Five of us had absolutely fantastic weather to walk the first 40km of the Galloway Trail from the Mull to Stranraer on Sunday/Monday 6/7th March; blue skies, sunshine, a stiff breeze but not too bad. I used the Walk Description from this site as our guide, which was great thank you, and proved to be sufficiently accurate for the entire walk (backup OS Map in rucksack of course!). However, I will provide some updates on the route as some of the path has been washed out and one bridge gone due to Storm Arwen. Three of the way-marker posts were down out of general sight, which we propped back up where we could so they could be seen. Note, we tried to book the cabins at Ardwell (the half-way point) but they had been damaged during Storm Arwen and were not yet back up and running for our stay, so we got accommodation in Sandhead and split the walk into one longer day (The Mull to Sandhead 16km) and one shorter day (Sandhead to Stranraer 10 km). We booked a taxi to take us from Sandhead to the Mull lighthouse on the morning of day one, this cost £30, which seemed a bit steep but split between 5 of us was Ok and saved us from having to have 2 cars and do multiple trips down to the lighthouse.

Stages refer to the Walk Guide on this site.
Trail 1 Stage 4, after rounding Cailiness Point, we had to stay on the shore all the way to picnic site at Drummore. There were no indications of the path going up to the house but once at the picnic site we could see the track back to the left where presumably we should have came along.

On Stage 6, when the path is on the west side of the road going through woods, there was a tree down blocking the path, 3 of us scrambled around it without too much trouble; two in the party decided to backtrack a short way and walk along the road for a short section before rejoining the path.

On Stage 8, after passing the 'derelict houses' just keep walking along the track/road, until the obvious path down onto the shore. Note, along this section there is no path now running behind the shore anymore. We walked along the shore (tough going on the large pebbles) until the path re-appeared just before entering the trees.

Trail 2, Stage 3, the Bridge over Sandmill Burn on the shore is out, but no big deal, just before the burn head up the steps on the left into the Sands of Luce Caravan Park. Turn right and at the last caravan, turn left, and walk up the grass, then the paved road until you meet the road going east/west. Turn right and cross the bridge/burn, turning right to head back down to the shore, keep to the right and follow the road as it swings to the left heading for the Touring Caravan site. The Beach Access is sign posted on the far side of the Touring area. Once back on the shore, follow the guide.

Stage 6. There is no longer a Kissing Gate here but several metal gates tied together with string and requiring a vertical metal rod to be removed to pass through. Fortunately, there were no bulls in the pasture as the stiles crossing into the adjacent fields on the right (where there were bulls) need a bit of TLC and there would be no quick escape back through the metal gates! After the wood section, the next pasture was also Bull Free, and the escape stiles to the field at the left were in much better condition.

This was a great walk, very varied terrain, and so quite; we never met any others walking the path. Obviously the first section along the cliffs at the Mull is a real stunner, but I have to say the second day on the Sandhead to Stranraer section was nicer than I had anticipated. Yes, there is a few KM on minor roads, but the sections through the sand dunes and woods make up for this. We did appreciate the lovely bench at High Mye (I think) at the side of the road, with an invite from the owners, for folks to take a rest; they even provided a rubbish bin, very considerate!