Hart Fell - no photos today

Whilst visiting Whithorn it seems a shame not to find a wee Corbett to climb, I decided to drive over to Moffat for something a bit more challenging. It started raining when I got to Dumfries and was still raining by the time I got to Capplegill on the A708 Moffat to Selkirk road. The car was left on wet but hopefully not too muddy grass by the side of the road at the start of the track that goes beside Blackhope Burn.

It was wet and not going to become dry soon so waterproofs were required from the beginning as were some medium strength gloves, it wasn't too warm in the cool breeze. The walk along the good track is easy but the wind is gusting quite strongly up and then down the valley, the mist on the hills is moving quickly. After going through the second gate you have to cross the stream and climb the steep hillside to a small col on the skyline.

Getting across the stream proved to be a bit of a challenge, plenty of brown water makes the stream wide and it flows quickly through the deeper channels. I had to walk quite a way up beside the stream and even then it was still as wide when I decided I had to go for it. There were enough rocks showing through the water to get me across without flooding my boots but even then it was only my ankle gaiters that kept my feet dry.

Then I had to walk back to where I wanted to be, initially slanting up the wet green hillside, the evidence of sheep and what looked like small molehills making a change from the usual peaty mud. I wasn't looking forward to what I had to do but I got to the point where I had to go straight up the hill, steep green isn't my favourite way up a hill and the wet, windy conditions didn't help. When I eventually got to the ridge the wind was strong and cold and my gloves were wet with having to hang on to the grass to help me get up the steep slope.

There was still plenty of climbing to do, not as consistently steep but there are a couple of sections where I had to hang onto the heather. The gradient eases eventually as you reach the broad summit plateau, the wind is forcing the rain into me as I walk high above Black Hope. The rain is cold and wet but there is enough visibility to help with navigation, this wind is really not what you want when you are trying to read a map.

At the cairned summit of Swatte Fell you meet a fence and there is a faint path, both of which promise to take you to Hart Fell. It is a fairly easy walk over grass with negligible climbing over the undulating ground but the wind is blasting the rain into the right hand side of me and filling that glove with cold water. On the descent to the col between Swatte Fell and Hart Fell the wind is at its strongest and coldest making my forehead ache and my face smart as the rain hits.

The wind seems to be funnelled through a gap in the crags named Nubberry Knowes on the 1:25000 map, it is beginning to feel not very enjoyable. Still following the fence is the final trudge up to the summit of Hart Fell, it would be easy if it wasn't for being beaten up by the wind. At the summit of Hart Fell even the triangulation column has moved into the summit shelter to get out of the wind. I had to change gloves, the wind was getting through to my hands and I had to stop them from getting too cold.

I decided to not follow the planned route and to just get down as quickly as possible so I retraced my steps, thankfully the fence meant I didn't have to do any navigating. Back past Nubberry Knowes for another blast of icy cold rain, and then the long climb back to Swatte Fell, the wind gradually easing but there was never any shelter from it. The descent down the steepness and greenness wasn't as bad as I had feared, I was just glad to be out of the wind.

By the time I got back down to Blackhope Burn the wind had eased considerably but now I was back to square one, the stream was still as fast and wide as it was earlier. There was no easier way across and I ended up walking as far as I had earlier along the stream and crossing at the same place. I could tell it was 3 o'clock when the sun showed its face for the first time today and the mist had cleared from the tops of the hills.

Back at the car it was raining again just to make getting changed out of wet clothes a bit more difficult. With finishing early I played tourist and drove up to the Grey Mare's Tail nature reserve with its 200 feet high waterfall. There is a path high up on the hillside above the waterfall on the way to Loch Skeen and another lower path to a viewpoint for the waterfall where I took my one photograph of the day.

I was amusing to be warned by another tourist that there was no way ahead, just the note of caution I would have sounded if I had seen someone dressed in jeans and trainers on their way up a hill.

Andy Wallace 17th October 2004