5 TUmps aroond Cushnie - Alford

[Gordon Ballantyne]

Decided that the probability of meeting folks on these hills was pretty low, so with GordonC still hors de combat, it was just Harvey and me again.
Cloudy, blustery day, but fair - the moisture having been dumped on the western hills.

KIRK HILL

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Parked up at the Cushnie kirk and headed up the track.

Parkup in the Cushnie Kirk car park

The first part of the forest had been felled, but soon we were in among the trees, watching nervously as the spindly trees exposed by the felling, bent like salmon fishing rods in the breeze. Near the top, a lady appeared wi twa dugs, but she headed off NE at pace on her jogwalk.
Cut off the track near the top along a firebreak then up the crest of the ridge following animal tracks over the tussocky ground. A non-descript top among the trees again.

The top of Kirk Hill in the trees

Spotted a plant with dessicated leaves in the Kirk car park. Have seen them in floral decorations before, but never in
"the wild" !

Dessicated leaves at Cushnie Kirk

LEOCHEL

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Left the car at the Kirk and walked across the road past the war memorial and by the village hall.

Cushnie War Memorial at the entrance to Cushnie Kirk

The hill had been clear-felled, so timber extraction tracks led us up to near the top. A short blunder through the felling brash brought us to the spot height.

Top of Leochel amid the brash

There were lots of wee spoil-heaps placed around in the brash, which I presumed was prep for the next planting. Hadn't seen this technique before......

The "planting" spoil heaps on Leochel

Stumbled back across the brash to the safety of the track and back to the car.





TOMBRECK

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Squeezed the car in at a slight widening of the road and headed off up past Cardenstone farm.

Parkup on the road for Tombreck

No sign of life as we passed. Climbed the gate on the grass track then through a gap towards a gate on the other side of a grass field. The gate was complicated so we crossed the BWF by a big tree.
Whilst crossing the fence the wind picked ma bunnet aff and I never saw it again ! Good job the wind was "warm".
Walked across to the top area of the grass field.

Harvey getting his lugs pinned back by the breeze on un-inspiring top of Tombreck

Returned the same way and donned my backup bunnet.





LANGGADLIE

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Parked up at the entrance to the Cushnie forest near the cross-roads.

Parkup for Langgadlie

Walked along the forestry track to the big bend, then up through the wood to save crossing and re-crossing the BWF at the forest boundary. Fairly easy through the orderly drills of pines then following animal tracks through a more sparse part of the plantation and out at the top, then along to the trig.
Returned down the side of the fence for a bit to avoid getting poked in the eye by the low pine branch stubbs, but eventually had to return to the forest to avoid the gorse by the fence.

The Langgadlie Trig

Met a forester/farmer at the gate by the car park in his 4x4 pickup, but could only exchange waves !
He opened the locked gate and disappeared up the track.





LOANEND

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Drove up the road a bit and parked by a dump at the edge of the forest. Someone was coupin' a bogey load of garden rubbish among the abandoned farm machinery. A couple were re-entering their car after a dogwalk, so I took over their "warm" space.

Parkup for Loanend

Had the option of walking up a grass field, but decided to walk up the edge of the forest which had a welcome animal track. Someone had also hacked their pony along this way too.
Plunged into the forest just beyond the highest point and picked up a trail of forest brash to the highest point.
Someone had tied a yellow ribbon on a tree spike to mark the spot height.

Harvey by the yellow ribbon marker at the top of Loanend

This had me humming the tune all the way back to the car !