I've no idea why, or from where or whom I got the idea, but for some years I laboured under the misapprehension that Meikle Bin was the highest summit in the the Campsie Fells,and as such I had "conquered" the Campsies on my numerous visits to it's summit. So on discovering some time ago that that title belonged to Earl's Seat, I banked it as a walk that could be done on a day with limited available time.
That day arrived last Saturday, so I set off around 8.15am with my walking buddy, grandson Matthew, keeping me company. We have had some Munro adventures over spring/summer/early autumn, which involved plenty of driving, so it was great to be at our chosen starting point, Glengoyne Whisky Distillery, suited, booted and ready to go by 9am.
Although Earl's Seat was the target, the best part of this walk, by far, was the climb up, summiting, and descent of Dumgoyne. It's a great little hill. There are two main routes up Dumgoyne and we chose the most direct one, which is pretty steep and involved a bit of scrambling (which Matthew said he enjoyed) before intersecting the other path which sweeps round from the left as you climb. This is a proper hill in miniature. This path takes you to the summit which we reached in just under an hour, and given the reasonably low level summit, (427metres) the views were superb, if just a little misty in the far distance.
From the summit we took a steep descent path which involved a bit of bum sliding for Matthew, but was good fun. I think there is a grassier, easier way to descend slightly to the north of our way, if that suits better.
And from here on the walk became a little more mundane if I'm honest. We made our way past a ruined building to Garloch Hill, before heading east in a direct line towards Earl's Seat summit which can be seen in the distance. And this was a mistake, I think, as the ground was pretty soft underfoot. In my opinion better to take the slightly more circuitous route a bit to the north and above the crags, in both directions. Better underfoot and better views.
The summit of Earl's Seat and it's trig point was reached in a leisurely couple of hours. Our route meant a couple of wobbly wire fences had to be overcome. It's not the most spectacular summit, but it was good to know we had finally reached the highest point of the Campsies. We returned to Garloch Hill on the more northerly path before skirting round the side of Dumgoyne and back down to the car around four hours after we had begun.
I would recommend this walk if you have limited time and a couple of hours would give a great workout on Dumgoyne by itself.