Compass and GPS
Grouse-shooters’ tracks, such as this one below Garroch Fell (Walk 12), often give easy going between the hills
A compass is a very useful aid in mist, even if your skills only extend to ‘northwest, southeast’ rather than precision bearings. Magnetic deviation is about 4° west. This can often be ignored; otherwise, to convert a map bearing to a compass one, add 4. GPS receivers should be set to the British National Grid (known variously as British Grid, Ord Srvy GB, BNG, or OSGB GRB36).
Safety in the mountains
The Ettrick hills – Capel Fell seen from Croft Head (Walk 19)
Safety and navigation in the mountains are best learnt from companions, experience and perhaps a paid instructor; such instruction is outside the scope of this book. For those experienced in Snowdonia or the Lake District, these hills are easier going, but can be a lot more remote.
The international mountain distress signal is some sign (shout, whistle, torch flash or other) repeated six times over a minute, followed by a minute’s silence. The reply is a sign repeated three times over a minute, followed by a minute’s silence. To signal for help from a helicopter, raise both arms above the head and then drop them down sideways, repeatedly. If you’re not in trouble, don’t shout or whistle on the hills, and don’t wave to passing helicopters.
To call out the rescue services, phone 999 from a landline. From a mobile, phone either 999 or the international emergency number 112 – these will connect you via any available network. Reception is poor along the hilltops; at the hill edges, it’s a matter of luck whether the stretch of glen you’re looking down at has a phone mast. Sometimes a text message can get through when a voice call to the rescue service can’t – pre-register your phone at www.emergencysms.org.uk.
Avalanches
The Scottish Avalanche Information Service’s website (www.sais.gov.uk) doesn’t cover these less-frequented hills, but it and the fell-top report for the Lake District (www.lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk) can give general indications of conditions. Snow build-up is usually less than in the Highlands, and slopes are not as steep. Even so, avalanches do happen. Greatest avalanche danger arises during heavy snowfall and for a couple of days afterwards on moderately steep slopes facing away from the wind. So after snowfall from the southwest, east- and north-facing slopes may be at risk.
Using this guide
Walks in the guide are grouped into six local areas. A box at the start of each walk summarises key information, including start/finish points, distance, ascent (and maximum altitude), maps and an estimated time for the walk. The box also gives details of the terrain, parking/facilities and any route variants. A summary of the walks appears in Appendix A to help you select the correct one for you and your party.
In the route description, a distinction is made between vertical and horizontal distance – ‘600m’, for instance, indicates an altitude or height gain, and ‘600 metres’ indicates distance along the ground. ‘Track’ (rather than ‘path’) refers to a way wide enough for a tractor or Landrover. Points of interest along the route are highlighted, and key navigational features that appear on the accompanying map are shown in bold.
Appendix B gives local information arranged by area, including tourist information, useful guidebooks and available facilities, including accommodation. Finally, a glossary of Scots terms in Appendix C should help you unravel some of the area’s mysterious and poetic place names.
1 GALLOWAY
INTRODUCTION
Loch Enoch and Mullwarchar (Walk 6)
Galloway is Scotland’s southwest corner, bounded by the River Nith. It’s a quiet, green country, whose bendy and bumpy country roads are good for cycling holidays. But for walkers, the heart of it is the hills around the Merrick, the summit of southern Scotland. And it feels like it – with its windy top, the longest view in the UK (you really can see Snowdon when the weather’s just right), the ridgeline called Nieve of the Spit (Walk 5), and the super spur called Little Spear. But if 843m Merrick was tough, you’re in for a shock when you get into the granite lands below – bog and bare granite underfoot, an eagle overhead, and ground that’s 50 per cent water.
And what water! Loch Enoch – it’s the Loch Avon of the Southern Uplands. It’s ‘Eskwater’, supposing Lakeland’s majestic Upper Eskdale had the lake it so richly deserves. In March the whooper swans stop off at Loch Enoch – when you’re on your way north to Iceland in one mighty flap, nowhere else quite cuts it.
Acting the goat on the granite and bog? You’re not alone – several dozen actual goats leap about on Craignaw and the Dungeon Hill (Walk 6). A bit defeated at the end of the day? You’re in good company – Robert the Bruce gave the English a bad bashing in the woods above Loch Trool.
But before the rigours of the granite, the Ayrshire coast offers a gentle day out on some very odd rocks (Walk 1), and a boat trip halfway to Arran (Walk 2).
WALK 1
Girvan and Grey Hill
| Start/Finish | Girvan, south end (NX 183 964) |
| Distance | 21km (13 miles) |
| Ascent | 750m (2500ft) |
| Approx time | 6½hrs |
| Terrain | Grassy hills, track, foreshore (rugged in places) |
| Max altitude | Grey Hill, 297m |
| Maps | Landranger 76 (Girvan); Explorer 317 (Ballantrae) |
| Public transport | Girvan station. Bus 54 (Girvan–Stranraer) stops at Lendalfoot to allow a linear walk. |
| Parking | Free car park with toilets and snack shack |
Walkers spend the morning high up, for the sea views; the afternoon along the coast path, for poking in the rock pools. Grey Hill is a perfect little ridgeline – grassy to walk, with outcrops of odd lumpy rock for decoration. Lurid gorse clashes with a vibrant blue sky. At the trig point, peculiar pink stones form a grassy nook to gaze out at the island of Ailsa Craig.
Ailsa Craig is the plug of a volcano that popped up at the opening of the Atlantic a mere 50 million years ago. As ancient rocks go, that’s the day before yesterday. The pink rocks on Grey Hill are nearly ten times as ancient, and a whole lot odder. It’s a defective granite called Trondhjemite, which properly belongs below the ocean bed.
The coastal path weaves between former sea stacks of a raised beach, then heads north on a grass track – and on Lendalfoot