Route improvisation in the Ettrick hills

[sakura1989]

I had a few hours free from family commitments and fancied doing some hill walking nearby and to break into my new North Face Breithorn mountaineering boots so I decided to bag some Donalds. I have already done the majority of the Ettrick Hills but there were 3 hills arranged on a ridge (I use that term loosely) which I haven't climbed yet - they were Bell Craig, Andrewhinney Hill and Herman Law. I drove down the single track through Ettrick, to the end of the public road and parked on the side of the large turning area before the start of the forestry plantations. I started the hike by following a track uphill and through a farm gate into forestry plantations. The track wound through the trees - it snowed the day before and the snow was still laying on the ground, decorating the plantation. Soon the track took me above the treeline, wound around the corner and ended abruptly. There was a faint grassy path which led to the summit of Bodesbeck Law but since I've climbed this hill previously I decided to omit it. Instead I contoured the side of the summit at around 600m and headed towards a drystone dyke which seemed to run along the ridge. There was no path and the ground was grassy and tussocky. I then followed the drystone dyke NNE along the undulating hilltops. I crossed a few minor summits before reaching the cone-like stone cairn of Bell Craig. The views over to White Coomb were lovely, even though the skies were overcast.

I continued along the ridge, loosely following the drystone dyke until I reached the summit of Andrewhinney hill (had to bag this one, for the name alone!) It was a relatively easy walk, following the gradual rise and fall of the Borders hills. There were 2 further minor summits of Mid Rig and Trowgrain Middle (which had impressive cairns) before the final summit of the day - Herman Law. Once I reached Herman Law, I sat down on a rock for a short break and to have some lunch. The sun briefly tried to make an appearance but soon disappeared behind the grey clouds. I changed into my old boots which I carried in my rucksack in case my feet got sore from the new boots - and they did, as I was not used to B2 boots. Now that I was back in my comfy old Karrimors I started walking back along the ridge, retracing my steps to Bell Craig.

Once I was on the summit of Bell Craig, instead of continuing back towards Bodesbeck Law, I turned SE along the pathless moorland roughly following an old fence until I reached a gravel track. The track forked in 2 directions, and I chose the SSW track which headed towards Black Knowe Head. Once again, I came to a crossroads and continued following the track SW, which would eventually lead me back to the car. The track zigzagged down the hillside until I was once again back on farmland, following a stream down to the road. Once I was back on the single track road, I followed it back to the large turning circle where my car was parked. The road was very quiet and this would've been a nice valley had it not been for the large areas of trees which had been cut down, leaving the landscape looking scarred. Although the Borders Hills lack the drama of the Highlands, they are more convenient to reach from my house and offer unparalleled peace and quiet, being far less popular with hill walkers. Having enjoyed the tranquility of not seeing another human being all day, I got back in my car and headed home.

BellCriag,AndrewhinneyHill,HermanLaw.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Summary:
Hills climbed: Bell Craig, Andrewhinney Hill, Herman Law
Height: 623m, 677m, 614m respectively
Time: 5.5 hours
Conditions: Overcast, good visibility, light wind, some snow still lying on the ground
Lessons learned: Climb Border hills when feeling antisocial.