STAYING DRY IN THE GALLOWAY HILLS WAS WELCOME CHANGE
CLOUD AND CLEAR: Looking from the cairn and trig on summit of Corserine over to the Merrick hills
HIGH POINT: Shalloch on Minnoch
JUST back from two fine dry days in the Galloway hills, a somewhat unusual occurrence in my experience and therefore worthy of mention.
This is a beautiful corner of the country and I wish I had seen a lot more of it over the years, but the reality is that I seem to have spent a disproportionally high number of hill days here in dense cloud and rain, far more than in any other part of Scotland.
Too many outings where promised visibility turned out to be a myth, ploughing through deep, wet grass and spongy, strength-sapping ground, following walls and fences to unseen horizons with few landmarks apart from the odd wind turbine suddenly looming out of the mist like something from War of the Worlds.
There's an old local saying that hits the nail on the head: “If ye canna thole the weather, ye'll no thole the work.” And I can tell you, I've fallen down a few tholes in my time.
On this occasion however, it looked like the best option. And it was, kind of. The first stop was Corserine, the highest point on the Rhinns of Kells ridge, but the promised sunshine had obviously decided to take a fag break during my ascent and even teased with some drizzle spots.
The summit was clear albeit colder and greyer than forecast, the views extensive in every direction but flattened by the lack of colour. Typically, the sun remained in hiding until I had finished for the day.
It's often surprising where the hills will lead you and a friend's reaction provided one of the more quirky responses. She referred to Corserine as 'the amino acid Corbett' and said mention of it always made her smile.
Now for those of you who aren't biochemists, here's the science bit. Serine is one of the standard 20 naturally occurring amino acids but you can get various modified ones. There are some with the prefix 'Nor' (norvaline, for example) and the hope is that if a Scottish scientist ever came up with a serine derivative they should instead use 'Cor' to name it Corserine after the mountain. And if that one misses the target, don't worry – I have heard that a biochemistry joke often fails to get a reaction.
An early start next morning for Cairnsmore of Carsphairn, another hill that didn't jog many memories, an easy up and down from the Green Well of Scotland. This curious dark pool above the Water of Deugh is reputed to be bottomless and is said to have been mentioned in despatches from as far back as the days of St Columba. During the 1800s, the legend grew that it contained a hoard of gold belonging to the Devil and that bad luck would befall anyone who sought it out. On the other hand, it was also rumoured to have healing powers. I suspect the latter would be more relevant to anyone thinking of diving in these days to counter a series of waterborne diseases.
Once again I had the summit to myself but the fickle Galloway weather managed to smother the bright sunshine with thin curtains of mist and a fair chill. On a clear day, it's said you can see Ireland, England and Wales. I could see a big cairn and a trig point – that would have to do this time and I was down in good time to head round to the second hill of the day. The last time I tackled Shalloch on Minnoch was from the west and it required a battle through overgrown vegetation to reach the ridge which reduced my reluctant partner to using a surprising variety of expletives. This time I was taking the easier and shorter option from Stinchar Bridge to the north. It meant a 40-minute drive, mostly on minor roads, but it was new territory for me and there was a path going over a couple of tops all the way to the summit. I had met two walkers on their way down and they had promised I would have the place all to myself. They were right.
Three Corbetts, all bearing a similarity of big cairns and trig pillars on bare, flat tops, the remainders of my Galloway hills this time round. It had been some 25 years ago since I was last on these tops. I recognised the summits if not the finer details of the ascents, so in many ways they felt like new hills. Mind you, the fact that I could see the landscape and remain dry for two whole days probably played no little part in that.
