January Day Trip to Tinto Hill
Cornel and Isla, Steven and I met up with Willie at the Tinto Hill car park .. the same team of four plus one which traversed the Lowther Hills on the first outing of 2025!
Tinto’s summit was covered in cloud and there was a cold wind blowing. The hill already had numerous walkers ascending and descending as we set off.
There was a covering of snow around but the path was very icy in places. After a while, we decided to go through the heather and up to the ridge. This was made easier by patches where the heather had been cut or burnt. We rejoined the path and continued upwards and into the cloud. There was the odd flurry of snow and the wind got stronger as we climbed.
We arrived at the summit and another group took our photo. We didn’t stay long, as the wind was making it very cold. We descended until we had a bit of shelter where we had a celebratory drink and Christmas cake. We then set off downhill but after only a few yards, I spotted a plaque on a rock. Dusting it off it said ‘Well Done. Only about another 100 yards to go.’ It had been put there in 2021.
We again decided to go down the ridge before joining the path. On the descent, Cornel and I stopped to put on spikes on our boots. This made the walk out on the path easier. Isla had great fun periodically plunging into the heather to try to catch a grouse .. I think the score was Grouse 5 Isla 0!
Back at the car park we got out of the boots then headed to the dog friendly tea room for coffee and cake and Isla got her dog biscuit as we were leaving. Willie headed back to Moffat while the rest of us headed back up the M74. Despite the cold wind and the underfoot conditions, we enjoyed the first outing of the year.
Bob MacDonald
January Weekend to Newton Stewart
This trip was cancelled due to lack of interest.
