Cairn Table.

Two part blog today.The first part is a story of a wonderful summit under blue skies,open spaces and wonderful views.In the second part in a few days time Bob will take us down to the netherworlds of Scotland once more :)

Due to other factors our remit today was to go somewhere within an hours drive and with a guaranteed mobile signal.I quite fancied a dauner along the Pentlands or finishing my remaining Donalds along the M74 corridor.Sunniest forecast though was for over the Ayrshire and the Galloway region again and Galloway being too far it was Ayrshire wot won the toss.We stood in my driveway for a good 10 minutes or so wondering exactly where to go.A hill in the morning and a "Bob`s Special tour" in the afternoon,just like last week,was the resulting agreement.


Through East Kilbride,along the Strathaven road and up onto the lonely B743 we went stopping off for pics on what was a glorious morning.

Loudon Hill appeared over to the west....


A closer view further along the road....


I`d enjoyed a hot summers day rock climbing here last July....here`s Nicky on Pulpit Crack..


Down we headed towards Muirkirk where Bob took this pic of our destination,Cairn Table.


A new car park had been built since the last time along with an information board about the local hen harrier population.Anytime I`ve been down this way I`ve always managed to spot one but a quick Google tonight seems to indicate that the population is sadly in decline almost certainly due to human hands.A run in I had with a gamekeeper on nearby Middlefield Law a few years ago didn`t exactly fill me with confidence regarding the future of birds of prey in this area...


Hen harrier link

Anyway,the sun was shining and there was no need for hats or gloves or even jackets.Spring ain`t far away..! The usual boggy approach path was still well frozen meaning that we could zoom up without fear of losing our boots in the morass.Even Muirkirk was looking good in the sunshine :)




A final steepening and we were at the summit.Everything above the Highland Boundary Fault,although visible,had a mantle of greyish cloud hanging just above the summits.South of that it was a different story.Over to Arran,the Paps of Jura,the Merrick,Criffel,Lowthers,Tinto and the Pentlands with a sunkissed coating of snow along the ridge.The summit view indicator suggested the Lake District but it was lost in a bit of haze.

The early start meant that the day was still young so we put jackets on as the wind got up a little bit and sat around admiring the view and nattering away about this and that.Then we decided to build a cairn.It took us ages :)

Bob admires the finished masterpiece...






The views were extensive but given the hills isolation it wasn`t possible to capture it on film,the distance were just too far.,,,the Paps of Jura were 82 miles away.The nearest group were the Lowther hills....



Back at the car park we got talking to two folk from Kilmaurs who had been walking the River Ayr Way so Bob offered them a lift back to their car at Glenbuck which was in the direction we were headed next.We dropped them off at the memorial to Bill Shankly who was born here.Glenbuck is no longer alas,it has fallen victim to an open cast coal mine..

The Bill Shankly memorial at Glenbuck....


To be continued in a few days time.....