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Corbetts: Merrick.
Grahams: Craignaw
Other Donalds/ New Donalds: Dungeon Hill
Date: 06/08/2023.
Distance: 22km.
Ascent: 1180m.
Time taken: 10 hours, 30 minutes.
Weather: Bright with some breeze - cold out of the sun.
Jackie had never been on the Galloway hills before - aside from them being a long way from Inverness, they are very rough and a long way from our current (barely followed) mantra of easy Munros by boring paths. However with a few days in Glasgow, we decided to head up the Merrick - that is straightforward at least - then possibly down via Loch Enoch if we were feeling like it.
I had forgotten how long it takes to get to Glen Trool from Glasgow as I had started previous trips in this direction from Ayrshire instead. Stopping to pee a couple of times, we were travelling for over 2 hours in the end, and not walking until 11am. This would definitely stop us from getting too carried away and including Craignaw, we thought.
Bruce's Stone After some buggering about at Bruce's Stone we began to ascend by the Buchan Burn. Even here we weren't immune to messing about, with Jackie stopping for a quick dip in an attractive pool. I decided to save my swimming for Loch Enoch, assuming we got that far.
Buchan Burn
Merrick from the Buchan burn Further on we passed Culsharg (looking less rough than last time I had passed it but still not a desirable spot for anything other than an emergency shelter) and climbed clear of the forest. The Merrick path is out of character with most of the walking in the area and it eased the way nicely onto Benyellary, where we stopped for lunch.
Toadstools
Looking NW across South Ayrshire
Lamachan Hill
Zoom to Ailsa Craig
Merrick from Benyellary
Loch Valley from Benyellary The rest of the walk to the Merrick was easy from here. There were quite a few folk around higher on the hill making the most of a good day. Fantastic views across to Ireland and the Isle of Man from the summit, as well as closer things like Ailsa Craig. Although it had been clear earlier, Arran was obscured by low cloud.
West across Benyellary from the Merrick
Little Spear and Loch Doon We decided to drop down to Loch Enoch and probably take the shortest route back out to the car. The upper slopes of the Merrick are dry and grassy but the going gradually gets rougher until you are in much more typical Galloway hill country by the shores of the loch.
Loch Enoch and Craignaw
Mulwharchar and Corserine
Descending to Loch Enoch
Mulwharchar across Loch Enoch It might be rough but there is a semblance of a path east along the shores from here. Wet and faint, yes but anything that assists on this stuff is welcome! We were aiming for a tiny peninsula that juts northward into the loch - this looked interesting and there was a tiny sandy beach adjacent which looked great for a swim. Jackie actually decided to swim from the end of the peninsula back to the beach while I carried her stuff then went in for a quick dunk myself.
Merrick from Loch Enoch
Jackie swimming in Loch Enoch
Sandy beach makes a good swim spot After plenty of messing around, time was slipping away but somehow we decided that we could give Dungeon Hill a go as we had no need (other than loss of daylight) to be back at any particular time. Suited me just fine - I had somehow managed to walk within half a km of the summit twice in the past without going up it, and I was now into my final 10 Donalds and regretting my previous decisions!
The way wasn't too bad while we were following a path by the loch, but climbing up the western slopes of Craignairny was slow and tough. Even once we crossed over it and made our final line for Dungeon Hill, the going was still hard and it seemed to take us ages to get there. Having questioned why we weren't also nipping out to Mulwharchar, Jackie began to understand the ways of the terrain in this area and hatched a plan to paddleboard over Loch Enoch on a future trip to get it (I think we can guess which idiot will end up carrying the paddleboard in)

.
Merrick across Loch Enoch Finally after endless weaving around we found ourselves on the slabby summit of Dungeon Hill, where there were great views across to Corserine and down Loch Doon, with Backhill of Bush bothy being prominent. We had spotted a trio heading from the Craignaw direction towards Dungeon Hill but they didn't ever materialise on the summit. I spotted them again heading north to Mulwharchar - it seemed odd to skip this hill out while being so close to it but I understood!
Craignaw from Dungeon Hill
Dry Loch and Corserine from Dungeon Hill
South across the Silver Flowe from Dungeon hill
Backhill of Bush We somehow ended up deciding that since we had come this far we should give Craignaw a bash as well, as I had talked it up as one of my favourite hills in the Southern Uplands. We could bypass it and drop straight to Loch Neldricken if we changed our minds. Fortunately there were traces of a path again so getting to the col was less difficult than some things we had done.
Loch Neldricken We ended up climbing towards Craignaw even though we knew it would be close to 7pm by the time we reached the summit. After a brief explore of the Deil's Bowling Green (with the Deil herself having a shot) we eventually reached the summit cairn by way of some very steep heather and interesting crags.
The Deils Bowling Green
Jackie having a bowl It might be tough but it was well worth it. This area is quite unique and we probably enjoyed ourselves almost as much as we had in Fisherfield a couple of weeks before. Now all we had to do was find our way back to Loch Trool - easier said than done.
Dungeon Hill from Craignaw
Mulwharchar and Dungeon Hill
Merrick from Craignaw
Craiglee and Loch Dee Having messed this up previously, I knew we needed to go south for a bit before trying to get down to Loch Neldricken. Again there were traces of path to help us but before long we had to head west over a rocky, heathery no-man's land. This varied from strolling pleasantly across the odd granite slab to disappearing up to our knees in heathery tussocks. There were deer tracks to ease the way slightly - they didn't ever go the way we wanted but they could be linked up to a certain extent.
Merrick across Loch Neldricken
Descending to Loch Valley Eventually we arrived at a sheepfold on the Mid Burn - the most difficult part of the crossing was getting through the vegetation to the edge of the burn itself! Once over the burn, we were on a slightly more formal path (still wet and awful, but fairly obvious). This improved very slightly at Loch Valley, in that it became even more obvious and squelchy!
Loch Valley The midges were now lurking and while it wasn't dusk, it was noticeably less light than earlier. The views opened up as we came out of the mouth of the valley and overlooked Loch Trool, and there was an orange glow on Lamachan Hill.
Lamachan Hill
Last light on the final descent to Loch TroolEventually after missing the bottom-most section of the path, we squelched through a quagmire and ended up on a solid track - what a relief! A final ascent back up to the carpark landed us at the car at 9:30pm in proper dusk. We had wondered about getting a chippy in Ayr on the way past, but by the time we were there it was almost 11pm and the only thing left open was McDonalds. Never my first choice but we were very glad of it, eventually rolling back into Glasgow a few minutes after midnight. Sometimes the most ridiculously badly planned days are the best!