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A Drowned World

A Drowned World


Postby weaselmaster » Tue Jan 02, 2024 10:00 pm

Fionas included on this walk: Cairnsmore of Fleet, Craignaw, Lamachan Hill, Millfore, Mullwharchar

Donalds included on this walk: Cairnsmore of Fleet, Craignaw, Curleywee, Dungeon Hill, Lamachan Hill, Larg Hill, Millfore, Mullwharchar

Date walked: 02/01/2024

Distance: 72 km

Ascent: 3740m

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Thanks to New Year falling on a Monday, Allison had a couple of days leave to add onto the weekend. Five days - you could do a lot with that...until you factor in the weather and one's possibilities are limited. It is the end/start of the year after all, I suppose. Looking at the forecast, Galloway seemed a safe bet - rainy on Friday but cloudy/dry the rest of the time and no big winds. I drew up some circuits including one to get the 4 Grahams around Loch Trool way and elected to start on Friday morning, Thursday night being awful thanks to some storm - was it Gerrit? There are so many I lose track.

Planned route...

intended.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



What we did on days 1-2

Mullnaw.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



I always think it takes longer than it should to get to Galloway Forest Park, and it was somewhere after 10.30 when we arrived. I had hoped to get Mullwharchur, Craignaw and the Marilyn of Craiglee done today, camping somewhere south of the latter, then com=ntinue on with Millfore and Lamachan the next day. Maybe that was wildly optimistic :lol: but it ended up taking us four days for what I'd planned to do in two...

Parked up near Bruce's Stone and set off along the wet path towards Culsharg bothy. Sadly, although it looks like it's had a new roof reasonably recently, the (plastic) windows have all been smashed. It's empty inside - not an MBA bothy anyway. Glad I hadn't decided to drive down last night and stay there. We had an early lunch outside before pressing on. Forestry track for a bit then a more soggy affair on ATV squidge. Tussocks and pools of water. Rain. Lots of rain. The sky looked grey with snow, the wind was fierce and by the time we were approaching Loch Enoch the snow was on properly. It was now half past one and it was apparent that we were not going to get as far as I'd hoped today. Looked at the map for possible camping options - normally you can find something around a loch, but here its all tussock, heather and marsh. We picked out possible spots between Mullwharchar and Dungeon Hill, but before getting to that bit we had to cross the Sluice of Enoch and climb Mullwharchar. The Sluice was full and fast flowing. I opted to cross with boots and gaiters on - all would (probably) have been alright if I hadn't dropped my pole, which threatened to sail away and necessitated stepping into deeper waters to retrieve it. Wet foot, blue air. After that, climbing Mullwharchar was easy enough, there's a path of sorts visible even in the blizzard.

Culsharg
Image61E598E2-8E6C-4BF0-AB74-000B31C9D2C9_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Lots of this...
Image0DCEAA1D-CFA7-4122-B9FA-358FD13BBD62_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Loch Enoch
Image64806D0F-E95E-42C3-8006-690BAFBEC98F_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Somewhere near the summit of Mullwharchar, honest
Image6193508A-83FC-4F99-97C5-84EECBD1323E_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr


Dropping down to the south east I managed to take less than the ideal line, but we made it to the marshy section at the foot of the hill. It would be going some to try and get a flat spot here that wasn't under water. The light is poor, due to the snow, it's just gone 3.30 and we need somewhere very soon. There looks to be a flattish spot with three little lochans on the way up to Dungeon Hill - it's at 560m elevation which I'm not wild about with the high winds that are forecast overnight, but there may be a bit of shelter. Luckily we find a spot that will do, soggy and only able to pitch in one direction. I lug some boulders to hold the guys down and we retreat inside to escape the swishing snow. The forecast promised it wouldn't snow much overnight and for once it was mostly accurate. We survived, not in the greatest comfort. The rocks I'd put on the guys were frozen to the ground when I went to remove them in the morning.

Well camouflaged tent...
Image928D73A4-5191-4B73-816C-DFA6A8CB17A4_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

As we set out the snow came on again, heavy. We had no winter kit - well I had goggles, but neither of us had axes or crampons and Craignaw is a craggy hill. Hmmm. Dungeon Hill was nearby and quickly summited but it took a while to get from there to the visible path up the north of Craignaw. Clag and snow - great for finding your way about. We did manage to make it to the summit, then had a think about what next. I remembered Craiglee as also being quite craggy, plus it wouldn't be that easy coming off Craignaw. We decided to take a safe line following a river gully beside us, near Snibe Hill and follow the shore of Loch Valley (weird name for a loch). This would mean that we'd have to cross the loch outlet at the Garland Burn, something I'd been keen to avoid given the water levels - we could, at last resort, follow the east bank of the Garland Burn down to the track.

Craignaw summit
Image2FBA8E4A-5B57-45CE-915F-58A90C9022CC_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Oh my friends, don't follow our example. The descent from Craignaw was fine and we reached the edge of Loch Valley without incident. Deer tracks provided early hope that the loch side journey would be painless - but they soon disappeared or went higher, leaving us to battle tussocks, boulders and hidden holes. Our progress was, as a result, glacial. The will to live was seeping from our pores. After several eternities we got to the outflow at the west end of the loch. The burn was all white water and there seemed no sense in following the stream down to the place marked "ford" on the map. Time for the water shoes and nae breeks - water was up to upper thigh, but the flow wasn't scary and we could see the bottom under our feet. Pulling on socks and trousers over cold wet legs is of course great fun :lol: Now we just had to walk along the path back to the carpark. On one of the wettest paths I've ever walked along, it must be said. Must have been about 4.30 when we eventually made it back to the car and looked around for possible places to pitch, finding something that was tolerable - our criteria were not especially high by this point.

Crossing the loch outflow
Image8DE0A627-9820-4B9A-9AD2-367A5B4CB444_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Snow on tomorrow's hills
Image1E866EF2-3F0C-429A-995A-ACFE92FCD65E_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

And on days 3-4

Lagganloop.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



Another night of rain and a forecast for rain all day on Hogmanay - yay!. Having returned to the car park had, naturally, added on several kilometres to our route that had to be walked again - and from the car park the first couple of kms are down hill. Dispiriting. If the rain can be said to dampen spirits, by this the third consecutive day of rain, mine were saturated. Everything was under water. Sheep looked like sodden rags. We had loaded up ice axes after our experience on Friday as it wasn't clear immediately whether the precipitation overnight had been water or snow higher up. However, in the odd glimpse through the clag, there was not a speck of snow left on the hills. At least it was hard forestry track for a while.

Image42EDAFFF-E0E6-4E88-82B2-B0AB73CFE3A6_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Loch Dee
Image53EFA45C-C91D-45A1-9AB9-58ED9DBD0E99_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

We turned up from the SUW at Black Laggan bridge and headed for Nick of the Loup. I'd intended to do Milford and Curleywee today, possibly drop down after Curleywee as once again heavy snow and high winds were forecast overnight. We approached a building that looked suspiciously like a bothy - from the Scottish saltire painted on its gable end - yes - White Laggan MBA bothy. No idea that it was here at all. We popped inside, was in good nick. Maybe an option for tonight - although I was highly dubious it being Hogmanay and all...We continued on up the path which was rivalling yesterday's as the wettest path ever. Near the top of the pass there's an ATV track that heads off to the east, up towards the 467m spot height - in fact it goes all the way to the summit of Millfore if you can keep track of it. We were struggling to keep track of anything today. Allison was struggling in particular, the uneven terrain along the loch side yesterday having taken its toll on her back. After a small eternity we found ourselves at the summit of Millfore - I was keen to get back and summit Curleywee as well today, but the chances of us getting that done seemed increasingly slim. More so when we managed to follow the wrong ATV track off the 620m point at Red Gairy and found ourselves going off the wrong shoulder. Then crags, then multiple ATV tracks - navigational hell, especially when my GPS battery was threatening to pack in and - ah well, lets just say it was a bit of a kerfuffle. We got back t the high point of the pass, where we'd left our rucksacks. We could camp up here or go back down to the bothy...sadly any flat patches of ground here were under water (familiar story?) or had been profusely decorated with cowpats. Back down to the bothy then. Another 150m we'd need to climb back up tomorrow.

White Laggan bothy
ImageD18D8496-F790-4D8B-8D4C-D32830BA4D55_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Millfore
Image7C87F7D2-37F8-4B16-B365-7EB1465C1B02_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

As I mentioned, I was very wary of using a bothy on Hogmanay - surely the busiest night during the winter months for most bothies? We got down to about 100m from the bothy and could see a couple off folk plus dog/s heading in towards the door. To make matters worse they had driven in along the forest tracks, leaving their car at the bridge about 100m from the bothy. I have no respect for people who cycle into bothies, so I'll leave you to guess in what esteem I hold people who drive in. We'll be camping then... I fully expected legions of drunkards to turn up during the evening and augment the numbers inside, but to my surprise there didn't seem to be any other visitors. We enjoyed a miserable wet night in the little tent. happy New Year indeed.

It had turned 8am by the time I realised we should be getting up, despite me swearing I hadn't slept at all. We packed away the tent - it wasn't actually raining, which was a bit surprising in itself. Set off back up the wet path and took a line up the east shoulder of Curleywee. I'd say this was preferable to the route up over White Hill from the north - deer tracks and mostly shortish grass. One at the summit we had the steepish descent to Scars of Milldown, then a fairly clear path to follow towards Lamachan Hill. Time to pause for our first lunch of 2024. And to find we hadn't packed crisps :( . Things can only get better. And they did, as it happened. The route to Larg Hill (where I completed my first set of Donalds) is easy and gentle. We were mildly alarmed to see a bright light in the sky - what on earth could this be? Something called The Sun that - it was fabled - used to shine sometimes on Earth...turned into a nice afternoon, with Broken Spectres and a fog bow that dissipated just as I was reaching to take a photo of Allison walking through it.

Up Curleywee
ImageCAD2A53D-CFDC-4CB4-99F6-15E80610DB89_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image7C9D0A14-E4F6-4C9A-BEE4-1B6B69D50571_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Steep descent off Curleywee
Image795364DE-9FAE-4EE3-A1F9-516EEEC6E598_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageCF46A3BE-0604-4131-A875-5917A46092BC_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Lamachan summit
ImageEEDE4EFB-E4BA-4063-B0C5-A19677355C6C_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Towards Larg Hill - sunshine???
Image9171E031-E1A0-49CF-B10A-C48A46987B37_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image82ABAC1D-AE47-45F1-B6EF-5CC98415A0A0_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Happy New Year from us
Image657C4BD8-D177-44DF-8B3F-46FCB1154BE8_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Returning to Lamachan
Image5DE1D8FB-1A95-492F-82BA-2625A9FA7516_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

We returned to Lamachan Hill to descend off its NW shoulder. I had read my report from the first time we'd done these hills and gone down by Brishies - I'd commented that this was very steep, so decided we'd go off the front of Mulldonach and intercept the forestry track there. The first part, going off Muldonach, was alright, just tussocks. However the forest paths marked on the map have been long since overgrown and disappeared under all kinds of vegetation including new self seeded trees. Don't go this way! I decided we'd take a (once-upon-a-time) firebreak down to the track proper, which we eventually managed, then it was a simple matter of returning along the good track to the car park. Quite a few folk out walking dogs. Another evening spent camping near the car park, another evening of heavy rain.


Fleet3.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



The good news was that Tuesday was supposed to be dry. We had Cairnsmore of Fleet on the cards - I felt a bit sorry for Allison who didn't need it for her Donalds second round, but I needed the Graham aspect of it. Headed down to the parking area and used the WH route up the hill, claggy but mild, at least until the treelike was passed. Allison was slow and I decided to be a bit ruthless given that I wanted to be back home before darkness had fallen - I said she could climb up at her own rate and wait at the cairn for me, while I went off and did Meikle Multaggart. So off I went at a tick, heading speedily up to the cairn and down/out to Multaggart. A puff back up hill, Allison not yet at the cairn - OK I'll go and do the Knee as well. I must have almost passed her coming up as I was heading off to the Knee, but in thick clag who could see anything. I ran most of the downhill sections, thanking the fates that there was a clear footpath to follow, back up to the summit of Fleet where I found Allison sitting shivering inside the wind shelter where she'd been waiting about 25 minutes. I was hot and sweaty but delighted it was only 11.30, which meant we'd be down before 2pm and should get back in the light. We met a few folk coming up as we descended and indeed got back to the car at 1.30. My satnav sent me a weird route up Nick of the Balloch which was, um, interesting and not exactly provided with many passing places, but we made it home in one piece, with at least some more Grahams/Donalds in the bag.

My sole photo from Tuesday
Image95292FA9-2673-4200-B5DC-31295BC65511_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr
weaselmaster
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Posts: 2521
Munros:282   Corbetts:90
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Location: Greenock

Re: A Drowned World

Postby matt_outandabout » Wed Jan 03, 2024 10:36 am

Sounds a brutal one....

Love that part of the world - many years ago I was paid to wander those hills with groups.

I agree about vehicle access to White Laggan - it seems to have become a 'thing'. There was a facebook post a few years ago from a photographer with business logo'd Landrover parked actually at the front door of the bothy..grrrr.

White Laggan is also the only bothy I have ever evacuated. Let us say that male drunkards with very large knives and a desire to sleep between my female teenage group participants was not going to go well - so we went for a 'star watching walk' at midnight and bailed out back to the safety of the outdoor centre.
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Re: A Drowned World

Postby weaselmaster » Wed Jan 03, 2024 12:37 pm

matt_outandabout wrote:Sounds a brutal one....

Love that part of the world - many years ago I was paid to wander those hills with groups.

I agree about vehicle access to White Laggan - it seems to have become a 'thing'. There was a facebook post a few years ago from a photographer with business logo'd Landrover parked actually at the front door of the bothy..grrrr.

White Laggan is also the only bothy I have ever evacuated. Let us say that male drunkards with very large knives and a desire to sleep between my female teenage group participants was not going to go well - so we went for a 'star watching walk' at midnight and bailed out back to the safety of the outdoor centre.


Oh I remember you posting about that bothy experience on another thread - for some reason I thought it was at Overphawhope.
weaselmaster
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Posts: 2521
Munros:282   Corbetts:90
Fionas:219   Donalds:77+36
Sub 2000:395   Hewitts:33
Wainwrights:15   Islands:34
Joined: Aug 22, 2012
Location: Greenock

Re: A Drowned World

Postby BlackPanther » Fri Jan 05, 2024 11:03 am

Happy New Year to you both, and what a way to break into 2024. We managed two Subs and an easy Corbett during Xmas break. Kevin's back is getting better, if slowly.

I must go back to posting reports. The Websters told me that you are about to overtake me as the most read blogger on WH :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: A Drowned World

Postby weaselmaster » Sun Jan 07, 2024 11:12 pm

BlackPanther wrote:Happy New Year to you both, and what a way to break into 2024. We managed two Subs and an easy Corbett during Xmas break. Kevin's back is getting better, if slowly.

I must go back to posting reports. The Websters told me that you are about to overtake me as the most read blogger on WH :lol: :lol: :lol:



Happy New Year to you two, too!
Yes, the only reason I'm getting ahead in reports is that you have been posted missing!
Hope Kevin's recovery continues, even if it is a slow one.
weaselmaster
Ambler
 
Posts: 2521
Munros:282   Corbetts:90
Fionas:219   Donalds:77+36
Sub 2000:395   Hewitts:33
Wainwrights:15   Islands:34
Joined: Aug 22, 2012
Location: Greenock

Re: A Drowned World

Postby MarkieC » Fri Mar 15, 2024 1:43 pm

" I have no respect for people who cycle into bothies" ..... quite a statement.
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