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Dunglass is a
rocky swell in the landscape but a fabulous little hill all the same. My
plan for this weekend wasn't to climb Dunglass, but instead visit some
higher mountains. By the time Saturday arrived, I still had to make up
plans and do something. Motivation was lacking, but I wouldn't be doing
anything else with my day.
Having read some rock climbing articles throughout the morning, my
interest shifted away from hillwalking and
ukclimbing.com gave me some crags that I could access with relative
ease. After thinking through it in my head, my target was Dunglass which
according to the website offered quite a range of climbs. I had seen
this little hill many times from the surrounding Campsies but it was a
new venue and the prospect of some rock climbing and scrambling fired me
up. The motivation almost came too late for I ran a considerable
distance to catch the bus, going with such speed as to eventually catch
it in good time. I was on my way to
Strathblane, eagerly anticipating exploring
new ground closer to home.
The morning had seen sunshine and passing showers, so I packed some
waterproofs but also rock climbing gear in case there did happen to be
climbing routes of particular interest. I hadn't been rock climbing for
a while and I was on my own today so there would be no desperate,
vertical climbs. I'd just have a look, but since I didn't know what I
would find, I took some gear with me.
Hard Way to Dunglass
I arrived in Strathblane at 3.55pm and my first problem was to find
Dunglass. I wanted to get onto a path following a disused railway, but
the map seemed to suggest that the start of the path went through
private gardens. And sure enough, it did. I didn't want to go walking up
anyone's driveway, so I went the rough way around their perimeter fence,
walking through the trees and bushes, finding it hard going and also
aware that I didn't want to be infringing
on anybody's privacy.
I spent quite a while in these forests. It must have been one of the most
difficult routes I could have taken. I emerged from the trees to fields
east of Strathblane, and when I couldn't see any railway cuttings, I
thought I'd follow the fields, given that Dunglass was now close. But when someone
entered the field on a quad bike, I jumped a fence and headed down
into what I thought was a stream. At the bottom there was a path, and I
realised that I'd found the railway cutting. Everything seemed obvious
now, and it was plain sailing to my destination.
Dunglass appeared as a little rocky knoll ringed with cliffs. I left the
path I'd been following and climbed up onto the side, examining the
cliffs and any possible route that didn't involve walking. On many
sides, the cliffs seemed loose and crumbling, so I followed the east
slopes upwards until I emerged on the flat southern slopes. A couple of
moments later I was on the top of this hill. It was hardly a 'hill', but
since
elevated from the surrounding fields, the views were pleasant and
different take on the landscape than I was used to from the
higher Campsies.
(Almost) Rock Climbing
Although a nice viewpoint, the summit was also very windy, so I
descended the west side to have a look at the cliffs further round that
I hadn't been to already. The rock on one wall was made of very secure
rock, and overhung slightly giving some difficult climbs. I then saw
chalk marks all the way up the cliffs suggesting that these were well
worn climbing routes. Closer observation revealed that the wall was
bolted. This would sure make a nice evening out with a friend and rope,
but today I wasn't going to climb anything spectacular. And given that I
had nothing else to do this afternoon, it was nice to relax and check
the crags out.
A rain shower passed through, and I spent about ten minutes on the crags
after that. Once feeling like I'd done what I'd set out to do, I headed
back along the disused railway line and back to Strathblane. By this
point, I knew that this was very much a public route since people had
been walking, running or cycling along it. When the track reached
Strathblane, it curved up to the right (in a NW direction), and entered
Strathblane opposite the church.
To kill time, I walked up to the Blanefield newsagent and back to the
Kirkhouse Inn and catch a bus. I was home soon after. Although I really
should have been on some big mountains, Dunglass was enough of a day for
me and it was enjoyable enough to spend time on unfamiliar terrain in an
otherwise familiar landscape. One day I imagine myself going back with
ropes. |
