Cunninghame ramblers. Mid week walk Carrick Hills circular.February 2015

Slippy climb right at the start.

An alpaca makes a change from cows.

Some of the gates were locked

Day of long shadows

May I have the next dance!!

Follow me I am your leader.

Walking up to the snow line.

Lunch at Dunure

Todays group on the summit of Brown Carrick Hill.

The deerstalker was our leader.

Another walk up the Carrick hills today with Cunninghame ramblers. 15 of us left the Greenan Castle car park to do what I call the full monty walk of 14 miles . The shore was extremely slippy with a couple of the group falling before we had even done a few hundred yards.Going over the top of the heads of Ayr the views in the early morning sunlight were truly spectacular with snow covering all the high peaks on Arran.Climbing up Brown Carrick fairly got us all going and even in the winter sun jackets were coming off as we were all feeling a little warm.Once back down on the shore lunch was taken looking out on a cold sea before the 5 mile trek back to the start involving a couple of very rocky stretches.A super day out on a glorious winters day with thanks to the deerstalker for keeping us all in order whilst leading us round this half marathon.

PS Thanks to the traffic commissioner for his contribution to the above photos.

Cunninghame ramblers. 5 Ben challenge ,Isle of Arran. July 2014

There are a few gates at the start.

Starting to get serious

Coire Fhionn Lochan

Climbing up Meall Bioroch

Well earned rest on Mullach Buidhe

The bear on top of the world.

Hoi wait for me!!

Pleasant way to end a walk

The mountaineers

The head honcho

Yesterday Tuesday July 1 Cunninghame ramblers met at Ardrossan to catch the 7.00AM ferry to Brodick on the beautiful Island of Arran.. After a wonderful sail on a calm suuny morning we took the bus round the top of the island to a hamlet called Thunderguy.10 of us then took to the path which climbs steadily up to the lovely lochan at the base of Meall Bioroch our first ben of the day. Once on the summit it is an undulating ridge that takes you onto Meall Bioroch,Bein Bhreac,Mullach Buidhe and finally Ben Bharrain.The going was a wee bit tough due to the heat coupled with the flys that only apppear when there is no wind. Lunch was taken overlooking the Clyde with its scenic views of the Paps of Jura, a more scenic view would be hard to find on a day like this. A very step descent took us down to a burn with a very welcome stop to replenish the water bottles. At this point a walker was spotted pouring large volumes of water over his head in an attempt to cool down a sight not often witnessed in Scotland. Once back in Pirnmill an ice lolly was a wonderful way to relax and wait for the bus to take us all  to the ferry for the sail back home. Everyone was very appreciative of our leader whose blood pressure soared when anyone suggested any kind of alternative to his carefully prepared route planning. Well done sir lets hope you can pick such a nice day next year for our outing to Arran which I believe you already have a new route in mind.

Reccie for ADRC. Glenashdale falls. Isle of Arran.April 2014

A male red breasted merganser

Well signposted

Glenashdale falls.

Me at the falls.

Large areas of the forest have been cleared

Meallach's grave.

Yesterday Wednesday April 9th I caught the 7.00AM ferry to Brodick on theIsle of Arran to meet the teacher who is on holiday there for the week . We were originally going to tackle Goatfell from the Corrie side but due to low cloud and the threat of rain decided to do an alternative walk to Glenashdale Falls which would also be a reccie for ADRC who I am leading in July up this route. Caught the bus to Whiting Bay which was our start point and the as soon as we arrived we spotted a red breasted merganser enjoying himself on the wee burn that joins the sea at this point. We then climbed up to the falls and onto forestry track to take us over the hills to Lamlash a distance of about 6 miles . Again I will not go into too much detail as a full blog will appear when I do the walk in July least to say I found a new twist in the route towards the end which allows the walkers to visit Meallach's grave which dates back to about 2000BC and makes for an interesting stop on the walk. Once we arrived back in Brodick Goatfell was completely shrouded in mist and would not have given us any views had we climbed it so the alternative walk turned out to be the right decision. Another excellent day out and can assure bloggers I slept well last night after two heavy exhausting days not bad for an old guy of 66 . PS Did I  tell you it was my birthday on Tuesday?

Cunninghame Ramblers. Glen Sannox and "The Chimney" Isle of Arran. September 2013

Today's transport.

Discussing the route.

The start of the "Chimney"

Slow progress was made.

Looking down through Glen Sannox.

Glen Rosa to a distant saddle.

A heron waits to catch his supper.

Today's group on the saddle.

Our leader.

Yesterday Wednesday September 11th 18 of Cunninghame groups finest walkers headed to the Island of Arran where they had organised two different walks ,one was round Brodick and the other was through Sannox and up a rock face known locally as the chimney. 16  of us opted for the more serious walk and after taking the bus to the start we made our way through a misty Glen Sannox much to the delight of the local midgies who were lying in wait for us.If you stopped at all they descended on you in their hundreds but if you kept on the move they were not too bad. Once we arrived at the base of the chimney the leader ordered a break before we started climbing. The first part is not too bad then it develops into scree before the  part of the climb that gave it it's name.Two of our group experienced some difficulties here but at this point it is as hard to descend as it is to ascend,so after a lot of coaxing ,some bad language everyone finally made it to the summit which takes you onto a plateau known as the saddle. After a well earned lunch break we started off to make our way down through Glen Rosa under the watchful eye of a stag who was guarding his females ready for next month's rutting season. We all finally met up in one of Brodick's fine watering holes for a couple of pints of beer before catching the ferry back home. I am sure there will be one or two tired muscles today after what was a strenuous 10 mile hike, thanks to our leader who was walk leading for the first time in his rambling career you were superb with all your words of encouragement on the difficult parts of the climb.