Loch Doon, Merrick, Corserine and Meaul. A 2 day adventure.

[Quiggers1480]

I’d been intending to do a two day/night wild camp for a while, but needed some inspiration. I’m fortunate to live just outside the Lake District, but little of it is new anymore and it’s busy, so for a proper adventure I decided to go to Galloway, remote and wild feeling. I looked for routes linking Merrick and Corserine, but not finding one decided to make my own, some of which would be pathless.

Day 1. 20.3km
Stage 1. I left the carpark at the bottom of Loch Doon, and hiked along a long but easy forest track which took me eastwards and across the north side of Loch Riecawr. It was beautiful hot day, with fantastic views all the way towards Merrick to the south east where I was going to camp for the night, and Corserine to the south west, which I intended to climb on Day 2. I chatted with a friendly dog walker who warned me about Adders, and who turned out to be the last person I’d see until I returned to my car the following evening. Eventually I came to fork in the track and turning south and heading towards the north end of the Range of the Awful Hand, with the first peak being Shalloch on Minnock.

From the forrest track towards Merrick in the far distance.

Stage 2. There are no paths that head up onto the ridge from Loch Doon, so I’d planned to follow Craigencool Burn, or use an area of clear fell just before it if the logging tracks left by the harvesters weren’t too bad. A quick break under some of the standing trees to get some water on board, and out of the sun for a few moments, before the midges chased me out and I had to decide which would be an easier route. Picking my way through heather, tussocks and bilberry alongside the burn or using the logging tracks made from old branches when the trees were felled. I opted for the latter, while keeping an eye out for any Adders! The climb was tough, relentless and hot, from a starting elevation of 300m and up the mountainside until left the clearfell behind and trudged up the mountains side towards Shalloch on Minnock at 768m. I stopped on the way to take on and fill my water bottles, enjoying the views as I did so.

Looking back down the clearfell and across to Corserine.

Loch Riecawr in the distance.

Stage 3. The views from the top were phenomenal, 360 degrees for miles, well worth the effort and a good destination in itself, but not today. Merrick looked daunting in the distance, with a couple of climbs to be tackled on the way. An easy descent down to the Nick of Carclach, followed by a surprisingly steep but short climb up to the top of Tarfessock, before a steep descent took me down onto a very boggy area with a few tiny lochans. One was especially clear so I took the risk of refilling one of my water bottles from it, knowing it might be my last chance to refill before I got to the top of Merrick. After a gentle start the climb up Kirriereoch was brutual. Very steep, with no path to follow made for slow going, but knowing it was the final top before I tackled Merrick kept me going. An uneventful descent and then it was the final climb of the day onto Merrick. There is no defined path, but from a distance I could see there were two options, to ascend via a very steep start onto the Spear of the Merrick, or bypass it and traverse the slope onto Merrick. I opted for the latter, which was still slow and brutal, but worth it! The views from the top were perfect, surely the best in Galloway and more than worth the effort.

Getting closer to Merrick

A perfect pitch, looking west.

Day 2. 30.8km
After a good nights sleep, woke to a perfect start with an amazing cloud inversion! The weather was due to turn during the day, with a weather warning for rain due to arrive about 13:00hrs, so after some porridge and coffee, I packed up and was on my way by 07:00hrs.

A beautiful cloud inversion looking due east towards Corseine.

Stage 1. I originally intended descending down the southeast flank of Merrick, but due to the cloud decided to retrace my steps from the previous day, and descended via the Spear of the Merrick, aiming to reach a stone wall, and then follow it onto the north shore of Loch Enoch, where according to other walk reports there would be a path of sorts. There was no path, or nothing more than an animal path but I did see the odd boot print, which was reassuring. Eventually after trudging through a mixture of bog and tussocks, I reached a lovely white sandy bay, or at least it would be lovely on a sunny day! I was in need of a coffee by this point, but wanted to push on to the far side of Loch Enoch, ready for what I thought would be hardest stage of the two days. Visibility was still very poor, and I was worried about following the shore too far round and overshooting the point at which I needed to head west towards Corserine, so relied on my compass to ensure I didn’t end up heading south. This was harder than it sounds due to the bays and headlands on the north shore of Loch Enoch, but eventually I came to a sandy bay which I was confident was at the northeastern point of the loch. Out came my stove and I had a great coffee. Little did I know it would be my last one of the day.

Loch Enoch in the mist.

Stage 2. This part was entirely pathless, and I had originally intended to climb Dungeon Hill on my way west. However the mist was still very thick, so I decided there was no point, and set off on a north easterly direction, hoping to hit a firebreak in the forest on the other side of the valley. This was a tough stage, relying on my compass to prevent me going round in circles. There were a few animal tracks, but these never went in the right direction for long, while going round bogs, and boulders meant a constant readjusting of my route. The rain started to come in gently during this stage, so waterproof pants on, ready for a deluge. Still no midges though, which was an absolute bonus! Visibility remained very poor, so when saw a burn heading in the right direction, about 10 metres ahead I was reassured that it had to be Pulskaig Burn, and followed it down towards the area of forestry below Corserine, where the trees eventually loomed out of the mist!

Stage 3. This was a long easy stage. I crossed a small burn and entered into the forest, made my way up a fire break, until it became completely blocked by wind blown trees, with no way round or through. Really frustrating, but no choice other than to turn round, head back to the burn and skirt the forest until the next firebreak, which actually had a great quad bike track running up it! This track actually crosses the burn into the area I’d just crossed, but disappears shortly after the burn, and had saplings growing in it, so can’t have been used for a while. After a short ascent I reached a proper forest track, thought about stopping for some water and food, but as the rain really started to fall I decided to keep going and set off south, making good progress as I did so and being thankful that the rain was behind me. The track gradually ascended the mountainside, until I came to the path I wanted on the right hand side, completely unmarked, but next to a solitary mature pine tree in among clear fell and young trees.

The quad bike track up a firebreak.

Stage 4. I thought this part would be a short but tough, so planned it as a separate stage, depending on how lucky I was. The path on my map simply stopped halfway up from the forest track to the ridge, but knowing that the The Rhinns of Kells are busy by Galloway standards, took the gamble that it actually goes all the way to the top. This would’ve been a very steep section, if it there hadn’t been so many zig zags which reduced the gradient and made it so much easier. To make things even better it turned into another old quad bike track which actually goes all the way to the path that runs south to north along the ridge.

The quad bike track onto the Rhinns of Kells

Stage 5. This was a surprisingly quick and easy stage, apart from the weather, along the ridge towards Corserine, and on to Meaul about 4km further along the ridge, with the quad bike track going all the way. On a clear day the views would be phenomenal, but as it was I had my head down as the northly wind blasted rain into my face, while the cloud was very dense and visibility was down to a few meters at times. It was very cold, and I ended up sheltering behind a trig point on the stop of Corserine to take off my waterproof jacket and add a layer. I didn’t stay any longer than that at the top, and continued on to Carlin’s Cairn, where I took shelter in large stone windbreak to take on some water and food for a few minutes. Setting off again, the quad bike track was hard to find, and navigating north took me to the cliffs on the north side of Carlin’s Cairn, before I readjusted, headed northwest and found the track again. It was a fairly easy walk to Meaul, a quick photo at the top before turning and heading back down towards the forest. My original plan had been to camp on Meaul, but I was early arriving at 15:20hrs, and there was no point setting up camp when the rain was coming in sideways with no views.

Corserine and my trig point.

Meaul in the mist.

Stage 6. The map has a path that nearly reaches the mountainside above the forest and this was my destination for this stage. Due to the lack of any visibility I decided to handrail a stone wall down the mountainside until it hit the forest. This was tedious, with lots of deep heather, blueberries and uneven grassy tussocks. I was really worried about my feet disappearing into a deep hole beneath the foliage so took my time as I descended, until reaching the forest below at which point I turned south intending to find a firebreak or if I was lucky the path. I wouldn’t have found the path if someone hadn’t left some stones on a rock to indicate the start, followed by more stones on felled tree trunks as the path descended into the forest. This made me wonder if this path actually goes all the way to summit – maybe I’ll do it again one day and find out. I continued down the mountainside, adding my own stones to the tree trunks as I went, until I reached a proper forest track. As before the path was completely unmarked, other than a small pile of stones.

The stones at my start of this track a life saver when you're cold and wet!

And the stones at my end of the track as it joins a proper forrest track.,

Stage 7. This was the final stage, a long meandering forest track, bitter sweet knowing that my trek was coming to an end, yet looking forward to getting dry back at my car. After many twists and turn, and stopping off to replenish my water I eventually got back to my car at Loch Doon. 50km and 16 hours of walking, a fantastic micro-adventure, one I’d do again despite the weather! 10/10 a great trek.

Back in the glen looking towards where Meaul would be if you could see it.