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Date: Sunday 30 November 2014
Time taken: 8hrs 30mins (incl stops 1hr 10mins, excl drive in between)
Distance: 30km approx
Ascent: 1,600m approx
Attendees: me
Left early for the relatively short drive down past Carsphairn then up the single track road to the car park near Forrest Lodge.
Corserine / Milldown / Meikle MillyeaSet off from the car around 0700hrs – only needed the head torch for about the first half hour.
The sky was quite clear at this point for the walk up through the forest going anti-clockwise
Forestry 4x4 doing the rounds
Pre dawn
Quite a few signs going up through the trees to point the way. Found the big boulder and crossed the burn.
Once on the open hillside the sun started to appear
Small cairn on the way up
Going round the top of the corrie, could see over to the Donald, Carlin’s Cairn – clag blew over not long after and decided not to walk over to it
Extremely faint brocken spectre
Trig point
Mist blowing over then clearing with the sun strong in between. Headed off down the Rhinns of Kells.
Very faint fog bow
Mist clearing a little
West towards the Galloway hills
Looking back
Loch Dungeon
Westwards again
Up over Millfire then on to Milldown
Then on towards Meikle Millyea
Lochan
Looking back
Trig point on Meikle Millyea
Could see another cairn in the distance which looked as though it could be a wee bit higher so walked over to it – don’t think it was any higher though
Returned to the trig then the return leg down NE
Looking over towards Corserine
Met a few walkers on the way down. Back at the car, the car park was now pretty busy. Unpacked and drove off up to Carsphairn.
Cairnsmore of CarsphairnParked in the wee layby just off the A713 at the Green Well. Had some lunch then set off up the track towards Cairnsmore.
Dunool in the distance with Cairnsmore shrouded in cloud
Looking back to where I’d been in the morning, more cloud had arrived there as well
Up the track, walked past Willeanna then straight up Dunool
Into the cloud for the walk up Black Shoulder
Occasional glimpses when the cloud cleared but then it clagged over again.
Another faint fog bow
Summit in clag – waited for a wee bit but no sign of it clearing so set off on the descent following beside the dry stane dyke.
Lower down the mist did clear but stayed around on the higher ground
Got back to the car in the fading light just after 1600hrs