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Dumgoyne
I climbed these hills alone, starting out from Strathblane beside the newsagents
where mum dropped me off. All the summits I climbed on this day can be seen as
subsidiary tops of Earls Seat which lies behind on the plateau, and my route went around the front
of this plateau. I had an enjoyable walk up the private road that led from
Strathblane and turned off at the gate. I followed a less
established path up the side of the hill and past the forests. I stopped at the
river by "Craigbrock Wood" to take a few shots when I realised I'd lost the path. Without anything to follow I cut my own route through
shoulder high bracken around the side of Dumfoyn. Descending a bit, I
stumbled across the path - I couldn't be sure how I had lost it. I followed it
up the side of Dumgoyne, a hill that although small, was steeper than I remember.
It could be because I was on my own and my levels of cautiousness were raised,
I'm not sure.
Although after an hour and ten minutes walking, I was on top of Dumgoyne. It was windy up at the top but still a very nice day, and I felt like
stopping. It was pretty packed so I had a look around the summit area and went
down to the scree slope that Uncle Stephen and I descended last time I was here. It
looked really rather steep and it seemed insane I'd descended by it before. I
didn't remember Dumgoyne ever being so steep. (Edit 2008-10-26: I eventually
descended this scree alone during June '08. A definite progression, I understood
my limits better by that point.)
Dumfoyn
After no more than five minutes at the summit of Dumgoyne, I left and cautiously stepped
down the path, sometimes on hands and feet. When I reached the bottom, I felt like going back to Strathblane. I was already tired and the idea of
climbing another steep slope didn't appeal to me at all. Still, I decided to go
for it. I made my own route up Dumfoyn which was also very steep at times, but
climbed onto a shallower section which led to the top. I reached the summit
about 45 minutes after reaching Dumgoyne's summit, which wasn't too bad. I took
one or two photos at the top and went on. A ridge leading north took me to the
plateau without loosing too much altitude.
Garloch Hill and to Slackdhu
By this time the tiredness was gone, and things were working out well. I had
Mike Oldfield's "Ommadawn" on for a while although I never felt music "fitted"
properly. It was shaping up to be a great walk, and I found the silence and
absence other other people odd. The wind kept me cool under the sun, and I
went to the top of the Garloch Hill cairn, passed over the undulating ground of the
"Clachertyfarlie Knowes" (Eh...?) before crossing across
west-to-east over to Slackdhu. The walk couldn't be more perfect. There was no
concept of going up, hitting a summit and descending. It was just me, in a place
void of any other human life. I felt definite elation, and I was enjoying myself
hugely. I didn't care about peak bagging and pre occupied by walking, I cared
about little - an excellent way to be.
When I reached Slackdhu I didn't bother going to its' top. I did see
another person far away on the moor and besides the distant figures on Dumgoyne
that was all I'd seen. Instead of stopping, I continued over the top of
the Black Craig cliffs, trying to find a route down into Strathblane. I came
across an aggressive bunch of cows and their calves but they were avoided and all was fine. I found a route down after a long search across the
mountain and eventually descended into Strathblane. That was its' own challenge:
walking through farmland, forests and coming across back gardens. I phoned mum
to pick me up, and I followed the river back. At the bridge, I climbed up the bank and walked back down the
private road where mum was waiting for me. (5.57pm)
Written: October 2007
Proofed: 2008-06-28
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