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I had one more agreed camping trip this year. As the weeks were ticking by, with lots of wind and rain, I was getting less picky about the weather. Then finally, in early November, a brilliant forecast for all day Saturday and Sunday morning.
Since I’d been to the northwest three times already this year (a long way for me), I thought I better keep it a bit closer to home, relatively, and opted for the Galloway Hills. This was my second attempt on the Merrick, having stopped off on route to to a quarry for work over ten years ago. Back then it was January and I didn’t have the luxury of choosing a good day. Deep snow, low cloud, and strong winds convinced me there was no point pushing on. I didn't make the top on that occasion and had some unfinished business.
The plan for this trip was to first climb Merrick from Loch Trool for some redemption. After Merrick, I intended to follow the ridge to Shalloch on Minnoch, then make my way over to the hills around the east of Loch Enoch, camping somewhere along the way.
I arrived in the forest the night before but didn't get much sleep in the car due to a weird 1am arrival in my pull in. They stayed about 10 minutes and kept shuffling their car around and getting out and back in, peaking over the backseats of my car I couldn't work out what they were doing. Eventually they left in the direction of Bruce's Stone car park before heading back the other way a few minutes later. Glad to have survived the night, I set off from Bruce's Stone car park at about 7am, up the well signposted path, to the Merrick under perfect pre-dawn skies. The start of the path is very picturesque, following Buchan Burn as it cascades down toward Loch Trool. As I reached Culsharg, and it’s inviting smashed windows, the first light was illuminating the hills behind. Thanks to the good paths I soon reached the wall on the ridge where I’d turned back years ago. Unlike years ago, the views were excellent. It wasn’t long before I was at the top of Benyellary and the views opened up even more. I hurried across the Neive of the Spit, excited to reach the top. I was soon at the summit, with clear views over to Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Lake District, Kintyre, Isle of Arran, the Southern Highlands, as well as most of Southern Scotland. The views to the wild land around Loch Enoch were particularly captivating and I was looking forward to camping there later.
- Early morning weather looking promising
- Curleywee
- Golden sunrise
- Loch Neldricken
- Corserine
- Benyellary
- Ailsa Craig and Kintyre beyond
- Bengairn looked prominent in views to the southeast with the Lake District beyond
- Little Spear
I couldn’t linger too long on the Merrick as daylight is limited this time of year and I still had a long way to go. I dropped down to the shapely Little Spear and then plodded on towards Kirriereoch Hill. The decent to the north of here was steep and I carefully picked my way down grassy rakes between the greasy rocks, this was probably the trickiest bit of the ridge. Safely down, I then left my heavy bag and continued to the next two hills, considerably lighter. Eventually I reached my furthest point, Shalloch on Minnoch, where the views were still great under sunny skies with no wind. After this I had a small reascent of Tarfessoch to reach the bag.
- Loch Enoch with Dungeon Hill, Craignairny, and Craignaw beyond
- View north from Little Spear with Hoodens Hill casting a shadow and Loch Doon beyond
- View back to Little Spear and Merrick from Kirriereoch Hill
- Corserine across a calm lochan
- Looking back south along the ridge from Shalloch on Minnoch
- Kirriereoch Hill and Merrick
- Clear views across to Northern Ireland
I was slightly apprehensive about the next section. I knew it would be tough going with no paths and so it proved to be. I roughly followed the direction of the fence, but picking the easiest line first to its south then to its north, all the way to Loch Enoch. I think the main thing I remember were the tussocks which made for hard going. There were fewer difficult bogs than anticipated, although it remained squelchy underfoot throughout. But eventually I made it to the beautiful Loch Enoch. Here the going was still tough, as it would be for most of the rest of the walk, and I made my way across the Sluice of Enoch.
- Tarfessock and Shalloch on Minnoch
- Craignaw across Loch Enoch
- Beautiful beach on Loch Enoch
Time was now slipping away as all the pathless walking had slowed me down considerably. I was planning to climb Mullwharchar and Dungeon Hill camping on either Craignairny or Craignaw. I decided there wasn't enough time for that and so made a bee line for Craignairny, with its great view of the Merrick and Loch Enoch. I got the tent up, on some flattish, but very tussocky, ground. I then had around 30 minutes until the sun started to set after which I was faced with 14 hours of darkness in the freezing cold tent. I passed the time with podcasts, music, and had 4g, which helped.
- Sunset from the top of Craignairny
- Last light over the shoulder of Benyellary
At around ten I went out to try and photograph the Milky Way, with mixed results. I'm going to do the only sensible thing and blame my equipment. My two wide angle lenses only go to f4.something so probably don’t let enough light in, even with a high ISO and 30 second exposure. I also balanced the camera on a rock which probably isn’t ideal. Anyway, it was fun trying and amazing to see the stars on this clear moonless night.
- Stars over Merrick
Once I’d given up with the astrophotography I attempted the next challenge, sleeping in my summer camping gear. I put on all the clothes I’d brought, I think it was around ten layers on the top and four on my legs and, of course, a hat and three hoods. I then ‘snuggled’ into my new lightweight 1-2 season sleeping bag and onto my thin ¾ length lightweight sleeping mat. This kind of stuff is fine for me in the warmer months, but not so good when the temperature drops below zero. I think the main problem was the cold of the ground, but I’m too tight to buy a better airbed and especially a winter one I’ll rarely use. I think I got some sleep, but not a great deal.
I ‘woke’ in the morning half expecting the cloud to be low and the views gone, but they weren’t. The skies were clear and hills to the east were wearing hats of cloud which added a bit of mystery to their otherwise rounded summits. The wind had picked up over night though and, after barely a breath on the Saturday, was now quite strong. I packed up the frozen tent and was all sorted ready to watch sunrise from the top of Craignairny.
- First light in the frozen tent
- Sunrise over the Lake District
- Clouds clinging to the Rhinns of Kells
- First rays of sun hitting the summit of Merrick
I now needed to decide what to do this morning. The sensible option would have been to do Dungeon Hill and Craignaw before descending to the car. Instead, I decided to add Mullwharchar as it seemed a bit mean to leave that one unclimbed. I left the bag at the bottom of Dungeon Hill and first climbed its rocky slopes. Even though it just scrapes 2,000ft it’s a fine mountain with loads of interesting granite crags and boulders. I then headed over fairly pathless ground to Mullwharchar. Even though it’s the highest of the three, it’s also the worst in my opinion. Other than lots of scattered boulders it lacks the rocky nature of the other two. That’s not to say it’s a bad hill as it has great views to its neighbours and an unobstructed view north, it also has the best name of the three. To the east Corserine was looking magnificent with a cascading cap of cloud. Once I’d done the normal summit things, I headed back over the tussocky ground to grab the bag. I’m normally pretty good at finding my bag, but I’d put it behind a rock on a very rocky mountain and I couldn’t quite remember which rock. After a bit of wondering around I found it and was on my way to Craignaw.
- Early light on Mullwharchar
- Caps of cloud on the hills to the southeast
- Craignaw from Dungeon Hill
- Early light on Merrick
- Clouds slowly gathering to the south
- Cascading cloud on Corserine
Craignaw is an excellent mountain. Really rocky and a great viewpoint, despite being surrounded by higher hills. It reminds me of Rhinogydd, my favourite mountains near home. Following a little path, I made my way to the Devil’s Bowling Green. The great slab of rock was a bit more undulating than I'd expected and I didn’t have the energy to faff around with the self timer to get a photo of me bowling, it was an interesting feature none the less and nice easy walking for a change. Beyond here the easiest looking route through the crags seemed to be a steep grassy gap to the left although there was no path. After a steep climb I was on the top with the sun just about still shining.
- Looking south from Craignaw
- Merrick and Loch Enoch from Craignaw
- Loch Dee from Craignaw
- Looking southeast from Craignaw
Once I'd enjoyed the views from Craignaw I had it in my mind that it wouldn't take long to finish my walk. It now looked slightly like a race against time as there was an approaching line of thickening cloud from the south west. This had been forecast but I hadn’t expected to still be up the mountains. However everything had taken longer than expected due to the tough terrain and lack of paths. Back at the bag I cut across to the southern shores of Loch Enoch, ascending most of Craignairny again to avoid steep crags, heading for its southwestern corner. Here I picked up the path, a nice change, past the Grey Man of Merrick, where I forked left. I did take a picture of the Grey Man, but don't think I captured his best angle and was too tired to really care. I then climbed slightly onto the broad ridge to Buchan Hill. This provided a great way to enjoy the views for longer as it undulates its way towards Loch Trool terminating in a steep decent to the car park. After dreaming of a path for most of the walk I did lose it somewhere on the decent. It took me ages of horrible steep tussocky terrain before I worked out I was too far to the left and cut across to regain the path which led me to Buchan Bridge with just a short climb to the car after. I was now fairly wet as the last hour or so was wet and windy, but I didn't mind as I'd had great weather the rest of the time and it was November after all.
- Too many sharks for a swim in Loch Enoch
- Weather closing in for the last bit, looking to Craiglee from Buchan Hill
- The end is in sight, Loch Trool from the decent of Buchan Hill
I was glad to have been able to get out for the last camp of the year despite the frozen tent and resulting lack of sleep. It had been nice and quiet, having only seen a couple of people on the first morning. I’m not sure I’d recommend the route I took. I enjoyed it, but lots of it was a pathless struggle, which I do enjoy... to a point. If you like that kind of thing then it would be ideal. I would highly recommend Dungeon Hill and Craignaw though. I think these would make a good day walk combined with Merrick if you don’t mind a bit of rough pathless ground. Also, Craignairny is worth a visit as it has the best views over Loch Enoch. Now for a winter of more local walks and dreaming up routes for next year.