The Merrick, 2nd January 2026
I was out for a festive lunch with Toezi and Steg at the end of December and we discussed a window of opportunity to get us out in the hills, for the first time since our Skye trip in 2024 . We've all done stuff as pairs or individually since then, but it's rare for the calendars to align. We'd decided on either the 2nd or 3rd of January but not an overnighter, and we'd all check the MWIS weather once it had updated on New Years' Day. The 2nd looked better and the best place in Scotland to get cold and clear conditions was the south. None of us had done any walking down there before really, so it was a good opportunity to head to Galloway. I scraped the car and headed over the Renfew Bridge to Toezi's arriving bang on 0800. We headed in his car to pick up Steg and then after a quick stop at Darnley we were on the road. The sun was starting to come up, and the light on the way down the road was lovely. We arrived at the car park and got ready with minimal faff a...
