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Another glorious day, perfect for a Glen Afton circuit

Another glorious day, perfect for a Glen Afton circuit


Postby Robertgee » Fri Jun 01, 2018 8:24 pm

Fionas included on this walk: Blackcraig Hill

Donalds included on this walk: Alhang, Blackcraig Hill, Blacklorg Hill

Date walked: 30/05/2018

Time taken: 7 hours

Distance: 21 km

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Another beautiful day was forecast after a misty dull start. So with just 4 Donalds to go, I decided to do my next trio of hills, in Glen Afton. Started at the usual place of Blackcraig Farm for the climb to Quintin Knowe and then onto my first Donald of the day, Blackcraig Hill. There's a small area to park on the right not far beyond the turning to Blackcraig Farm...a little track which only goes up to the forest fence...park sensibly and there's room for a couple of cars. A good track and path leads from the farm to Quintin Knowe.

05-Glen Afton.jpg
Glen Afton


06-Craigbraneoch Hill from above Blackcraig.jpg
Craigbraneoch Hill in the early morning mist


14-Glen Afton from Quintin Knowe.jpg
Glen Afton from Quintin Knowe


A marker post point to the right from the second cairn on Quintin Knowe, but I carried on to see the cairn which is marked on the map, further up the track. Turn left through the gate and it's on the little rise straight ahead...it wasn't worth bothering about, as all that remains here is a pile of stones. :o It was then a case of following the fence up onto Blackcraig Hill. Still quite misty as I got to the top, so not many photo opportunities here. :(

26-Glen Afton from Blackcraig Hill northern cairn.jpg
Glen Afton from the first big cairn on Blackcraig Hill


31-Blackcraig Hill trig.jpg
Blackcraig trig


Next it was more fence following to climb Blacklorg Hill.

42-Blacklorg Hill with Alwhat and Alhang behind.jpg
Mist starts to clear as I head for Donald number two...Blacklorg Hill. Alhang is in the distance on the right


52-Blackcraig Hill from Blacklorg Hill.jpg
Blackcraig Hill from Blacklorg Hill


55-Moorbrock Hill, Cairnsmore of Carsphairn and Windy Standard from Blacklorg Hill.jpg
Cairnsmore of Carsphairn and Windy Standard from Blacklorg Hill


56-Meikledodd Hill from Blacklorg Hill.jpg
Meikledodd Hill


Onward to Meikledodd Hill (a Donald top). At the col between the two, there's a new track constructed to build pylons, for carrying the electricity out from the still under construction Afton Wind Farm.

67-Alhang and Alwhat with Moorbrock Hill, Cairnsmore of Carsphairn and Windy Standard behind from Meikledodd Hill.jpg
Alhang and Alwhat, with Cairnsmore of Carsphairn and Windy Standard behind from Meikledodd Hill


From here I headed for the next Donald top, Alwhat.

79-Afton Reservoir from Alwhat.jpg
Afton Reservoir on the way to Alwhat


81-Alhang From Alwhat.jpg
Alhang from Alwhat


A quick descent and ascent takes me to the third Donald of the day, Alhang. From here, I could see the only Donald I haven't done, Moorbrock Hill. So close, yet so far. :crazy: For me this would have been just too much for a day walk, so my plan was these 3 today, with another trip to bag Moorbrock soon. :D

93-Afton Reservoir, Blackcraig Hill and Blacklorg Hill from Alhang.jpg
Afton Reservoir, Blackcraig Hill and Blacklorg Hill from Alhang


96-Windy Standard from Alhang.jpg
Windy Standard


97-Moorbrock Hill from Alhang.jpg
To be my last Donald, Moorbrock Hill


I'd planned to return by climbing Millaneoch Hill, along to Wedder Hill, then join the track beyond Lamb Hill. But this just didn't look any good due to the amount of wind farm construction work going on. Lots of traffic on dry dusty access tracks was putting up clouds of dust, so I'd have ended up completely covered in dust by the time I got back to the road. :( Instead, I went straight down into Glen Afton, and followed the Afton Water to the reservoir road. From there, I cut down to the dam, and road back to the car.

112-Afton Reservoir, Craigbraneoch Hill and Cannock Hill.jpg
Heading for Afton Reservoir


123-Craigbraneoch Hill and Afton Reservoir.jpg
Afton Reservoir and Craigbraneoch Hill


126-Meikledodd Hill, Alwhat and Alhang from Afton Reservoir.jpg
Meikledodd Hill, Alwhat and Alhang from the reservoir


156-Blackcraig Hill.jpg
Blackcraig Hill from back at the car


A superb day in the hills around Glen Afton, glorious weather and the walking was lovely and dry all the way. :clap: This was walked in a very long dry spell of weather, so in normal conditions, I'd expect the walking to be a lot more boggy in many places. :lol:
Robertgee
Walker
 
Posts: 81
Munros:104   Corbetts:39
Fionas:32   Donalds:89
Sub 2000:147   Hewitts:36
Wainwrights:38   Islands:60
Joined: Dec 5, 2015

Re: Another glorious day, perfect for a Glen Afton circuit

Postby iainR » Sat Jun 02, 2018 9:09 am

Great report Robert, what a difference a dry spell makes down there! Good luck with Moorbrock Hill.
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iainR
Walker
 
Posts: 72
Munros:78   Corbetts:30
Fionas:26   Donalds:62
Sub 2000:21   
Joined: Sep 8, 2015
Location: Hamilton

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