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I was looking for a gentle route up a hill on a path (after the previous day fighting up a steep slope with bracken and crags). The Southern Upland Way has been rerouted to go over Croft Head so I thought I would try this approach, though hadn't managed to find out many details. I started where the Way goes along a track beside the Moffat Water, there is room for a car or two there. Shortly after entering the forest, the Way dives off into the trees on a small path. The noticeboard shows the new SUW route.
![IMG_20190624_154551-685x359.jpg]()
- Here is a map of the route
The path crosses a burn on a bridge and continues gently up above the burn, joins a track for a while then a path led me uphill through birches then firs. Willow warblers were calling. A bit of motorway track then a narrow path up beside the edge of the forest, onto the ridge and along to the summit, with a narrow section by Crookedside Sclenders.
![IMG_20190623_112019-640x480.jpg]()
- View from the ridge
After an early lunch on the summit, I returned the same way. There are alternative routes back but I reckoned they would all involve more track.
