Lammermuir Hills - The Herring Road

Running from Dunbar through the Lammermuir Hills to Lauder, the Herring Road is the old route used by fishwives carrying creels of herring to market. The route has been in use since the 17th century and would have been used by a variety of travellers in the day as well as the fishwives. As we would be spending two and a bit days backpacking the route, we'd hoped that our heavy packs might give us a sense of what it must have been like carrying a heavy load through the hills here. Mind you, our packs were probably not as heavy as a creel of herring ... and certainly not as smelly.

The Herring Road is 28 miles long and uses a variety of countryside paths and hill tracks with the latter stages picking up a section of the Southern Upland Way. While there is some signage where the route crosses the hills, it's not a waymarked route so a bit of map reading was required to link together the network of trails and stick as faithfully as possible to the original "road".

The online route descriptions take the Herring Road out of Dunbar via the back road to Spott and Halls. After starting at the harbour, we instead headed a little way south to the hamlet of Broxburn. This avoided several miles of road walking and allowed us to string together a lovely route that used farm tracks and core paths to pass south of Spott and onto Halls. It was beautiful along here in spring sunshine with daffodils and primroses dotted through the woods. Our weather was a bit hazy but we could just make out Berwick Law and the Bass Rock. The views over the coast must be lovely on a clear day.

At Halls we came upon on the first sign for the Herring Road which pointed us up into the Lammermuir Hills. We left the green fields behind and climbed up into a rougher landscape of moor and bog, eventually passing into the Crystal Rig wind farm. The road was hard to follow here, being just a suggestion of a path through the bog but eventually we picked up some signs again and knew we were on the right route. Despite the turbines, I liked the landscape here. There were open woods, a sense of remoteness and big, open skies. 

By early evening, we were dropping down towards Whiteadder Reservoir and found a welcome spot for the tents in a quiet cleugh. We were tired as the going had been rough. Next morning there was a light frost on the tents, probably the last of the season. We continued along the Herring Road, briefly re-entering civilisation at the reservoir and its cluster of farms before climbing back up into the hills for a day of ups and downs. 

Wherever we passed through farmland on this route, we were amazed by the number of birds. Skylarks in the skies above; in the fields, curlews and more lapwings than I have ever seen. The lapwings were performing their spring display flights and the air was full of their bizarre, almost electronic sounding song. After the next rise, we dropped down to Dye Cottage then passed up and over the next hill to drop to Watch Water where we picked up the path of the Southern Upland Way.

From every high point that morning, we had been able to see the two giant cairns of Twin Law, the highest point of our route. The Southern Upland Way took us gently up to the summit of Twin Law but the hazy day limited the views. We stopped of course to sign the visitor book which was placed inside an old munitions box in the bigger of the two cairns. 

The Herring Road continued southwest in mile after mile of gentle undulations. Eventually we left the open hills and passed back into green farmland. The road briefly parts company with the Southern Upland Way at Braidshawrig Farm and just south of here we pitched the tents for a second night out.

The last morning's walk was wonderful as the Herring Road rejoined the Southern Upland Way and passed through a landscape that I rarely find myself walking through. Here the road continued to Lauder through rolling green hills and woodland copses. At times the path cut across the middle of fields and other times, it kept company with old, stone dykes along the margins. Again, the fields were full with lapwings. To the south, the unmistakable outline of the Eildon Hills was our compass point for the final few miles into Lauder. 

Waiting for the bus home with coffee and cake was a time for reflection on the walk. The Lammermuir Hills are far from being the most scenic part of Scotland and are largely heather-clad, shapeless lumps. But the route had delivered an unexpected sense of remoteness and an abundance of birds that livened each mile. As well as this, following the old road and understanding something of its past, really made our trip quite special. Hats off to the fishwives of the day who walked this route laden with herring.

Fact File

Start: Dunbar harbour
Finish: Lauder
Public transport: East Coast Buses X7 from Edinburgh to Dunbar; Borders Buses 51 from Lauder to Edinburgh
My route: From Dunbar walked south along the A1087 to Broxburn. Turned right at Broxburn and just before an underpass a dirt path heads south alongside the railway line. It reaches an underpass for the A1 and railway line. Went through this and followed the signed core path to Spott House. Continued passed Spott House and where the track met a road turned right, then first track to the left. Followed this which becomes a footpath and passes through the valley of the Black Loch. Path continued across a field and joins a track to Halls. Just before the farm at Halls, the footpath is signed across a bridge. It joins a road where we turned left and at the road end is a sign for the Herring Road. The rest of the route can be found on the Scotways Heritage Paths website. It is vague at points across Dunbar Common/Crystal Rig wind farm but keeps on a consistent trajectory and eventually picks up signage. Easy navigation once the Southern Upland Way is joined as it is waymarked but the Herring Road leaves it Braidshawrig Farm - pass in front of the farm, cross the Wester Burn and follow the grassy track on the west side of the valley skirting Wheelburn Law. It rejoins the Way after a couple of kilometres for the rest of the route to Lauder.

Corrour - Leum Uilleum

Leum Uilleum is a rugged hill that rises to a shapely point above the isolated train station at Corrour on the West Highland line. Despite its isolation and lack of road access, it's usually a busy station as there are many trails and hills within striking distance and a remote hostel a short walk away. On this occasion however, being mid week at the tail end of winter, it was only me that got off the train. For the beginning of March, the hills were strikingly bare of snow, save for the higher tops. It's been a poor winter. But this didn't mean it wasn't cold and the day hung in a grey, icy grip. Arriving late in the afternoon, I only walked a short distance before making a basecamp below the hill. A nice spot for the tent on a bend in the river that I've used several times before. 

After a cold but calm night, I unzipped the tent next morning to the lightest of snow flurries. With no breeze the flakes fell gently and were mesmerising to watch. They'd blown through by the time I set off up the hill, ascending the north shoulder that sweeps to the top in a graceful arc. I love this route because once the steepest ground is cleared, the walk becomes an enjoyable high level amble to the top. It was easy going as well with the mud and bog half frozen. The pools and lochans, much like the day itself,  were stilled by a layer of ice. 

Higher up a smattering of snow lingered from the morning flurries. The day was colourless and the skies heavy with dense clouds. The view was extensive nonetheless and this is the beauty of Leum Uilleum. It's relatively isolated from other peaks so rewards with big panoramas. To the north, the Grey Corries ridge filled the horizon. To the west, the hulk of Ben Nevis remained mostly in cloud. Most impressive perhaps were the Black Mount hills, forming a formidable medley of rocky ridges to the south. 

I spent ages up on the hill as even high up there was barely a breeze. I wandered round the subsidiary tops and enjoyed the solitude, as beautiful to me as the view. I loved this high place on that day. The grey, gripping cold of late winter; the peace and emptiness of the mountains. 

I returned to the tent late afternoon for another night of watching the trains pass in the dark, the orange glow from their windows the only colour in the blackness.

Fact File

Start/Finish: Corrour station

Public transport: Glasgow to Fort William train stops at Corrour
My route: Left platform to the left and followed the well made path heading northwest before striking up the An Diollaid ridge after the path crosses the river.

Atholl - Déjà vu

Did you ever finish reading a book and enjoy it so much that you straight away started reading it all over again? I certainly did that at least once. I was reminded of it because I did exactly the same thing in relation to a recent outdoor trip. I had a such an enjoyable walk and wild camp out of Blair Atholl that two weeks later, I did the whole thing again with a friend! This wasn't a trip through dramatic scenery or remote landscapes. It was simply a very enjoyable walk with a nice wild camp and lots of interesting things to see along the way.

The walk headed north and west out of Blair Atholl, skirting behind Blair Castle and picking up a pleasant track which contoured round the hillside to Bruar. It afforded good views down to the castle and to Schiehallion which poked its head above the lower hills to the west. Here there was a grand avenue of redwoods that soared into a blue sky and a pretty duck pond tucked into the trees that provided a nice spot to sit for an early lunch.  

As the track passed above Bruar, an easy ten minute diversion joined the path to the Falls of Bruar. It was strange to pop out from the quiet hill track to the busy footpath at the falls and squeeze by people on the narrow path. But the view of the gorge and the falls themselves is always worth the effort.

From the Falls of Bruar, the track turned steeply north through Glen Banvie Wood. Although mostly plantation pine, the forest had some other tree species including an area of Scots pines which thinned to the open hillside beyond. This was the night's campsite and being at the edge of the trees, it was a perfect mix of woodland and open moor. This was advantageous later as it allowed us to have an open view of the night sky which was superb in the cold, crisp, winter air. Most prominent were the planets of Venus and Jupiter which were in alignment in the early part of the year. But the stars were beautiful as well with Orion and the Plough overhead.

A cold, frosty morning followed a chilly night with the temperature below zero. But this was another advantage of the camp spot at the edge of the woods in that the trees had maintained a slightly higher temperature than out on the moor. After packing up camp, we set out following the track down Glen Banvie through pleasant stands of pine. When I did the walk on my own, I climbed the low ridge of Sron Dubh to the north as I wanted to investigate a small cairn and shieling marked on the map. This was a rugged walk and the rivers that crossed the route cut surprisingly deep gorges into the hillside. However, the old, lichen-covered cairn was a good vantage point. I dropped down from here to the shieling and was amazed at how extensive the ruins were. This was obviously a small village in the past.

When doing the walk with my friend, we stayed on the track down through Glen Banvie which meant we could see the shieling from the other side of the glen and this view reinforced the impression of a settlement of significant size. A little bit of googling later, revealed that the settlement was known as Riechapel or Chapelton and included dwellings with outbuildings, stock enclosures and possibly a kiln. It was inhabited during the 18th century and it's thought that a limestone-rich bedrock provided favourable conditions for agriculture. My friend created this image with the two parts of the old settlement superimposed on the modern OS map. 

We enjoyed our walk down Glen Banvie, marvelling at the patterns of ice in the frozen puddles and feeling on our skin the weak, late winter sun. The track here is an ancient route known as Comyn's Road. The road linked Comyn's Tower which pre-dated Blair Castle, with Ruthven Barracks to the north. You can somehow always tell when you are walking on an old route. There is something about its general construction that makes it sympathetic to foot travellers and perhaps there is an aura of the past as well that lingers today.

The track brought us down to Old Blair where we made a short detour to the Whim folly. It sits high on the hillside and affords a stunning view of the valley below which is dominated by Ben Vrackie, the pointed hill above Pitlochry. The woods here are also quite beautiful, set around a deep gorge and featuring many different species. 

Just after Old Blair we made another detour along a lovely woodland path that connects to Glen Tilt via two interesting finds in the woods. The first of these is Tom na Croiche, the Hangman's Knoll. The pillar here was built in 1755 to mark the spot of the last public hanging in Atholl in 1630. 

The second interesting find was a bird hide built in the shape of a yurt but out of wood. It had an open view to the adjacent fields where greylag geese grazed and beyond to woods and mountains. There were lots of different bird feeders hanging in the trees and the hide was an excellent spot to feed ourselves with a picnic lunch before catching the train home. 

Fact File
More photos on Flickr
Start/finish: Blair Atholl
Public transport: Inverness-Edinburgh/Glasgow train to Blair Atholl
Route: Used the Tilt riverside footpath to the Glen Tilt car park then walked the dead end back road to Old Blair. At the crossroads, turned left down Minigaig Street and followed the road round to the right. At the next T junction, turned right onto dirt track. After approx 3km, a junction of tracks is reached. Turned right uphill then left at the next junction. After another approx. 3km the diversion to the Falls of Bruar is signed. Original track turned north through Glen Banvie Wood then after approx 3km it turns southeast down Glen Banvie and back to Old Blair. The path to Tom na Croiche goes up a flight a stairs at a gap on the wall on the road between Old Blair and the Glen Tilt car park. The path eventually links to Glen Tilt and where it does, turned right to the Glen Tilt car park to then rejoin the outward along the riverside path to Blair Atholl.

Obney Hills - An exciting find

Back in December we had a good cold spell and I was hopeful for a decent winter. But sadly that hasn't materialised so I was happy I got a camping trip fitted in when the weather was more wintry. Those cold temperatures at the end of the year also created a phenomenon that I was very excited to find - hair ice. It's quite rare as the conditions for it to develop are very specific - it only forms on dead wood in broadleaf woodlands when the air is moist, the temperature is just below zero and a particular fungus is present. It is also confined to latitudes between 45 and 55 degrees north. So it really was a special find.

I was out in the Obney Hills, west of Dunkeld. It's always a walk I enjoy in winter time. Snow was lying from about halfway up Birnam Hill and was glistening in the low sun of a mid winter afternoon as I pulled myself up the hill. On the top, the snow was dry and powdery so that it squeaked under each footstep. 

Dropping off the other side took me to a small, hidden valley where I knew a good spot for the tent. A cold night followed but the air was crisp and clear, affording good views of the stars.

A blue sky day followed for my walk up and over Craig Obney. A rough pull up through deep heather gave way to a pleasant high level amble to the top of the hill. The view was superb to Ben Chonzie above Crieff which presided over a snow-dusted landscape of woods and undulating hillscapes. 

But it was perhaps the walk on from Craig Obney that I enjoyed the most. An ancient track passes through Glen Garr, a natural route slicing through these small but steep hills. There are straggly birch woods and pasture which is divided up by old stone walls. There is an overwhelming sense of quiet, of peace and of the past. Perhaps this is because I'm always here in mid winter when there are few people around and when the light covering of snow quietens the world around me.

I ambled slowly north through Glen Garr, enjoying the open views and trying to make its special atmosphere stretch out for as long as possible. But eventually the old path came to an end as it joined the farm road to Balhomish. There was a choice here to walk back to Dunkeld via the Hermitage or to follow the Inchewan Burn back. I chose the burn route so that I could marvel again at the fascinating hair ice.

Fact File

Start/finish: Dunkeld and Birnam train station

Public transport: Edinburgh/Glasgow to Inverness train

My route: At the bottom of the station steps, turned left uphill to pick up the path up Birnam Hill. Descended a little way of the far side of Birnam Hill then turned west at an open bealach to the head of the valley that runs southeast from the farm at Balhomish. Next day up and over Craig Obney and decsended into Glen Garr. Walked north, turning off the farm road onto the forest track at Tomgarrow which eventually joins the Inchewan Burn to return to the station.

Gear Review - Exped Ultra pillow and Kovea Spider stove

A couple of new camping items that are small but perfectly formed! 

Exped Ultra Pillow

For all of my camping life so far, I have made a pillow out of my fleece tops and jackets folded into a stuff sack. Why on earth would I need anything else, I always wondered. However, I have been struggling to make a pillow deep enough with this method to be comfortable with a new air mattress which is a short length but quite thick. So I bought this pillow just for that purpose but decided to test it out on a winter camping trip with my usual, full length mattress. Oh my, what comfort. Never again will I make a pillow out of fleece tops!

The Exped Ultra pillow is supremely comfortable but barely noticeable in the pack as it folds up into a tiny package measuring approx 12cm by 7cm by 3cm. It weighs only 55g (on my scales including the stuff sack). It has a soft outer fabric that is very pleasant on the cheek and inflates quickly with just a few breaths. It deflates easily and packs back into the stuff sack without a struggle. It stays firm all night and I found that this medium size fits nicely inside the hood of my sleeping bag so there is no risk of it sliding off the mat during the night. It cost £27 from Tiso. 

Kovea Spider Stove

On cold winter camps when the temperature slips below zero, it can be painfully slow to get my usual canister mounted, three season gas stove to work. For years, I have put up with gradually coaxing it into life in the mornings by warming the canister repeatedly inside my sleeping bag whilst worrying that I may never get my porridge that day. So finally I bought this four season, remote canister stove.

On the first test in a temperature of minus seven celsius, it worked very well and I was never in any doubt that it would deliver hot coffee and cook the porridge. The stove has a pre-heat tube which helps it to keep working in colder temperatures. A lot of remote canister gas stoves are quite heavy and bulky but not this one. It's really very compact for what it is. With the legs folded away and placed inside its stuff sack, it weighs 185g and measures 13cm by 9cm by 3cm. It's very easy to unfold for use and to then pack away again. 

It boils water as fast as any stove that I have used and I'm really happy with it. I did notice that being so lightweight, the legs are a touch unstable as you unfold the stove but they are perfectly firm on the ground once there is a pot on top. Also, it did struggle to use the dregs of an almost empty canister but that's easily solved by always taking fuller canisters when using this stove. It cost £46 from Mercator Gear.

Here is a photo of the pillow and the stove with a spork in shot for size comparison.

Cairngorms - Pathfinding

I am a lover of maps and can spend hours of an afternoon gazing at my Ordnance Survey collection spread out over the floor. To me they are a work of art but incredibly practical as well. They hold wonderful secrets in the landscape features that they represent as I try to imagine what the places are like in real life that are set out in miniature on the sheets before me. Often something in particular on the map catches my eye such as a footpath that I have never walked. So it was back in autumn, when spotting a couple of paths new to me, led to an October backpacking trip to Glen Tromie in the Cairngorms. 

The first path I wanted to find headed across the hills south from Ruthven Barracks just outside Kingussie. Footpaths on maps are tenuous things as the dashed line on the map may no longer be visible on the ground if it's a route that's not well used in modern times. This path is part of an old military route connecting Blair Atholl and Calvine to the south with Ruthven Barracks. Luckily it started right opposite the barracks as a good farm track, initially crossing a field of cows and passing a ruined house before ascending heathery slopes. As we gained the top of the rise, the other reason for coming here came into view - the beautiful golden colours of the Glen Tromie birchwoods. 

A narrower path left our track and descended sharply into the glen. We marvelled at the colours as we dropped steeply through the trees and enjoyed the atmosphere of this path which felt secretive and little visited. At the bottom we joined the main track in Glen Tromie. Croidh-la, a small but dramatic hill, rose above us here and was our objective for the next day. First I wanted to find another new path that climbed its north shoulder from the glen. The start of the path was a wee bit tricky to find but once located, it was another good path that climbed gently up through regenerating woods. Here the trees were barely taller than us but the display of colour was no less beautiful. 

The path eventually gained the low saddle in the ridge. I was familiar with the the rest of its course as this was the point where I had joined it from Gleann Chomhraig to the east to climb Croidh-la last year. But the hill would have to wait for the next day as at the end of October, the light in Scotland is already fading by late afternoon. Instead we pitched the tents at the river, watched the sun sink and listened to the incoming sounds of evening.

Next morning, we rejoined the path up Croidh-la and enjoyed the walk to the top. This little hill has become a favourite of mine. The path along its shoulder is so pleasant to walk, especially where it passes through the young trees. And the top affords uninterrupted views of the bigger hills all around. As we descended, the sun made an appearance for the first time of the trip and showed the best of the autumn colours all around us. 

We took a different path back to Kingussie, using the newly laid section of the Speyside Way from Tromie Bridge. It reminded me how the footpaths on our maps are always changing and there will always be new paths to find.

Fact File

Start/finish: Kingussie
Public transport: Edinburgh/Glasgow to Inverness train
My route: Walked the B970 to Ruthven Barracks. Just before the car parking spaces the track heads south into the hills where the start of the new path for the Speyside Way is signed. The track crosses green fields initially to a ruin then continues on heathery slopes. Just before the top of the rise, a single width, firm path leaves the track to the left and this descends to Glen Tromie. A good way down, it branches and we took the fainter left branch to avoid the lodge and exit the woods at the bridge over the river. Walked down the main track and after about 1.5km after the river turns away from the track, the path up Croidh-la begins. There is a very small cairn to mark it though we didn't walk quite far enough to spot it on the way in. For the return leg, we walked back over to Glen Tromie then down to Tromie Bridge to pick up the Speyside Way path back to Ruthven Barracks.   

Loch Lomond - Long live the weeds

What would the world be once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
Oh let them be left, wildness and wet
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

Inversnaid, Gerard Manley Hopkins

I'm living in the past. Or at least my blog is. Scotland is currently gripped in winter with freezing temperatures and a blanket of snow but my blog is still enjoying the mild temperatures, gentle drizzles and rich colours of autumn with this multi day walk in early October. I guess it will eventually catch up.

Talking of the past, all the years that I have been going to the hills I have traveled up the west shore of Loch Lomond on the bus or the train and gazed across at the east shore where the West Highland Way path is the only means of travel. I knew it must be gorgeous walking there through the woods in autumn and finally got round to doing just that.

The lunchtime train let me out at Crianlarich where I picked up the linking path to join the West Highland Way. Bucking the trend for walking the Way in a northerly direction, I turned south through Glen Falloch. The glen is quite lovely with a white water river, waterfalls, regenerating woods and a wall of Munros to the east. On this grey, wet day swathes of rain passed across the hillsides and the only bright spot was a friendly robin on a waymarker post.

Towards the end of the afternoon, the waters of Loch Lomond finally came into sight and what a stunning sight they were. Drizzly, misty weather created the perfect atmosphere for the view down the wooded shores, the ends of which were too far away to see. Everything was moist and the musty smell of the feral goats grazing between the trees hung in the air.

It was time to camp and I loved the quaintness of the landing for the passenger ferry to Ardlui. There is no ticket office or dock. Here you just have to raise a bright orange buoy if you want the ferry to come over. There were some nice spots for pitching the tent amongst the trees here too and the gentle lapping of waves on a pebble shore.

Next day my walk continued south through the early autumn woods, still more green than gold but still beautiful. I was surprised by how rugged the route was with lots of scrambling up and over boulders, and ascents and descents as the path undulated with the shoreline. There was something primal about the woods here which were lush and dripping in the day's drizzle. Ferns filled in the understorey and here and there old walls covered with lichens emerged from the rampant undergrowth. There was a wildness as well to the sandy, driftwood strewn beaches that formed the boundary between trees and water. I loved it and wanted the walk to go on forever.

I passed Inversnaid where a road comes over the hills to meet the loch shore and enjoyed the waterfalls but didn't linger, eager as I was to re-immerse myself in the wilderness of the woods.

A little way south of Inversnaid I left the shores of Loch Lomond to climb up through the hills. The showers of the day cleared to reveal a panorama of the loch and the mountains at its back. As I climbed higher the dipping sun created subtle evening colours on the north, little seen side of Ben Lomond. This was me in Gleann Gaoithe now for another night out in the tent before the long walk through the glen to Aberfoyle. 

Gleann Gaoithe is open in its upper reaches with some straggly woods but lower down the trees take over, a mix of commercial and native woods. It is a place of richness dominated by the rocky outline of Ben Lomond. It is another place of wildness and wet. 

Fact File

Start: Crianlarich by train from Glasgow
Finish: Aberfoyle for a bus to Stirling then a train home
Route: At the bottom of the platform steps at Crianlarich turn left and round the corner steps acsend to the road above. Immediately opposite is the link path to the West Highland Way. Followed the Way south to the abandoned cottage at Cailness and the track that climbs behind the cottage passes up into Gleann Gaoithe and ultimately all the way through to Milton near Aberfoyle. There is apparently a gap in the fence just before the cottage but I missed it and just squeezed through the gates.