Ayrshire Coastal Path Girvan - Dunure

If all went well today was to be a big day in that I was hoping to complete this walk from Girvan to Dunure which in turn would mean the completion of the Ayrshire Coastal Path route for me. My plan was to walk to Maidens as a minimum and depending on weather and more importantly the tide, the last section to Dunure. I had checked the tide tables and we were due high tide at 1.15 which did put the second stretch in balance.

Girvan boatyard

I took the train down to Girvan and started my walk at 11am, a bit later than normal but it would give me a chance with the tidal stretches. This was the first time I had trained it to Girvan and enjoyed the some times familiar scenery from a different perspective, very enjoyable. But, it was a sad entrance to Girvan. The train went past an arable field and I spotted a swan sitting in the middle of it, a bit strange but further into the field it looked like a body of another swan lying below some power lines. I believe swans mate for life so I wonder how long it would wait in that field? 

Ailsa from Girvan

From Girvan station the walk goes via the small operational harbour where a couple of fishing boats were receiving care and maintenance. One of the few operational shipyards left on the Clyde. There were some good views of Ailsa from the harbour then the walk proceeds to Girvan golf course. I have played this course a few times and it is a little gem of a course with 8 links and 10 inland holes. The walk takes you down the side of the inland section. The terrible rains have impacted on this section and the course looks very damp and boggy underfoot.
The route now takes you through a working farm. I was a little apprehensive but the cows were all eating away in their barns so little interest in me.

Rocky walking

Down towards the shore and I stuck to the farm track bordering the sea edge. The high tide meant the beach walking was along large boulder formations and would have been very awkward. Keep going past more farm buildings where I finally went onto the beach. Not easy walking but enough patches of sand around to get a footing. A little further ahead I thought I saw 4 large plastic bundles, probably hay or something but they didn't look quite right. As I closed in I realised that they were 4 bulls. Thankfully a small fence separated us as I went by and they showed little interest but the 1st one was undoubtedly the largest bull I have come across.
Onwards I went and had to take the tidal detour behind some cottages before going onto the beach again.
The going was still awkward, not many clear sand patches to walk on. At the agate factory I thought I might get through on the beach side but the burn was running too fast and deep so once again took the tidal detour via the main road.
Back on the beach another burn blockage at the Turnberry turn off, feet immersed in water but the waterproofing of the boots held good.
Because it was a flat stretch I did not bother with walking poles but they would have been helpful today giving another anchor point when crossing the many burns. 

Balancing Rock

At one point there are some rocks just out at sea. One of them is balanced on top of another. What must have been the power of the sea storm that moved a rock of this size?
Now striding along a proper beach with the lighthouse at the end of the golf course firmly in my view. However once again an impenetrable water obstacle meant I had to climb the dunes and go onto the golf course which is under major reconstruction by a certain Mr Donald Trump.

Unpassable water

I meandered around the edge of the course, not sure where the real path had gone, and came out at the Maidens nursing home. Again a barbed wire fence to climb, more blood gushing, I walked through the complex to the main road and down to Maidens. I'm sure the formal route does not go through that but there you go.
The weather had threatened rain but this seemed to have blown though, the wind was colder but I was on track time-wise so decision made, try to finish at Dunure.

Lighthouse Turnberry

The last time I walked the beach at Maidens I came across a dead seal but nothing in my way today except more rocky ground.

Culzean Castle

Up off the beach and followed the wooded trail through the grounds of Culzean castle, many of the trees uprooted by the storms this year. One bright spot was the number of snowdrops coming through, a first for me this year. The lake was well stocked with coots; merganser; golden eyes; mallards and a few others.
Past the impressive Culzean castle, worth a tour around if you are not familiar with it and its outbuildings. You now get a good view of the route ahead via Croy bay. At this section there was a very weird occurrence, as I descended through the wooden path to get to the beach. There was nobody else around but three times I stopped thinking I heard/felt that someone was right behind me. Spooky or what? I have never had that type of experience before, not scary but made me think, do I believe in ghosts?

Croy Bay from Culzean

The tideline was still high but I could make it beachside, albeit again very awkward walking on the boulders. The bay sweeps nicely around with good views ahead and out to Arran. I could see a dog walker in the distance a good sign that the beach was passable.
As I neared the caravan park it looked like I could get by the first obstacle. the guidebook warns that the caravan park is private property so cannot be accessed if high tide prevents the beach passage. I would not have turned back but headed up to the road via either the caravan park or I'm sure there is a track coming down from the road to Croy Bay. In Scotland there is the right of responsible access so I was confident that I would have an exit route.

The Point

Over yet another burn and an easy clamber over the rocks, feeling good until I realised that the blockage mentioned in the guidebook, The Point, was still ahead of me. Fortunately the tide had retreated just far enough to let me get by with a little scrambling but no doubt it would be interesting at full high tide.
The next short stretch was again hard walking on a very rocky surface. The guidebook talks about shingle beaches on these stretches but these are far removed from shingle in my view.

Looking back Croy Bay

At the end of this section there is a short but steep climb up a grassy path. The route then follows the edge of some arable fields. There has clearly been livestock in the recent past in these fields and some of the ground is well churned up with your boots sinking well into the gloop at the kissing gates, now some very muddy boots and trousers.
This bit is a bit of a trudge, in the second field I have lost any sign of markers , the tops of posts painted white, so I follow the field edge and then I recognise the top of the road going into Dunure and spot a kissing gate ahead.
Now I can see my destination, the castle of Dunure and journeys end. A short grassy, muddy track leads you down, watch out for dog poo, disgustingly frequent I'm sad to say. Then I have arrived.

Dunure Castle

I had managed to get my GPS bike tracker working and it logged the walk as 15.2 miles taking 5 hours. About right considering the terrain. This was probably the hardest section of the path in terms of hard stony walking, rocking the joints quite a bit. For some it might be better to split it into 2 sections stopping at Maidens and enjoying the fabulous food at Wildings.
So that's it done, over 100 miles of Ayrshire, a really enjoyable set of outings. There were plenty of excellent views, some I never expected, ground that I had never covered before and I learnt a lot about Ayrshire in the process.
It is definitely time for that celebratory pint or two and think about which long distance route to tackle next.

Great Glen Way Fort William - Clunes

We were visiting Fort William for a few days to attend some  of the Mountain Festival events as well as enjoying the great outdoors but the weather had played havoc with our during the day adventure plans. I had hoped to cycle to Mallaig and also climb a couple of hills. But the great Scottish weather forecast was for torrential rain, stormy winds, snow and the odd glimpse of blue sky. At least we knew this in advance so I did not even take the bike.

Neptune's staircase

During today's walk we experienced the full spectrum of the weather.
I had pencilled in walking this long distance path, the Great Glen Way, which runs from Fort William to Inverness, in stages for later in the year but we decided to do this low level section and get it started. Better being geared up and outside in the weather than sitting indoors looking out.
After a good breakfast it was time to walk. Our hotel was located right on the front near the town centre so we were quickly into the walk. The initial stage of the walk is through a retail park and housing and I do not really think it starts properly until you get to the beginning of the canal at Corpath. The last time I was here people were fishing for mackerel and trout, but not today.

Moorings above the staircase

The rain was now full on as we walked up to the road/railway crossing at Neptune's Staircase. The bridge is under some form of major repair work and does not look pretty at all. Once over the crossing it now feels like a proper country walk.
Neptune's staircase is a magnificent sight and is the work of Thomas Telford and is the longest staircase lock in Britain. It has eight sets of locks and it takes around 90 minutes for a boat to pass through the full set. The staircase has had its problems in the past, both financial and workmanship, but it is still operational to this day.
Sadly no boats were traversing the locks today but at the top level a few boats were moored up and some of them had people inside them, maybe wisely sheltering from the weather.

Grey canal section

This 6 mile canal section to Gairlochy is not the most interesting in some peoples eyes, allegedly with little variety, particularly in this type of weather. However I do not agree with this, the views to the other side of the canal have some nice mountain/hill scenery to keep one's attention away from the walk. From time to time you also get good views of the River Lochy on your right hand side and if the weather is good you will get good views of the Nevis range. There are also a couple of interesting points along the way to explore.
The Sheangain Aqueduct also known as the Torcastle aqueduct is the first of these. It has three parallel tunnels, two for water and one as a road.
The second is the Loy aqueduct, a similar construction, which covers the River Loy a tributary of the Lochy. The views can be excellent up towards Glen Loy, a place I want to explore in the future. Just as I reached this spot a storm blew through, only lasting about 5 minutes but it was pretty wild. When it was over I looked back at a mountain peak which was snow covered, bright blue sky, then the snow cover on top lifted up by the winds, magical scene but glad I wasn't up there.

Moy swing bridge

The final interesting piece of engineering is the Moy swing bridge which remains in use to this day to support access to Moy farm. There were other constructions like this on the canal but this is the only surviving version. This bridge is operated by hand even to this day and the keepers cottage with its eye windows to either side still survives also. The bridge is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Looking back to Moy bridge

A short way further on you come to Gairlochy. The path now goes left up a short road but before doing that I went onwards walking up to the point at the end of the canal and had tried to enjoy the view up Loch Lochy but a squall blew up, more hailstones.

Loch Lochy

After a short walk the track drops you down onto the banks of Loch Lochy. More variety here, both tree lined sections and loch views. We came across an old shell of a boat with a tree on top of it, interesting, what happened here?

Across the loch I can see that there is a large salmon fish farm in operation. Not good news for natural fish as these farms are reputed to infect the area with disease and parasites.
There are a few very informative boards along this stretch illustrating the activities of the commando units that trained here in the 2nd world war. I knew about the memorial at Spean Bridge but I was not aware of the rest.

Unbelievably we even had a spell of some blue skies which lasted about half an hour which was a wonderful relief and gave us some super views.
We came across a male mallard duck which had paired up with a pure white duck with an orange beak. Was it an albino? Later on I spotted four more of the white duck breed sitting in a pool in the trees, strange. Also there were four bird feeding stations, well stocked, a local dog walker?

The track now comes back on the road for the last stretch to Clunes. Not many cars on the road but the tree logging trucks came down this road at a fair speed so take care. There are some expensive looking large houses along this road, very nice if you like the isolation. We also caught a brief glimpse of a red deer stag in one of the fields but it saw us at the same time and quickly disappeared from view.

Typical wood stretch

We reached the hamlet of Clunes, the end of todays stretch. There is now a T junction, turning left you can go to Loch Arkaig, a place I want to fish sometime. The Way route now goes to the right and is a 7 mile trek to Laggan through isolated country, I would have liked to have completed that stretch but too much for Mrs B. We had arranged to be picked up and returned a lot quicker to the hotel.
But that is the starter for my next leg and now I am ready for a beer and hopefully better weather when I pick up this walk.

Blue skies Loch Lochy

Ayrshire Coastal Path Ballantrae - Girvan

For a variety of reasons it has been too long since I have been out on my ramblings so it was a great feeling to get started again. The weather forecast was for a day of blue skies, unreal after all the storms. I still had two sections of the ACP to complete so with the bright forecast I went for the furthest away stretch, beginning at Ballantrae and walking north to Girvan, this ensured that the bright sunshine was at my back to avoid the glare.
I drove to Girvan to get the bus to Ballantrae. The buses only run every two hours so I did not want to take the risk of hanging about at the end, better to finish at the car and leave straight away.

It ended up a bit of an adventure before I even started walking.
Getting the bus in Girvan was not so easy. I had checked the Traveline Scotland app the night before and it indicated a local bus then the main Stranraer one which seemed odd, I thought it would be straight onto the latter. Arrived at Girvan, parked up and went to the nearest bus stop which did not mention my bus!! I tried the app but my phone would not go onto data roaming which was strange. I then asked a postman and 2 other passers by but no conclusive answer, nobody uses buses here. I remembered the time to get on the bus was 10.36 so I hung about with the view that if nothing came I would just start walking and do the route in reverse. About 10.40 I started walking south and sure enough a bus appeared. I ran back to the stop and yes it went to Ballantrae.
When I got off the bus there was a scenic church opposite, I checked my camera which would not open, message battery needs charged. Curses, I had charged it fully just a couple of days ago, luckily the phone was charged.
I had brought my bike GPS to see if it would track my walk. However it would not locate a satellite, curses again it has never done this before.

The beginning of walk Ballantrae

I went down the waterfront to start the walk in very warm conditions. After 5 minutes I stopped to remove the mid layer. I also checked the GPS and it had found a target, pressed start and got a walking indicator of 3.2 mph, a lot slower that the bike but that was not the point. I wrapped it in a plastic bag and into the mesh side of the rucksack to keep its signal.

Looking towards Bennane Head

The initial beach stretch to Bennane head was along the rocky beach, quite hard underfoot at times but nice and peaceful with just the sound of the waves crashing in. Along the beach I spotted a small jellyfish freshly washed up, I'm no expert but I thought this was a bit early. Also in the beachside scrub two yellow heads of dandelions, what, definitely too early for them.

At the end of the beach the path cuts inland slightly and you walk up the old road. However problems with my route at the kissing gate, the field was full of young cattle with no way to pass other than to walk through the herd. With my previous experience that was a no go. Also the ground was so churned up by them it would have been awful in the mud and gloop.
I went further along over some rocks and came to a fence near the old road, threw my bag over and put my hand on to climb over, electric shock it was wired, more curses. Further along again I got over a safe bit and backtracked for my rucksack which was beside the small cairn named after a local hermit and his cave across the road.

Old road

Up the old road I went with rewarding views out to sea, the cliffs to my right occupied by ravens and rock pipits.
At the top of the hill the next field to cross was again full of hill cattle. I met two walkers going the other way who said there was also a big bull with them, they had climbed into the field to avoid them. I decided to do likewise but as I clambered over the rock I was standing on gave way, my hand slipped and my hand and weight went on to a rusty barb wire. The sound as I popped it out was a loud squelch and the blood flowed freely along with many curses.
My plan had been to visit Sawney Bean's cave but the coos did for that.
I got to the top of the field and reached the public car park. From here you do not have any choice other than to walk the roadside verge of the A77 to Lendalfoot.

A77 to Lendalfoot

Before you arrive at Lendalfoot you come to Carleton Bay where there is a memorial to a Russian battleship called Varyag which apparently is hugely famous to the Russians and sank in the bay. Do an internet search, it is a fascinating story and one I knew nothing about until today. It was a lovely spot to eat my lunch and contemplate the Varyag and its story.

Varyag memorial

The  high tide was against me so I had to continue with my roadside walk and indeed this was almost all the way to Girvan.
I walked along for a mile or so until the guide suggests you go up Pinbain Hill. There are warnings about hill cattle, no dogs allowed, so the true coward in me decided two cow adventures were enough for 1 day and also I was on my own. Out of my peripheral vision I spotted a pair of roe deer just in the heather near the start of the hill. A nice sight and once they spotted me they disappeared into the bracken.
I continued on my walk and despite the proximity of the road it was ok, north traffic was light. I could see the radio pylons on the suggested route just above me and I was a bit annoyed at myself for not taking that route. That track started to descend to meet the road again but lo and behold at the bottom of the track where it joins the road there was another herd of cattle right at the gate. If I had taken the hill track there was no other option other than go through them, no chance, they looked a lively and inquisitive lot, or retrace your steps.
Farmers have a living to make and these are their lands but I think there is something wrong when an official walking route puts walkers in danger. I think a bit of forethought, even short narrow fenced of sections could accommodate both parties.

Old ruined cottage

There are some pleasant properties on the right of the road and a very old ruined fishing cottage on the beach side as the picture shows.
Again my vision was taken towards the sea, was it just an eider bobbing on the waves? No, through the binos it was the head of a seal tearing pieces off a large squid, the tentacles of which were wrapped around its head. When the seal finished eating it dropped under the surface not to be seen again.
The guide mentions another old road section that could be used for a mile but I did not see it unless it was where I went back onto the beach.
Venturing onto the beach for the last couple of miles, it was not easy walking but still nice to get away from the road for a while. There is another short stretch of road walking then you can walk all along the beach to the end of the walk at Girvan harbour.

Girvan in sight

Back at the car I checked the GPS, the message said press button to start, yet again more curses.
However a good stretch of the legs if not quite the walk I anticipated. Magnificent views all day seaward taking in Northern Ireland, Ailsa Craig, snow capped Arran and the Kintyre peninsula.
Lots of birdlife including two pair of stonechats, a rare kestrel, ravens and all the usual seabirds
The walk was around the 14 mile mark and took me 4 and a half hours and slightly stiff legs, well I had done a 30 mile bike ride the day before. As I said at the beginning great to be back on the road.

Allermuir Hill...A Pentlands ramble

The way to Capelaw hill and beyond Allermuir

What a day, bright blue skies with a crispness in the air I was heartened as I had allocated today for a tramp around the Pentland Hills.
My chosen destination was Allermuir hill, the only decision to be made was how to get there? There are more than a few options to start from: Bonaly; Colinton; Currie; Harlaw; Dreghorn & Flotterstone and more.
As it was a fine day and I wanted a good stretch of the legs I decided to start from Currie. This route meant that I would be taking in at least 4 individual hill tops and possibly more.
From the village take the road upwards past Currie Kirk and when you reach the right hand bend for Harlaw car park go through the gate and head up the dirt track towards the hills.

Looking back from Harbour hill

Despite the relatively early hour a female mountain biker descended past me with a cheery hello. Once you break out into the open country there are great views of the hills as you walk towards the Maiden's Cleugh. I believe that Cleugh means ravine or steep valley and the latter is a possibility here.
But today I don't descend into the Cleugh, at the gate I turn left and climb up Harbour hill which is documented in a previous blog. From the top the views are already impressive and I take a few minutes to take it all in.

Capelaw, Allermuir then Caerketton from Harbour hill

A descent takes you into Phantom's Cleugh, no phantoms this morning just sheep. A steep climb gets you to the top of Capelaw Hill where the views of Edinburgh & Fife are magnificent. These are only spoilt by the huge plume of smoke/steam belching out from Mossmorran petro-chemical plant. The huge plume looks more like a bomb exploding upwards into the clear sky, West Lomond hill stands to it's right as we look. There is a rather unusual marker post on top of Capelaw although I'm not sure what it is meant to represent. So far I have the hills all to myself. A few self timer photos are attempted but not all successful.

Mossmorran plume of what?

Back down the other side with my main objective, Allermuir Hill, now in my sights. This walk certainly takes you up and down each hill so I am getting my exercise. Another steep pull and the top is reached. Time to enjoy the wonderful views and have a refreshment. Some more walkers arrive from the other direction so a couple of conversations take place and one kindly offers to take my picture. Thanks. The summit has a trig point plus a hill marker so you can spend some time trying to identify them although the haze rules out the more distant hills.

Looking back south over Scald Law ridge

Time to move on to my final hill of this section, Caerketton Hill. Another up and down but this time I spot the dreaded fresh cowpat. Now where are they hiding? On the ascent I spot about half a dozen in the thick heather and ferns to my left but they do not look interested in me so up to the summit which has a small cairn. Again superb views, the views to the south coast, Berwick area, have fully opened up.

On top of Allermuir

I decide to walk along to the final high point above the Hillend dry ski slope. A group of 8 guys appear, not exactly dressed for the outdoors and some more fatigued than others. It turns out they are Danish holidaymakers, I have a chat with the English speakers and they ask about the hills. I show them my map and they agree to try for Allermuir.

Looking towards Caerketton hill

I originally was going to descend at this point and get a bus back but I have made good time and decide that it is too early to head home. I am going to add Castlelaw Hill to today's outing but to get there I have to retrace my steps and re-climb Allermuir Hill. The Danes tag along and 4 of them make good progress whilst the other 4 lag a bit. At the top it's my turn to become the photographer for the Danes holiday snaps.
I head down the grassy slopes then follow the military road up to Castlelaw. It is really the only way up without going through rough moorland pasture. If the red lights are on the military are active but not today. The top is marked by the electronic lights but the views back over Glencorse reservoir valley and the Scald Law chain are excellent.

Glencorse reservoir from Castlelaw

I tramp down and kind of lose my way as the ground becomes very steep, stony and slippery. Thank goodness I took both walking poles with me today, I needed their anchor points.
Finally I get down to Glencorse reservoir and walk the Maiden's Cleugh pass back to Currie.
All in all just over 5 hours of tramping around the Pentlands, excellent views and weather it doesn't get much better than this.
As always I am now ready for that pint or two, It has been fully earned.

Tinto

Tinto from carpark

Now that the fishing season is effectively over it is time to get out and about focusing on walking again.
My walking partner has suffered badly with planter facitisis but felt that he was recovering and wanted to give a reasonable hill a go. I have been struck with this three times over the last 10 years and the last was so severe it effectively finished my jogging career and took almost a year to heal. The treatment is effectively rest, then stretching, then slow introduction to exercise, but it is notoriously difficult to cure.

Neither of us had walked Tinto for over 10 years so it would be nice refresher. Tinto stands in splendid isolation in the Southern Uplands close to Lanark and Biggar and is a prominent landmark for traffic on the M74. It stands at 707 metres but you are starting from an elevated spot so actual height climbed is nearer 500 metres. The open summit gives some great views in all directions and with today's weather forecast being good we were optimistic. It is said to be the highest hill in central Scotland but that depends on your definition of central.
We were joined by his pointer and a lab that needed to lose a bit of weight so 4 to the party on the hill.

Lee & dogs on scree path

There are 2 options and we decided to take the standard trail from Thankerton. The other route from Wiston is longer but I thought that it might take us over farming fields and livestock, not recommended with the dogs.
There is a good car park at Thankerton and the hill is so popular that the route is a distinct scar on the hillside all the way to the summit.
The lower slopes are all patchwork heather and great grouse country. About half way up it splits into a more reddish rock strata. We thought the dogs would spook a few birds but we only saw two and that was right at the end of the walk.

Half way up looking northwest

It is an easy climb and can be achieved by anyone with moderate fitness, Some of the people we passed today would be surprised by the chill factor at the top and some clothing was certainly not adequate. So, the usual provisos, it is a mountain and weather can change very quickly. There are some scree patches as you gain height but mostly you are walking on solid ground, so for us good time was made on the ascent. Looking straight ahead the view is not great, just the hill, so it is worth stopping and looking back to take in the impressive vista. We had a few walkers in front and met 2 groups going down. More impressively 3 different hill runners came past, those were the days but certainly nowhere fit enough for that now, mighty jealous of them.

Dark clouds started to gather over the summit and a fresh wind picked up, jacket back on. We reached the massive cairn after 1 hour 10 minutes. This is a massive prehistoric bronze age cairn now well hidden with many thousands of boulders. The view indicator is detailed so if it is quiet you can take your time, hog the indicator and pick out a lot of the hills. Sadly wind turbines spoil a lot of the views, what a mess some of our countryside has become. We can see as far as the greater Glasgow conurbation to the north, the river Clyde below and the M74 traffic. The official trig marker is a short way off from the cairn.

A couple of walkers approach the summit, the cloud over the summit

The wind was freshening so we had a quick bite to eat then slowly went back down. My partners foot had far from healed so he was in a fair bit of pain, slowly down the hill we walked. A pair of kestrels were spotted, lovely, all to rare now. A pair of ravens glided over the heather trying to spook a small bird and a single buzzard. That was all for the birds today apart from the grouse later on. Going slowly was not an issue, magnificent views to savour in a blue autumn sky.

On the way down looking south

Looking back the summit cloud was now very dark, possibly rain and it looked cold up there.
Overall 2 and a half hours for the round trip. An easy hill with super views, well worth it but I don't think my partner will be walking again for a while, recovery is not that quick.

Brown Carrick Hill....The hill of cattle!!

I wanted to walk a small hill today and for it to be close to home. Brown Carrick Hill was on my to-do list for a winter walk but today would do for my first climb of it. At just under 300 metres it is classed as a Marilyn. Perfect for today I reckoned a maximum of an hour up and the same back depending how much plodding about I did at the top.

There are some cheat versions of this walk including driving up the Carrick hills road and parking beside the masts but what's the point of trivial ticking a list and not enjoying a walk?
As such my intention was to begin the walk sea level from Dunure harbour but roadworks were going on today and there is very limited other parking so I drove back up the hill and parked beside Fisherton primary. I have walked up from the harbour before and you don't miss anything as it is tarmac all the way to the school. The attraction of parking down at the harbour is a longer walk and there is a cafe plus pub/restaurant at the harbour for refreshments when you return.

The path through the cow field I came up the one on the right

The walk starts with the hill crossing to Maybole. The route goes up past the primary school and up towards a farm, the route then turns left heading upwards through fields. I can see the track but there are a herd of cows in the field, most of them lying on the track I had to walk. Readers will know I have had previous with cattle, not a good experience, and now give them a very wide detour. The field next to it also contained cattle but they were at the far side so over that gate I went and followed the fence up to the top of the field. Trying to get back on track was fun as the only route to the gate was a bog of mud where the cattle had congregated. The other option to climb the fence further down, barbed wire and a plain wire, was it electrified? A touch revealed it was electrified and the current was on. So through the mud I went, goo up to my ankles then climbed over the rather old and broken wooden gate.

Typical moorland, private run down fishing water on the left

A stile indicated a track which I followed as it led up onto open moorland towards a wood. There were signs of recent cattle droppings and the feeding stance was full of hay so a very wary eye was kept, the ground was good camouflage for cattle. Although I spotted a few more recent droppings I made the forest cover without seeing any cows.

Nice view of South Ayrshire coast

Now a poser, the stile indicated the track would go to the right along the forest edge (Maybole) but I reckoned I wanted to go through to the other side. I had not brought a map as I was so close to home and no phone signal so no Google maps to check either. Luckily the tree planting was not deep and when I got through these the hills looked more like where I wanted to be. 
The terrain was still moorland but not bad walking. A few sheep droppings, fine, but some recent cow pats meant full alert again. I headed for the highest point and from the top I could see the trig. Another five minutes and I was there. Roughly about 45 minutes after leaving the car.

Trig in the distance

Although the wind was blowing a hoolie the views were good particularly over the Ayrshire coast. The haze meant Arran was not as clear as I hoped, better for eyesight than photos and no sign of Northern Ireland. In the other direction the Ayrshire countryside around Maybole, Straiton etc stood out but again hazy. A few attempts at getting a trig selfie using the timer eventually resulted in this pathetic effort. The problem was there was nowhere to balance the camera except my rucksack, thus this pathetic effort.

I decided to walk along the ridge to the masts still wary as fresh cow pats with flies buzzing on them were around. When there you go, I almost walked right into them. Over a hillock a herd of hill cattle all chewing the cud and the first one looking my way had huge horns like a steer you see in cowboy films. 
No way past that lot so I went back to the trig and could see no other obvious route down so I decided to just descend the same way I came up. 

All was fine until I reached the boggy fence and the cattle on one side were almost all on the path I had to descend. Even worse the cattle in the other field were now spread right across the field with a couple in my direct line. I decided I would just have to go for it so started off down the hill. At that point a bull appeared and went right to the spot I would have to cross and started bellowing to the cattle in the next field, that field was my only other option. As I pondered this dilemma a dog walker appeared along the track at the bottom. He had the dog on the lead but the heifers were now well worked up running alongside the fence leaping up and down. No way I was going to risk going through them in that excited state.
I decided to walk a parallel course along the fence at the top. The moorland here contained ferns and bushes ideal places for cattle to be, fresh pats did not help. I got so far along when I came across an empty field to my left and the one further down likewise, my escape route?
Across the first field fine, over the fence and into the second. It looked empty but fresh cowpats still meant red alert but I reached the next fence okay. There was a small sub station about 100 yards away which must mean a track. Down I went and as I went past the sub station 3 bullocks were standing in the way at a feeding station. Fifty yards from safety!! One was spooked by me and jumped which made the other two do the same but in the process they battered their heads off the metal top of the feeding station, now well excited all 3 ran away to their peers. Let's get out of hear fast. As I made my last turn a full sized black female cow stood there looking right at me, then looked at the three scampering away, then back to me, bollocks or a lot worse was uttered. No choice I marched on and was relieved to clamber over the fence onto the path with blackie still staring.
So a 2 hour adventure after all. I was going to takes Mrs B another day and I will but we will wait until winter and the cows have all retired from the fields to their snug barns.