Weather/Conditions: Great weather in the afternoon, sun, blue skies with a little wind. Touch of winter in there too, with wintry clear skies, a north wind and a chill in the shadows.
Distance/Ascent/Time: 8.3km / 400m / 4h 25m
Accompanying: Alone

It doesn't feel like my first trip out to the hills since I arrived home from the Tatras. I've been getting out a lot rock climbing, although I don't really intend to be doing so much of that. I must update the climbing section of my site soon, because a lot has been happening.

Less has been going on in the mountains though since Poland, though I cannot complain for that was a magnificent trip in itself. I need to give myself a break and realise I don't always need to be on the move.

But, I'm two Munros short of my hundredth and the prospect of reaching that goal was tempting. With money tighter than usual though a trip to the Highlands wasn't happening and in any case I'd now need to go a long way to access any Munros by train.

So it was climbing instead, and I've been working on some local climbs with long-time friend David at any chance I get. But today's crag was not an established climbing venue, but a small one I found beneath Dumgoyne. With possibilities of bouldering, I came along today to have a look and with the weather so exceptional, Dumgoyne had to be climbed too. But the crag wasn't what I'd hoped it to be. Hard bouldering opportunities seemed very limited, but it was fun to have a look. Nevertheless, I was glad to be climbing since I stumbled upon this crag in August. It's limited for climbing, but the venue is beautiful - south-facing (in the sun), open and airy with views across surrounding hills. Everything Craigmore isn't, I suppose...

So after a long time on the walls, finding climbs and working them, I used the last of the light to scamper up to Dumgoyne's summit with an unusually heavy pack (ropes, harness, etc weighs a lot) and got there for the last light of the sun. It was spectacular, but cold. I'd forgotten a jacket. But I bared it to watch the sun go down then headed off. To sync my arrival back in Blanefield with a bus, I spent twenty more minutes climbing in the twilight, then headed down the long road back just in time to get home.