Auchnafree Hill
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 6:56 pm
Well here it is my first report
Arrived eventually at the car park at the dam, after having trouble locating the dam, blaming the satnav in the car (of course), always very wary when you see all the private road signs put up by the land owners to deter us adventurers.
I would like to pay compliment to whoever created the route description/instructions as they were fantastic, only looked at the map briefly & not really sure why The photo's on the instructions were obviously taken in a cooler month as there was not a drop of snow anywhere on the route
You then go past an odd looking building
Then it's over a metal stye, before getting into full swing
One then follows a rough track for the next 4 & 1/2km, very easy going with the loch on your left.
The track then almost doubles back on itself with a slight drawback, one then starts to ascend The majority of the height is gained on the next stage & still on the same sort of path, with some superb views looking down the loch. You can also see who (if anyone) is following on behind
After gaining more than 1000' (whatever that is new money), one then reaches the next junction in the paths, take the left hand one & off one goes again
Didn't know it at the time but there isn't really very far to go Once the height has been gained the 2 cairns can be seen from quite a distance away (weather permitting of course), but first you have to negotiate a little bit of peat
Then the summit is reached, not a difficult walk at all
Retrace your steps, except I took a short cut down rather than go back to the head of the loch where the paths meet I ventured down the grassy hillside (much quicker), if sheep can do it so can I
A few extra scenic photo's thrown in at no extra charge
Arrived eventually at the car park at the dam, after having trouble locating the dam, blaming the satnav in the car (of course), always very wary when you see all the private road signs put up by the land owners to deter us adventurers.
I would like to pay compliment to whoever created the route description/instructions as they were fantastic, only looked at the map briefly & not really sure why The photo's on the instructions were obviously taken in a cooler month as there was not a drop of snow anywhere on the route
You then go past an odd looking building
Then it's over a metal stye, before getting into full swing
One then follows a rough track for the next 4 & 1/2km, very easy going with the loch on your left.
The track then almost doubles back on itself with a slight drawback, one then starts to ascend The majority of the height is gained on the next stage & still on the same sort of path, with some superb views looking down the loch. You can also see who (if anyone) is following on behind
After gaining more than 1000' (whatever that is new money), one then reaches the next junction in the paths, take the left hand one & off one goes again
Didn't know it at the time but there isn't really very far to go Once the height has been gained the 2 cairns can be seen from quite a distance away (weather permitting of course), but first you have to negotiate a little bit of peat
Then the summit is reached, not a difficult walk at all
Retrace your steps, except I took a short cut down rather than go back to the head of the loch where the paths meet I ventured down the grassy hillside (much quicker), if sheep can do it so can I
A few extra scenic photo's thrown in at no extra charge