In the land of the 'long' grass

[Fife Flyer]

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This was a plan that came off the subs bench as the original plan was to re-visit the Ring of Steall, I had two options on my radar the other one was to tackle 3 Donald's near Tweedsmuir. As I had a full 'free' day I decided to head further afield and after the usual research opted to follow Rockhopper's route (roughly).
I left Fife at 6.30am and was ready to suffer congestion on the M8 and then through Glasgow and onto the M77, the journey took a couple of hours and I was parked up and away. Parking is almost non existent as there is plenty of construction work in the general area and there is also road works very close to where I parked

Parking very limited

Nice easy start

The initial road was good tarmac and I did notice that Rockhopper took his bike, I weighed up the pro's and con's and decided it wouldn't be worth it, mainly as by the time I have faffed around putting on the front wheel, inflating the tyre etc, etc The road/track takes you to the disused lead mines and all the derelict buildings and rubble in the area

Road/path getting a bit rougher

Hills in the distance

Plenty of derelict buildings, Cairnsgarroch is the hill in the background, last one of the day

Plenty of rubble along with parts of buildings

After taking a few photo's I left the area of the lead mines and now the going got serious and tough There was path and I could see where I was heading but getting there was a different matter. Walking through long grass is really tough, but this grass waist deep, tufty and very damp underfoot in places - gaiters were useless, I would have been better with waders I don't know how many times I stopped to get my breath but it was quite a few, I just set my sights on the higher ground ahead and was hoping the going would get easier

Not sure what happened 'colour wise', but that is the way ahead

Over the stye and then the fun begins

Really tough going uphill

Followed the fence for a while

Looking back & time to get my breath

North

North west

Looking back

What a relief to walk on this after the earlier struggle

Coran of Portmark summit looking west(ish)

You wouldn't be in the Borders without having a good view ruined

I reached the summit of Coran of Portmark in just under 2 hours and from that summit to the final summit the walking was easy, basically following an ATV track.

South

South east (ish)

Way ahead

Way ahead from Bow

I noticed on a couple of walk reports that Bow has been upgraded to Donald status, so I duly paid her a visit After leaving Bow the next port of call was Meaul with the only trig of the day It took me 2hrs 30mins to reach the summit, so I reckoned I was making good progress The views all the time along the broad ridge were outstanding - in all directions, this part of Scotland is under rated, under populated and having visited this part of Scotland since the early 70's has hardly changed

Looking across towards Loch Doon

South from summit trig on Meaul

Looking ahead to the next target

South again

Some sort of fungi?

Nice broad ridge to Carlin's Cairn, bit damp in the odd spot

I should mention that although the weather looks OK in the photo's it was anything but warm, the wind was fairly strong and that was more evident on the summit of Carlin's Cairn, the highest point of the day at 807m. I would have loved to wander round and take in the views and more photo's but the summit as you would expect is rather exposed and the easterly wind meant that the large cairn was almost useless in giving protection from the wind

South east

West

East

Carlin's Cairn and quite a pile of stones

Looking across to the final hill of the day

The walk from Carlin's Cairn to the final summit of the day Cairnsgarroch was straight forward however I would have to make an excutive decision Should I go back over Meaul, an ascent of just under 100m or should I traverse round the eastern, then northern slopes. I approached the lower slopes of Meaul I opted to do the extra ascent and stick to the path, I know I am not known for sticking to paths but maybe I am a changed man To be honest the terrain round Meaul didn't look inviting, scattered rocks and a fair old slope.
Once on Meaul again I turned right (east) and followed a faint path, that follows a fence downhill, not the best descending terrain I have trodden on. The descent is about 150m and no sooner have you reached the bottom, the ascending of the 100m begins

Looking back to Meaul from summit of Cairnsgarroch

Looking across to the first summit of the day

Stunning, Carlin's Cairn on the right

Above shot zoomed

East

North

After a few photo's in every direction and it was time to move on, the way down is obvious as there is a faint path through the short grass, which takes you down the shoulder in the direction of the old lead mines.
That was the easy bit, the faint path disappears so I opted to continue heading towards the Garryhorn Burn where I could see the "bridge" that has featured in previous WR's. It was a good plan however the descent down Black Craig was rather steep, but not a problem as the longish grass provided good grip underfoot.

Angle of descent off Black Craig (taken on my phone)

Looking down on the Burn and the wall I would struggle to follow

Another shot off my phone

Follow the wall

At the bottom of Black Craig once again I was in the very long grass again and it was anything but fun, the only good thing about this long grass was that it was fairly flat.
The walk through the long grass although only about 1km was not enjoyable and must have taken the best part of an hour. After crossing the Burn using stepping stones I followed an old stone wall, figuring that if someone can build a wall the going must be OK - how wrong could I be
Eventually I reached the derelict ruins and was so pleased to walk on normal terra firma and was back at the car just under 6 hours after setting off
This walk was fabulous, certainly challenging and provides terrific views in all directions
Next, unless another weather appears next week is the promised return to Mull for a double compleation, I do hope the weather is favourable as I would appreciate views from on high on Mull.

[Robertgee]

Great report. Was along there 10 years ago, so your great photos bring back the memories. Did a walk right along the ridge to Meikle Millyea as part of a group walking with the Newton Stewart walking festival. A superb day. Only thing was I missed the true summit of Meikle Millyea...which was a short distance away from the top we were on...this was the old summit, not the actual Donald. From there we headed down to Forrest Lodge, missing the true summit. So this gives me a great excuse to go back and try again another time The Galloway and Border hills give some brilliant walks in amazing scenery, my favourite part of Scotland...and that's why I'm now on a quest to complete all the Donalds.
Robert.
PS. I've just noticed you've done 64 Donalds, one more than me...If I'd only managed to actually get to the top of Meikle Millyea, we'd be the same

[PeteR]

At least you got views on your visit Martin. Had to go back and check my photos from these four. I had a clag fest trip, so saw very little. I'm sure that abandoned lead mining settlement is supposed to be haunted though. Very unnerving in the mist, that's for sure.

I think I took a slightly different route down to you, as I picked up a boggy landrover track somehow, that took me back to the spooky farmhouse. Had to cross the river at that point, which was in spate at the time. Water up to my nicky nacky noos

[martin.h]

Hi Martin, a great and very timely report, thank you, we're up in the land of the Donalds at the end of the month, thinking of doing the WH route for Corserine and the Rhinns of Kells, might do it in reverse and include some of the ones you did, I just have to work out how to get back to Forrest Lodge if we decide to go as far as Meaul and Cairnsgarroch. the forest looks ok, not sure about x'ing Polmaddy Burn tho'
Thanks for the idea,
Cheers.

[Caberfeidh]

I was down in the glen behind Carlin's Cairn, at the foot of Craignaw and Dungeon Hill recently. Don't knock that long grass ~ it is certainly tricky to get through, but in a mostly treeless landscape with very little shelter, if you encounter bad weather you can snuggle down in the long grass (adders notwithstanding) and get shelter there, like a mountain hare.

Silver Flow

Craignaw from shelter of long grass

[rockhopper]

Turned out nicely. Certainly is tough going in places and even though there's a wall it doesn't mean it's any easier as you say. Would probably agree re the bike on this trip as it didn't seem to save any time - cheers