Weekend plans for Skye had come undone due to particularly poor weather and a lack of hills we could do with only 2 available days, so Steg agreed to join me on my quest to continue with the Southern Upland Corbetts. I dropped Isa at yoga just after 0820, and headed over on the M8 to get Steg at Paisley, then after a tour of his renovations, we enjoyed a wee catch up all the way into deepest Ayrshire.
We arrived on the Forrest Estate at 1030, and got our boots and rucksacks on, ready for a nice day on the hill. Weather was looking a bit unpredictable. Rain had been forecast for later in the afternoon and we'd hit some heavy showers on the way down the road.
However, it was dry and warm when we started and we made good time on the forest roads as we headed towards Loch Harrow. From there you join a walker's path and head up into the corrie just under Corserine. I read on the sign boards about a cairn/shelter and that was the first marker that we saw. We had been in the mist for about 20 mins at this point, and had walked through a heavy shower.
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| Hennessy's Shelter |
The path was easily followable, and after a while, the view of the Corserine trig point came out of the mist.
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| Corserine trig |
We took a selfie on the summit at 1235. The mist started to clear a bit and we didn't hang about before starting to head along the broad ridge of the Rhinns of Kells.
We stopped for a sandwich at 1250 at an outcrop of interesting scarred rock, and we watched the clouds come up the glen and disappear.
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| Clouds in the glen |
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Interesting geology
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After a while we got moving again and headed for the next top, Millfire. There's not much around these tops, but it was just nice to be out and chatting.
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| Headed up Millfire |
We hit the next top again, Milldown, saw the top and then crossed a wee wall twice, before we saw the final top, Meikle Millyea, at 749m. Not a Corbett, but it was a nice opportunity for Steg to open a miniature whisky he'd been keeping around from bizarrely, and advent calendar. There were a family of 3 wild goats on the summit that moved off as we got closer.
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| Dram |
The walk back to the car took a wee while, but it was easy going, with a tiny bit of steep ground just before we descended into the forestry.
Back on the forest roads, it was warm and humid, but it wasn't long before we were back at the car, ready for the trip home. It was after 1600 though and we weren't able to find any cafes nearby, so it was a petrol station coffee at Monkton and then home.
Hike Distance: 17.80km
Hike Time: 4h 59m
Ascent: 943m
Corbetts Completed: 18
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