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28th Oct. Craiglee (A) 5.08km 266m ascent
Arrived quite late in the afternoon, very few visitors about. Pleasant walk up the path near the castle then off piste (as usual for me) out of the forestry to the summit. Easy going in good conditions. Very pleasant.
29th Oct. Benbeoch. 6.52km, 299m ascent
Very definitely off piste on this one - some WH contributors have reported doing this walk in less than 3 Kms - I clocked up 6.5! Not a route to be recommended although: it covered every kind of terrain. Gravel track, deep peat, felled area with brashings, vegetated spoil tips, pleasant grassy slope, vertical rock face and finally a bit of a moonscape.
- I know - hard to believe I could cover so much varied terrain between the gate and the summit!
29th Oct. Cairn Hill. 5.59km, 265m scent
Parked at the end of the farm track and walked up towards the farm (no dogs) and then on past the graveyard. At the forest, I climbed the stile and then walked round the pheasant pen, initially between pen and stone dyke, then into the forest to regain the track. The track is still quite well defined - but I wouldn’t recommend this route for dog owners. I passed an animal corpse laid out in a small clearing - was it laced with something lethal? - and shortly after came across a snare on the by now narrow path. Active vermin control.
The rest of the walk was uneventful, not one of the most photogenic summits, but nice to be there all the same.