Kit Talk

Monday 15 June 2015

Doach Wood Dalliance.

A gem of a wood with the most wonderful views from the viewpoint.  


When we were there some felling and path repair etc had been being undertaken.  I would imagine this walk will be even nicer when everything settles down again.


( I started putting wee silly titles on the walks, now I feel I have to carry on.  Will have to get my thinking cap on.)


Date of walk   -  24/5/15
Start Location  -  Forestry Commission Car park situated just off the B736, 3 miles from Castle Douglas.  Grid Ref NX79408 57786.
Surface  -  first half, fairly uphill, in fact could be steep for some, there is a small detour up to the viewpoint which is uphill through the trees, the second half which is downhill, with a few undulations is varied.  As I said above there has been quite a bit of felling and path repair going on here, which you may see in the photographs.  Towards the bottom of the hill the path becomes a bit rougher with some rooty places, take care.
What we saw - the most amazing panorama from the viewpoint, Heston Island, Screel, Bengairn and in the distance (on a good day) the Lake District.  It states in the information I downloaded from the internet before we went that there is an infromation board at the viewpoint, at the time of writing this has sadly gone, but it may be replaced at some point.  Doach is also home to some of the tallest Douglas Firs in the country, the sheer height of them takes your breath away.  Missed the waterfall on the way up so I plodded back up to get a photo.
Susan's Rating - a short walk, perhaps about 3 miles, moderately easy once the initial climb is out of the way. It says in the information that it takes about 2 hours, we did spend about that time there, probably even more as we spent a while at the viewpoint and some more time exploring round the route.  Oh and taking photos.




 We took the uphill route which was on our  left hand side when facing into the wood from the park park. It goes steadily upwards, past the waterfall which we somehow managed to miss.  About half way up this road it bends very sharply to the right and continues up.  In a short while we came to the detour up to the viewpoint.  This is marked but we weren't sure, as the marker posts didn't quite match up with the descriptions from the internet so we asked some passing people.  I think the posts have been replaced with new ones since the article was written.  Anyway if you start going downhill, you've missed the turn off so go back and have another look.





This photo courtesy of Linda Airley.

We spent quite a while up here, taking pictures, there are a couple of benches/seats and I do hope they manage to put up a new board soon.  Once satisfied we had seen everything and taken in the beauty of the place we headed back down onto the forest fire road and continued our journey downwards.

 I think this was my most favourite part of the walk, it reminded me of Kielder (a place I love).  You can see the new improved path.
 If you have ever wondered why some trees and stumps are left when there have been felling operations, then here is your answer.
 A brilliant idea from the Forestry Commission which explains the reason it appears  to be a mess

Very nearly at the bottom, the picture doesn't really do the sheer size of these trees justice.


Information from the Forestry commission.

We rounded our day off by visiting the Red Kites at Bellymack Farm.  To say I was a little bit excited about this is an understatement.

http://www.gallowaykitetrail.com/item-38-bellymack-hill-farm-kite-feeding-station


Wednesday 10 June 2015

Euchan Glen Escapade

A short walk along an enchanted glen. 

Date of walk - 25.3.15
Start Location  - Blackaddie Bridge, Sanquhar  NS 775 097.  We parked in the small car park at the Sanquhar side of the bridge.  There are notice boards here which give information and some history on the Covenanters.   The leaflet we used  says you can start and finish the walk at the Tollbooth in Sanquhar, this gives a round mileage of about 4 miles. 
On this walk we crossed the bridge and turned left along the tarred road for about half a mile until we came to the bridge, there is a small metal gate beside a cottage this is the start of the walk.  This should be signposted as core path 112.  
We feel we covered around 3 miles as we probably added some on exploring.
Surface - the first half mile is on tarred road, the walk through the glen is on mostly reasonable dirt paths.  If you do the round trip the last mile or so is back on tarred road.
What we saw - A restored well, we were assured the water is safe to drink and has a slightly astringent taste, we did not partake though.  The location of Kemp's Castle, the remains of houses and of an old mill waterfalls, bathing pools and a lot of wildflowers.  
Susan's Rating - I really enjoyed this walk, it was like entering a fairy glen, you certainly could "feel" the sense of history somehow.  


WARNING 
Although the path starts off very level and close to the water as you progress further up the glen becomes more gorge like and the path becomes narrower, and rises slightly with one or two very short uphill bits,underfoot the path also becomes more uneven and rooty as you get further up.  There are steep drops on the water side of the path, with no safety rails or fences, so take extra care with your feet along here and keep a close eye on dogs and children.





Blackaddie Bridge above,  the car parking area is just before the bridge on the Sanquhar side. Also above is an example of one of the information boards, this one is for The Southern Upland Way Path which passes through Sanquhar.

The recently restored Well. Note the use of Sanquhar Bricks.



I think this may be the " Esplanade " at the location of Kemp's Castle.  http://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/sanquhar-p23941
 The walk to the top was very straightforward we just kept to the path until we reached the tarmac road.  At this point we turned back and went back the way we had come as we didn't wish to be on road any more than we had to.  The core path people have been carrying out a lot of work recently on the various paths in the region,  they have sorted paths were possible, erected new bridges, put in steps and generally made the paths as accessible as possible.
Near the top before we turned around.  You can see an example of  the work being done by the core paths group.



Kona on her way back down the glen, think she's enjoying a sniff at the soon to flower wild garlic.

Note also on the above photo the use of Sanquhar bricks to line the paths. 
Here are some useful links.
 http://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/sanquhar-p239241

http://www.all-the-airts.com/

Update - We have now done this walk a few times and I am really looking forward to a winter visit to see the contrasts.