Cunninghame Ramblers to the Merrick. Tuesday March 22nd 2011

Leaving car park at Bruces Stone.



Bruces Stone.



Start of the walk.

Culsharg Bothy.

At the wall for a breather .

Summit of Benyellery (719M)

Summit of the Merrick (843M)

Lots of timber felling operations.

Some ramblers did not like the rain!

Mist starts to clear at the end of the walk.

Today Tuesday March 22nd I travelled to Irvine to meet up with the group to set off to Dumfries and Galloway to climb the Merrick. At Bruces Stone car park we met up with other ramblers and started off with 19 hardy souls in the mist and drizzle.One younger rambler informed us she had just returned from a walking holiday in Spain and was feeling a wee bit chesty and might not make it to the summit. Several male members suggested remedies to her problem which were all rejected! We stopped at Culsharg Bothy for the usual coffee break before the steep climb to the summit of Benyellery.We were completely shrouded in mist so this was not a day for views and hence the lack of good photographs. At the summit of the Merrick we had lunch and then the walk leader held an impromptu meeting to discuss our next part of the walk. It was his intention to drop down from there to Loch Enoch and return via the Grey Man. It was decided and agreed that due to our numbers today and the thick mist that this route was not adviseable. We then made our way back to Benyellery and  down the way we came up.It was not until we past the bothy that the mist showed any sign of clearing and we returned to the cars after a most enjoyable walk in a damp dreich March day.