill

Don't we love starting a walk with a descent - it shouldn't be allowed. We would be taking the left track uphill, which turns out to be the scenic route

Lovely sheltered house, not sure if it is a holiday home, certainly empty on our visit

The way ahead

Aforementioned house again

And again

A very substantial grouse butt, there are plenty of them in the area, mainly wooden ones
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Looking back, you can see the height you lose at the start

The way ahead

The track is now turning to grass / heather

Love them or loathe them, there are plenty of them - especially in the Borders

Arty shot


I asked Parminder to go and stand on the steps to demonstrate the size of the machines

He is the dark small figure

The way to the summit. like most Borders routes - follow the fence

Camera shot zoomed, trig just appearing

Summit trig on Meikle Says Law

Another arty shot

Don't you just love the smug face?

A hazy zoomed shot of Bass Rock

We opted for the more direct route back and here is the house that we have been aiming for

Nice deep heather
As things turned out we just about followed the route George & I took 5 years ago, even the return leg.
After a shortish drive we parked up at the same spot from 5 years ago, for a change I remembered the approach route. Parminder was almost tempted to try the direct route, even more so when he saw the direction of the track we would be walking along.
Dirrington Great Law route

Dirrington Great Law from the road

The route we opted for actually takes you south away from the hill, but the track is fairly decent and swings round to the NW after about 1km

Looking back down the track which rises very gradually, note the red soil

The track will follow the wall heading uphill to the right

Now heading towards the hill

The heather has been 'pruned' in strips which makes for excellent underfoot conditions

The wall heading uphill

Looking back

Looking east

The way up, shows how short the heather has been pruned - more environmentally friendly than burning

The toppled over trig on Dirrington Great Law

Trig again

Our descent route was more direct, we opted to utilise some of the pruned heather strips, perfect for a rapid descent
We both enjoyed Dirrington and it offers great views even in hazy conditions.
Back into the car and another shortish drive and the co-ordinates I gave Parminder to put into his satnav for the start took us to a small car park at the northern end of Whiteadder Reservoir. This parking area was definitely not familiar territory, so using my latest navigation App (Locus) which I now use all the time, I could see Sparleton in relation to where we were so the jobs a good un - apart from not having a plotted route.
Sparleton route

Sign at the start of the walk

Beautiful start to the walk, different start point to my last visit

The eastern end of Whiteadder Reservoir

The way ahead

Looking back to the road

We followed the track round the corner

We opted to go to the right

Our first view of Sparleton, so we know where we are going just a matter of finding some sort of favourable route

Looking back

We opted to follow an ATV track uphill

The track took us the scenic or long way round, but it was a nice gradual ascent so we were happy

Parminder in his customary position

Anyone fancy counting how many turbines there are in this shot?

The main track that would take us to the summit

Summit cairn on Sparleton

Looking NE from the summit

A sturdy grouse butt also on the summit

Quite a pile of rocks

Parminder looking smug after a good trio of Marilyns and all with Trigs on the summit

Looking across to our first summit Meikle Says Law

Not a bad view of Whiteadder Reservoir
We opted for the direct descent route, especially as we could see exactly where we wanted to go. We did meet a fellow walker not far from the summit on our descent.

The cheaper version of a grouse butt

Same grouse butt from the side

Straight down via the butts

Well off piste now, but not far to go

Camera shot of the remains of Camelshiel Castle

Zoomed from a different angle

Sub station on the other side of the wind farm zoomed

Final photo of the day, the wee bridge
What a fabulous day, both Parminder and I loved it, great to get out in stunning conditions.