Pikethaw and Wisp Hills in the sun

[McMole]

It's always useful to check previous WH reports on a hill before tackling it yourself. That can recommend routes, guide you to interesting sights, and divert you away from unwelcome terrain. Not least it can help with access, especially finding a suitable parking spot for your vehicle. After reading inca's report on bagging this pair of Marilyns I had second thoughts about parking in the layby on the A7 NE of Eweslees Farm. A more detailed look using Google Streetmap and then a check when returning from Ellson Fell with Jaywizz showed it to be totally unsuitable. Walking along the road from it would be considerably more than slightly hazardous. I wholeheartedly agreed with inca that the only sensible parking spot was on the south parapet of the road bridge over Eweslees Burn. When I arrived there at 10:15am I saw tyre tracks showing that others seemed to have also taken inca's advice in the past.

Instead of following inca's route through Eweslees Farm and meeting his turkeys, I walked 120m west along the A7, climbed over a gate and crossed a field to a second gate to the open hillside.

Eweslees and my car just visible parked on the bridge over the burn viewed from Peach Hill

From there a sheep track then short grass led over Peach Hill to Frodaw Height where the ground became rougher and more vegetated, but not for long. Just over the fence coming from the south I found a decrepit track that gave easier going. It followed the fence round to head towards the Pikethaw Hill summit.

Approaching Pikethaw summit

Pikethaw summit with Wisp Hill in the distance

I stopped there in the shade of its well-built cairn. After 75 minutes walking in warm sunshine it was time for a snack and some rehydration. I then sent Jaywizz a message that I was at ooze.nags.originate to encouraged her to load the 'what3words' apps onto her smartphone and find out where I was. From Pikethaw I followed inca's route to Wisp Hill taking my time with a few more rehydration stops.

Wisp Hill trig point with Pikethaw Hill in the distance

At the trig point I sent another message including archduke.detergent.reddish before heading downhill, Again I avoided the farm, and instead headed over Whin Fell towards the road.

View south from Whin Fell along the Ewes Water and the A7 towards Langholm

With a bit of weaving I followed grassy strips that avoided all the bracken and then followed the field boundaries down to the farm track and so to the A7 and my car.

It had been a fine walk in sunny warm weather, but with enough of a breeze to avoid overheating. There was an almost complete absence of midges, clegs and other flying annoyances. I did spot a couple of birds, and a few hundred sheep but not one other walker.