ADRC Muirkirk to Sorn on River Ayr way. May 2014

Nice to know we are welcome

Leader showing us todays route

Known locally as "Tibbys Brig"

Morning break on the path

Very picturesque on the river

All that is left from the open cast mining

Enjoying a water stop overlooking the river

This guys I.D. caused lots of discussion. (Common Sandpiper)

Todays leader in full sunshade outfit.

Yesterday ADRC met at Muirkirk to walk 13 miles along the River Ayr Way to Sorn. It was a glorious warm sunny morning as 10 of set off, depleted numbers today due to the fact that a lot of the members were in Glen Affric for a weeks walking holiday. Our leader today is an expert on wildlife so we were in for an exciting walk which stopped abruptly quite often as she spotted a bird or a beastie in the undergrowth telling everyone what it was and the type of habitat where it is normally found. The route took us through Airds Moss an area of special interest controlled by the RSPB.Here we saw several species of bird including Lapwing,Curlew,Oystercatcher,Twite,Swallow, Greywagtail,Pied wagtail,Buzzard and the one that had us foxed for a wee while was a common sandpiper  which was extremely vocal as we passed by. Several stops had to be taken today as the heat was quite intense so fluids were essential to stop anyone dehydrating. Arriving in Sorn those lucky enough not to be driving adjourned to the Sorn Inn for a wee swallie whilst the the drivers went back to Muirkirk to retrieve the cars. Thanks to our leader for a very informative walk it was so good of her to give us her time yesterday as she is flying to Iceland today on holiday and has not even packed yet. Have a nice break and look forward to seeing you again in the near future to hear all about glaciers and the cost of drink in Reykjavik.

Cunninghame ramblers mid week walk to Cairn table near Muirkirk. April 2014

Meeting at Kaimes car park

Good climb up Cairn Table(593M)

At the summit

New methods were

employed today to by pass burns.

This section was an excellent path

Glenbuck loch

Source of the river Ayr.

Leading from the front (AS NORMAL)

Todays group

The leader .

On Tuesday I travelled to Muirkirk with the deer stalker to meet with Cunninghame Ramblers for their mid week walk to Cairn Table ,over to Glenbuck and return by the old railway line a total distance of 11 miles. It was a cold cloudy morning when we assembled at Kaimes car park to start the ascent to Cairn Table. The first part of the walk could only be described as pure boggy mucky moorland after all the recent rains that have fallen on this area,it improved a little once we gained some height before reaching the summit in a squally sleety shower. Unperturbed we had a coffee break in the lee of the cairn and soon the shower past before we were off on an open moorland with lots of holes and tussocks to reach an old road to take us down to Glenbuck. There were a couple of awkward streams to get over on this stretch but as usual our leader had reccied this earlier and had worked out a difficult obstacle route to save you getting your feet wet,the alternative way was to say the least unusual at best. A quick lunch was taken at the side of the track as our leader is on a diet so he had no lunch and spent the time pacing back and forward muttering away to himself about wasting time on eating and drinking!!Arriving at Glenbuck we found out  that the River Ayr path was closed due to lambing so the only alternative route was to walk the A70 back to Muirkirk. After a group discussion we agreed that the road walk was suicidal so we would walk the old railway line alongside the river and if we got any objections from the farmer we would nominate  our accompanying committee member  to deal with the problem. Fortunately we did not encounter any problems and all returned safely to the cars after a great day out, with thanks to the leader and all who took part it certainly was a wee bit different today and as usual a healthy steady pace was relentlessly kept up due to our leader being none other than the Kilmarnock Rocket.

ADRC to Muirkirk December 2013

My walks always have a tree lined avenue

Todays group

With me as leader

Yesterday Sunday December 9 I had the pleasure of being leader for Ayr and District ramblers on a 9 mile "C+" walk around the countryside outside the East Ayrshire village of Muirkirk. 12 of us met at the walkers car park at Kaimes on cloudy morning with threatening rain clouds all around us, in actual fact we only got drizzle in the morning for about an hour coupled with a dry windy afternoon making it a reasonable day for a ramble. We set off out of the village on the River Ayr way before going up through the village to the forest where we picked up some tracks to take us to a minor country road for a couple of miles of hard road walking before crossing the main A70 back onto the River Ayr way back to the start. A few fallen trees after last weeks storm made us take a few unplanned detours to get safely round them.A more professional collection of photos will appear on a fellow ramblers U tube page and when I get it I will publish the link address .. Thanks to all who turned up yesterday I really enjoyed your company on what turned out to be not too bad a day weatherwise.

U Tube site on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXzQyyjbLGc&feature=youtu.be

Recce for ADRC Muirkirk circular November 2013

Not all of them look happy!!

Yesterday Tuesday November 26 I did a recce at Muirkirk for Ayr and District group with two other members from
Wigtownshire and three members of the
Cunninghame group,we decided this was an excellent example of cross co-ordination between the local groups.It was a damp drizzly morning as we left the village behind and headed out onto the moorland but thankfully it did clear for a while to allow us to complete the walk and catch the bus back to Ayr. A full post will appear on Sunday 8 December when I lead the walk for ADRC when hopefully we get a dry day.Thanks to my walking partners for their assistance in reccing this 9 mile circular walk.