Hills: Blackcraig Hill, Blacklorg Hill, Meikledodd Hill, Alwhat, Alhang, Windy Standard
Date: Thursday 22nd September 2011
Company: Just myself
Time: 6Hrs 10Mins
I set off from home at 03:45 this morning and arrived at the starting point in Glen Afton a full five hours later. I parked on a verge near the bridge over the Afton Water at Blackcraig.
I opted for a clockwise circuit of these hills starting with Blackcraig Hill.
Click here to see map of the route undertaken
I crossed the bridge over the Afton, continued on to Blackcraig and then followed the track leading to Quintin Knowe.
Looking back towards car from Blackcraig:
Blackcraig Hill:
The lower section of the track was pretty-good, the upper section was a bit wet underfoot.
Ascending track towards Quintin Knowe:
Track way-marker:
After reaching Quintin Knowe, I followed the fence towards the summit of Blackcraig Hill.
Ascending Blackcraig Hill from Quintin Knowe:
I visited a number of cairns, and the trig point, en-route to the summit cairn. The summit cairn is the cairn a short distance beyond the trig point.
Trig point near summit of Blackcraig Hill:
It was a bit disappointing to encounter low cloud and rain at the summit.
Blackcraig Hill is a Fiona, a Donald, a New Donald, a Marilyn and a HuMP - five ticks from one hill
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Summit cairn of Blackcraig Hill:
From Blackcraig Hill, I followed an ATV track towards Blacklorg Hill.
Blacklorg Hill from Blackcraig Hill:
The col between Blackcraig Hill and Blacklorg Hill was really wet underfoot.
Looking back to Blackcraig Hill:
The summit of Blacklorg Hill is the cairn by the fence.
Blacklorg Hill is a HuMP as well as a New Donald and Donald.
Summit cairn of Blacklorg Hill:
From Blacklorg Hill, I continued on to my third hill of the day, Meikledodd Hill.
Again a pleasant walk across short grass, following an ATV track.
Meikledodd Hill from Blacklorg Hill:
Looking back towards distant Blackcraig Hill and Afton Reservoir:
I used my GPS to confirm the summit of Meikledodd Hill as there is no feature at the summit.
The summit is 30m from the bend in the fence.
Meikledodd Hill is a New Donald, but isn't a Donald.
Featureless summit of Meikledodd Hill:
It didn't take long to get from Meikledodd Hill to Alwhat.
Alwhat from Meikledodd Hill:
There is no feature at the summit of Alwhat. The summit is 3m North of the fence junction.
There is a buried cable and old electrical box on the ground near the summit. Not sure what it was for.
Alwhat is a New Donald but isn't a Donald.
Summit of Alwhat:
The weather was improving as the day went on albeit it was still quite windy. Was nice to get a view of the Afton Reservoir from Alwhat.
Afton Reservoir from summit of Alwhat:
Alhang is only about 1km from Alwhat, again a nice easy walk to get there.
Alhang from Alwhat:
There is a small cairn at the summit of Alhang.
Alhang is both a New Donald and a Donald.
Looking towards Afton Reservoir from summit cairn of Alhang:
Afton Reservoir from Alhang:
Windy Standard from Alhang:
From the summit of Alhang, I made my way across to the sixth and final classified hill of the day, Windy Standard.
The col between Alhang and Windy Standard was also very wet. My boots were quite full of water by this point.
Ascending Windy Standard:
I quite enjoyed seeing and passing the Wind Turbines up-close on Windy Standard.
They do make quite a racket though. I could hear them from over a mile away on Alhang.
Wind turbines on Windy Standard:
Was nice to reach the trig point but I wasn't particularly looking forward to the long walk back.
Windy Standard is a Fiona, a Donald, a New Donald, a Marilyn and a HuMP.
Wind Turbines from summit trig point:
Wind Turbines along Gallow Rig:
From the summit of Windy Standard, I returned to the col and then continued on over Millaneoch Hill, Wedder Hill and Lamb Hill until I reached the land-rover track.
Descent towards Millaneoch Hill and Wedder Hill:
I then followed the land-rover track out to Craigdarroch and beyond to Blackcraig.
Track leading out to Craigdarroch:
This is a pleasant walk mostly on ATV tracks across short grass. It is a bit wet in places so don't forget gaiters.