Innerdouny Hill & Lendrick Hill in the mist

[dgcampbell]

Innerdouny Hill from Littlerigg Car Park
9.3km 5.8 miles; 2hr 20min; Summit 497m 1630ft; Ascent GPS 260m 850ft

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The 2 Hills are close enough to be worth doing as one trip so in spite of the low cloud & rain I headed off to park at the Littlerigg Forestry Commission site. Just before pulling in I saw a red squirrel cross the road ahead which was a good start. The persistent damp and drizzle made it worthwhile for waterproofs, they stayed on for the rest of the day.
After keeping right at the major fork I was getting up closer to the cloudbase.

Low cloud

Really had limited views from then on. Further on at around NO034079 there was an obstacle course to liven things up

Obstacle course

The choice was over, under or around it. I went for going over it as enough branches had been removed on the right hand side. That had left reasonably pointed remnants and maneuvering astride the trunk was done with a fair degree of caution, not wishing to damage the waterproofs or anything else.

Right turn ahead

The track ends as noted in earlier reports, this time of the year in a profusion of yellow flowers. I followed the path off up to the right and through the old wall before reaching the mist shrouded summit.

Innerdouny Trig Point

Not really much point in hanging around for the scenery so I headed back downhill, same route, crossed the tree, just as carefully as the first time, and stopped for lunch and coffee at a roadside quarry approx. NO033080 [No, they don’t sell it there, I took it with me]. Further back down the track the mist had lifted a touch and more was visible. The lack of actual rainfall encouraged me to continue South a mile or two to park at the gate at NO008040 and go for the top of Lendrick Hill. Seemed unlikely that I was going to be swept along in a rush of hillwalkers as I had seen no-one at all since starting the walk.

Lendrick Hill from NO008040
4km 2.5 miles; 1hr 20min; Summit 453m 1486ft; Ascent GPS 225m 740ft

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The easy part

This started off with a pleasant uphill stretch past a few hairpin bends before arriving at the cairn and post which mark the start of the ascent though the gap in the trees.

The steep ascent

Quite a good exercise that was! The photo shows the view with the camera held vertically.
After about 200ft the slope lessened and the top marker post appeared as the trees thinned out. Then it was just a short path through the mist to the summit cairn.

Extensive summit views, looking for the trig point

If not for the path I would have needed a compass to head off to the trig point. Midway between the two I could see both but from neither could I see the other.

The return by the same route was less demanding, isn’t gravity a wonderful invention, and I managed to avoid leaving skid marks on the way down the slippery slope. Overall it was a good day, not enough rain to make it unpleasant.