free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Yesterday had been a dreich affair on Hods Hill and plans to do Ballencleuch Law and Comb Law had been swiftly binned in favour of an early walk in to Brattleburn. The walk in was a fairly arduous affair, particularly the section over Craig Hill, due to the significant quantities of fuel and alcohol being carried. Craig and myself were feeling it rather more than Kev, him having been out quite a bit in December, while Craig is a much less regular visitor to the hills and I had been idle in that respect since early October.
We were joined briefly in the bothy during the evening by a family group from Beattock who said they were regular visitors but usually just popped in for a few hours to have their dinner and sit by the fire, before heading home again for the night. They knew all the forest tracks and how to get their vehicle fairly close to the bothy. They set about doing their thing in the other downstairs room, which generally involved a lot of shouting and feverish wood chopping activity! One of the guys was very keen to show off his new axe which his wife had given him for Christmas and which was so sharp that he had even been able to shave with it! Mmmmmmm!!!! Time for a
sharp exit!
I declined the chance to spend the night sitting in an armchair by the fire as I had done on my previous visit and spent a cosy night sleeping soundly on the raised platform, oblivious to the activities of Kev and Craig who were up answering calls of nature and tending to the fire throughout the night.
Brattleburn at first lightAs is always the case with a bothy stay, the walk out in the morning was a pleasure in comparison to the walk in, with all that fuel and alcohol having been consumed. We made a cracking pace back to the cars near Middlegill and after a quick stop for some provisions in Moffat, were on our way up the farm road over Beattock Hill towards the parking area at Kinnelhead.
KinnelheadA familiar green sign points the wayAnd so for my second outing of the fledgling 2018. It was a glorious morning as we set out on the track towards Lochanhead and then up the tree line towards the Pot of Ae and onto Queensberry shoulder, in the shadow of the windfarm, a seemingly omnipresent feature of the Southern Upland hills.
Kev and Craig on the track to LochanheadBack to the Moffat hills across the M74Vapour trail over QueensberryApproaching LochanheadBurn crossing just before LochanheadStart of the ascent properFarmer on quad bike feeding his flock on the flanks of Peat Hill, snow covered Moffat hills in the backgroundThank goodness this monster bog was fairly well frozen!In the shadow of wind turbinesClimbing above the Pot of AeLow cloud steaming inThe good weather and views didn't quite see us to the summit, where we were enveloped in a bit of low cloud. We could just make out the faint shape and shoreline of Daer Reservoir off to the north and parts of the route into Burleywhag that Kev and I had taken a couple of years ago, but that was about that.
Last few metres to Queensberry and Kev's 50th Donald!Not enough strength in that January sun!Three stoogesMy first Graham since the heady days of summer and my first Donald since the heady days of 2016!Sporting the Asda FM look!Name that album cover!In the interests of a varied hill diet, we took an alternative descent route, heading on a more north easterly bearing to skirt Mount Glass before descending through the valley towards the little lochan of Brekeney Hole, where we picked up the track back to Kinnelhead.
Descending from Lochan CraigPeathill Craig