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 and were on the hill for 1000 bang on. It was a nice ascent, we were in the lea of the northerly wind and the rising winter sun was on us.
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| Buchan Burn |
It was a lovely frosty walk up towards Culsharg bothy. I was quite interested in what it looked like. It appears to be windowless but has a nice new roof, so looks like it's getting ready to be used.
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| Culsharg Bothy |
The next leg was up the slightly icier Whiteland Burn and then onto the more exposed hillside of Benyellary. There was a decent path and plenty of people around, all climbing the hill too.
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| View down to the Buchan Burn |
Once we got onto the top of Benyellary, we got our first good view of the Merrick, the highest hill in Southern Scotland.
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| The Merrick from Benyellary |
The wind was now pretty strong and very cold as we headed for the summit. Above 750m the ground was moisture that had been frozen and wasn't particularly nice to walk on, but all the really dangerous bits were avoidable.
We made the summit for 1205 and had a snack and took some photos even in the freezing conditions.
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| Toezi and Steg on the Summit |
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| Trig point fun |
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| Ice |
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| Southern Uplands |
With a new Corbett bagged, we just decided to come back down the same way. The wind was still strong but it was behind us after we left Benyellary, so the descent was made quick with a tail wind and good patter.
We were back at the car at 2pm, for a cold can of Bru and some fruit cake to see us down the road.
Hike Distance: 13.72km
Hike Time: 3h 59m
Ascent: 903m
Corbetts Completed: 13
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