Scoops Reports 2011 - 17 September 2011 Buchan Ridge & Merrick

Wigtownshire Ramblers 17 September 2011 Buchan Ridge & Merrick

The forecast for the day threatened showers so the 17 walkers who had assembled at Bruce’s Stone car park were keen to get started on what was to be, for some, a long and satisfying day’s walk.  Isobel, Frances, Joanne, Andrea, Carl, Florence, Leslie, Brian (leading), Gordon and Debbie arrived at Bruce’s Stone car park looking forward to a good long walk!  There were loads of other people I did not know except for one person who had been on a Portpatrick walk with us ages ago, plus Catherine from Port William who had walked with the Ramblers a couple of months ago. The group turned off to walk upwards beside Buchan Burn making good progress towards the Buchan Ridge.  It was soon afterwards that they split into two parties, one reaching and enjoying the scenery at the top of Buchan Hill and the other pushing on upwards.

I knew that Brian planned to include the Buchan Ridge in our walk and that he was not keen to be going from one loch to another as the route would be water logged!  He announced that he intended going up Buchan Hill, having lunch by one of the loch’s (have not worked out how he would have done this yet) before heading up the Merrick.  We set off at a fast pace, some of the walkers I did not know (I think some of them may have come with Gordon, from Ayrshire) helping to push the group on leaving Brian with the slower walkers.  Catherine soon lagged behind and Carl stayed back with me as I tried to encourage her.  Brian waited with Florence and Isobel until we had caught up and I told him that I would go to the top of Buchan Ridge with Carl and Catherine and then we would make our way back down.  We eventually reached the summit but dropped down below it to have our lunch where it was more sheltered, about 12.15pm (much earlier than the rest of the group would be having theirs!) and we had brilliant views of the lochs below us.

There was the occasional very light shower on the ridge but an early, leisurely lunch was enjoyed by those opting for time for photography and appreciating the views opening up below them of many lochs – Neldricken, Valley, Narroch, and Long and Round Lochs of Glenhead, and across to the Rig of Jarkness and beyond.  So far the walk had been fairly easy but the scramble down from the hill towards Gairland Burn redressed the balance – to say nothing of losing their balance occasionally, necessitating their descent on backsides occasionally, amid much hilarity and exclamations! We started to get cold so decided that we would head down from there to pick up the Five Lochs track and had a really horrendous descent – steep, tussocks, rocks, deep holes with water in them, heather, bracken, all conspired to make our downward journey a difficult one.  However, we laughed as we fell, Catherine spent more time on her backside than in standing.  The path they eventually reached looked at times much like miniature waterfalls and a lot of care was taken in negotiating it back down to the forest road before heading uphill to Bruce’s Stone, the sun shining and the rain having completely disappeared. It was a tremendous relief when we got down to the track even though we now had a long way to go along a rocky, boggy path.  Catherine was shaking with the exertion – NOT with fear she told us!  She was great fun to be with and she certainly needed her sense of humour today! 

Meanwhile the other group moved on steadily, working their way along Buchan Ridge and up beside a gully, pausing to look upon the rocky outline of the face of the ‘Grey Man of the Merrick’.  It was a hard slog up this section to get to the summit of the Merrick, stopping just below it for lunch, giving them enough energy to continue! On reaching the cairn and trig point (843m) at the top, what little mist there had been earlier had evaporated.  The clouds floated by as the views opened up and all of the Five Loch’s, plus many more lay below them and the Galloway Hills and beyond were seen in amazing detail. 

It was an easy stroll for a while after leaving the summit but a short climb back up brought the walkers to Ben Yellary from where Ailsa Craig and the Ayrshire coastline became more prominent.  Following the descent from there, they ignored the pathway down towards Loch Trool and started to negotiate the boggy area, worsened by recent rain, to reach the rocky slopes of Benane with its scattering of lochans. After their descent from there and reaching the forest road the group split into two, one of them opting to walk a short while along the road, turn off to follow the ‘Merrick’ track, past the bothy at Culsharg and to follow Buchan Burn down to Bruce’s Stone.

The other group had an exhilarating scramble down the Fell of Esconcan which they all agreed added an exciting end to a wonderful walking day as from here the views of Loch Trool and its surrounding hills were ‘tremendous’!

Scoops Reports 2011 - March 5 Merrick

Wigtownshire Ramblers March 5 Merrick  

Saturday produced a drizzly morning with mist hanging around the tops of the hills when fifteen ramblers gathered to climb the Merrick.  Leaving the cars by Bruce’s Stone, an inscribed boulder overlooking Loch Trool, commemorating Bruce’s victory over the English here in 1314, the company followed the tourist path up the side of the Buchan Burn. Cath, Frances, Brian,  Jim, Ken, Debbie, Sue, Marilyn and Jim, Jack, Allan Topping, his son Neil, Peter, Jim and the new male walker from Portpatrick who had joined us on the Portpatrick to Stranraer walk. 

The burn displayed its usual picturesque bubbly character, bouncing and swirling over rocks and gurgling through pools, a pretty accompaniment to the dreary weather, and rough path. Once gaining the trees the path improved and a pleasant walk to Culsharg Bothy ensued, though now the mist approached and visibility was reduced.

A stop was made at the bothy, once a shepherd’s cottage, to examine a carved boulder which was rescued from the nearby burn and incorporated into a rock pillar in 1983, after being damaged by storms some years earlier. The carving, which was made around 1870, is difficult to make out.  Logging has cleared the area above Culsharg and is still an ongoing operation, with the forestry machines in much evidence.  Here the climb up the steep path, between the remaining trees, began in earnest.

Once above the trees the mist closed in, so that although the new path was clear, a delightful change from the boggy expanse that had to be crossed only a few years ago, there were no views of the hills to be had.  As the ramblers walked blindly on it was t herefore a surprise to reach the top of Benyellary seemingly quickly, perhaps because the heights yet to be climbed on this stage of the walk could not be seen, and thus not demoralising those who were finding the gradient taxing. 

After lunch by the cairn it was a straightforward walk across the Neive of the Spit, with a bitter cold air penetrating the fingers, and onto the top of the hill where the air became much warmer. Quite a few walkers were met along the way, with the top cairn shelter already occupied.  (Before long we were setting off again, glad to be walking and hoping to regain the warmth we had reached on the way up but I put a hand warmer in my right glove and I saw Allan giving his son one too.  Life savers!  It did not seem to take as long to get to the top of the Merrick but I think this was because we were all chatting away and as the mist was so thick we could not see what could have been the top and which never was!  At one time Jim and I were walking together and I looked back to see no-one behind us although there should have been four people and could see no-one in front of us either.  Jim carried on walking and I waited for the others to emerge through the mist.  The walkers ahead of us stopped to wait for the rest to catch up and then moved on, eventually reaching the top of the Merrick where we met three people who had passed us earlier, sitting in the stone circle having their lunch.  Despite our making it obvious that we wanted a photo of all of us there they did not move out of the way to make this easier for us.) 

Unfortunately the spectacular views to be seen from the summit were missing, but the effort of gaining the top, 843 metres high, was declared to be worthwhile, especially by the three ramblers for whom this was the first time.

Leaving the Ordinance Survey triangulation point, which displayed a flush bracket to the delight of the collector, the Black Gairy on the north face of the hill was viewed. Here there was a thick cornice of snow glimmering through the mist. This is a favourite place for the ice climbers of Galloway to practice their sport.

The top of the Merrick is hundreds of acres of rough grass, and for a place of such high rainfall, it was very dry, with just one large patch of snow still lying. The flat top and the path down to Culsharg were uneventfully followed, with the mist still enclosing the ramblers almost until the forest road was reached once more.

The view became much clearer as we passed through the gate and even better as we came to the newly planted area, of trees and bushes and we got really warm as we went down through the forested area.  Brian suggested that we leave the wide, worn path and walk down between the trees, over the densely pine covered ground and it was much softer on our knees and hips! 

A welcome stop for refreshments was taken at Culsharg with some views of the lower hills, though the mist remained on the tops.  It was here that many of the walkers, such as McBain, who first described exploring these hills at the end of the nineteenth century, had comfortable lodgings with the shepherd, his wife and sister. It now seems rather a lot of people to fit into this small cottage.  

We realized that we were not going to get back to the cars in time to get to NS for tea and cakes so l took plenty of time going down this last section of the walk as it is such a joy to photograph! 

Only a comparatively short walk from here remained, back down beside the Buchan Burn, to regain the cars. Despite the mist and drizzle the ramblers had once more had a enjoyable walk in congenial company.

The surrounding hills were still displaying their ‘autumnal’ colour – winter is so often the most photogenic time of the year, especially in the Galloway Hills.

We were back at the cars about 4.30pm.  Cath, Jim, Marilyn, Ken, Jim, Debbie, Sue and I went to the House o’ the Hill for tea and coffee and sat near a wood burner which was throwing out so much heat that we had to strip off more clothing and our cheeks burned!