Larg Lamachan and Lost - Photo Gallery

It was a dry morning after the previous day's deluge, but it was misty on the tops with a very low cloud base; just another day in Galloway. I left the car parked at Auchinleck Bridge, near Newton Stewart; I walked along the forest road that leads directly away from the parking area and got to a junction almost immediately. I didn't fancy the route description in the guide book, it involved walking up a harvested forestry slope; I turned left and walked on to another junction. I turned right, walking in a northerly direction; there was rough, previously forested, ground either side, I was looking for the wall that I could see on the map.

I eventually caught a glimpse of ruined wall, I wouldn't have seen it if the bracken had been higher; but there was no sign of the next wall I was looking for. I started climbing upwards, still walking on the substantial forest track, until I came across a huge pile of the aggregate material used to build the forest roads. I carried on and shortly afterwards I came across piles of harvested logs, and the road ended; it looked like a path rising up to the left, it was unexpected but welcome.

I walked up the harvested hillside, there were no signs of the breaks between the trees shown on the map. The path meandered across the contours; I was thinking I need to go uphill, but carried on a little further, and found a shallow gully leading uphill. After walking up the the wet gully I found more signs of a path; I carried on upwards until the ground rose more steeply, and the path just disappeared. I carried on straight upwards, over grassy and heathery ground; it the gloomy, misty conditions I was following a compass bearing with very little in the way of visible landmarks.

I was well in the mist by this time, with very poor visibility; I thankfully came across the wall running along the summit ridge of Garlick Hill, I was glad of the reassurance that my navigation was good. I followed the wall northwards, there was not even a hint of a path, and the grassy ground was becoming increasingly wet. When the path started to descend, I knew it was time to bear leftt; after walking over wet vegetation I found the trig point at the summit of Garlick Hill. From there I set off, without checking my compass, towards where I thought the wall was; I should have checked my compass, I couldn't see the wall and I was starting to lose height.

I had to climb back uphill and soon arrived back at the summit, almost directly at the trig point. I took a compass bearing before walking again and I quickly got back to the wall; I descended by the side of forestry, to a wall junction with a fence. I turned right, it was a precarious walk across extremely swampy ground; it was difficult to keep water below the tops of my boots. I had to keep crossing the wall to avoid the worst of the swamp; it did eventually become slightly drier. I walked past the slight hummock of Sheuchanower, then across Nick of Sheuchan, before making the short, sharp climb to a wall junction at the top of Sheuchan Crag.

From the junction, there is northwards climb, by the side of the wall, towards the summit of Larg Hill; however, I decided to walk across steeper ground towards its subsidiary peak. It was still gloomy and misty, and my trusty compass led me to eventually reach the wall running along the summit ridge of Larg Hill. I crossed the wall and turned left to walk by the side of it to the slightly lower of Larg Hill's two summits; I retraced my steps until I found a faint path a short distance away from the wall, leading almost directly to the higher summit.

I continued to follow the wall, I had a slight doubt as it apparently veered off down to the right, but on closer inspection, it is only a short drop and I soon reached Nick of the Brushy. The wall then does turn left and goes away downhill; a faint path carries on ahead, across the obvious Nick and then following the line of metal fence posts uphill. I eventually reached the familiar shelter and cairn at the summit of Lamachan Hill, then carried on, still following the line of metal posts. The line of posts is sometimes not continuous and the path had long since disappeared; I had to use my skill and experience to use the intermittent clues to reach the summit of Bennanbrack, I think I found the highest of the various rocky outcrops and cairns.

Whilst on my way to check the next outcrop to see if it was the summit, I noticed the fenceposts took a sharp turn downhill; it was just what I was looking for, having failed to find that descent on two previous, equally misty occasions. Having found the line of posts, it should have been a fairly straightforward descent to Nick of Curlywee; however, I lost the fenceposts, and couldn't see any clues as to where they were in the mist. I decided to follow a bearing downhill, I should have spent more time looking for the posts, but I found a faint path and decided to carry on.

I came across a lochan that I was able to use to pinpoint my position on the map; I was obviously well off-course but I didn't seem to be too far away from where I should be, at Nick of Corners Gale. I attempted to set a course back towards the fence posts, but thinking about it later, I set off in the opposite direction to the fence, possibly because I was holding the map upside down! I was beginning to realise I was not going to be anywhere near where I wanted to be, but didn't realise just how far wrong I was; I was passing steep crags close to steep ground, and I knew I would have to do some proper navigation in order to get down safely.

Quite suddenly I reached level ground, and through the mist I saw some tall trees ahead. Oh Dear! It was dauntingly obvious how far away I was from where I should have been; I reached a fence by the side of harvested forestry and took some time to work out where I was. I followed a fence across wet featureless ground, the mist still prevented me from getting any visible help about the lie of the land.

I eventually, thankfully, reached a junction with another fence and decided it would be unwise to attempt to climb Curlywee; I had to make sure I got off the hills before it got dark. I climbed over the fence, and followed a line of wooden fence posts between extensive, reedy lochans; at least I was able to note the positions of the individual water holes to confirm my position on the map. Once I got past the lochans, the fence was replaced by an old stone wall that led me downwards to a junction with a fence at Loup of Laggan. An unexpectedly obvious path appeared on the other side of the fence; it might have been obvious, but it was very wet, verging on soggy, for the entire two miles that I walked by the side of Pulnee Burn.

I wasn't looking forward to crossing the swollen burn, I knew it was going to be awkward; I decided I had to give it a go at a place where I could get halfway across on an island of stones. I then had to make a desperate leap to the far bank, my trailing foot just slipped back off the mud into the water, but I was safely across.

The path became non-existent, the long wet grass hid many pools of water, and it was becoming a bit of a struggle. I was hoping to get on to the other side of the wall but when I found some gates, they were locked, and there didn't look like any sign of a path on the other side anyway. It was an awkward and strenuous ordeal, walking along the narrow, swampy bank between the wall and the burn; the wall ended at a gap and it continued the other side of the water.

Instead of getting easier, the bank became steeper and wetter, and I had to make a desperate climb over a rickety fence; I was glad to get to a point where there was a path marked on the map. My relief was short-lived because the path through the forestry had been overwhelmed when the trees were harvested, it certainly wasn't getting any easier. I negotiated a complicated route, avoiding the worst holes, swamps and slippery remnants of the harvest, until I finally reached a good forest road, just as it started to rain heavily.

The final mile was relatively easy compared to what I had done earlier but it poured with rain and I was glad to get back to the car just as it was going dark.

© Andy Wallace 31st October 2009