The Whangie 17 September

Johnny, John, Paul, Malcolm, Gus, Davie Mc, Kenny, Davie C, Robert, Jimmy, Holly (fed up waiting for her picture to be taken), Allan (behind the lens)

So whit could possibly go wrangie
On the day we did the Whangie?
Did the leaders incur our wrath
When we couldnae find a path?
Did Malcolm shout out in glee
When he fell and hurt his knee?
Did the wumman get all excited
At the guests she hadnae invited?
So whit did actually go wrangie
On the day we did the Whangie?

The rear end of ...

So this is The Whangie

We were joined for today’s walk by two of Robert’s ASHA pals, John, whom  we had met before on the Glennifer Braes walk, and Kenny. Setting off from the car park at the Queen’s View, good progress was made as we gained some height following the well-defined path. The morning was warm but slightly overcast to begin with, but the views were marred by a haze making it difficult to have a good view of Dumgoyne and the Earl’s Seat in one direction and over to Loch Lomond and beyond in another.

Approaching the 'entrance'

Looking back

The going, we were told, could get wet but given the recent dry spell, underfoot conditions were good and we soon came to a point where the path forked. We took the path to the left which took us to the top of Auchineden Hill (357m) but as has been said already this viewpoint did not afford us great views today. (The path to the right would have taken us straight to The Whangie). No matter, we descended and followed a path round to the opening which marked the back of The Whangie. Climbing up, we followed the path through the chasm before emerging at what was probably the entrance. Coffee was taken in the company of two other walkers and, as we had only taken about an hour and a half to reach this point, a discussion ensued as to how to extend the walk. The walker’s guide and map that Gus had with him suggested that a route could be followed which took in a chambered cairn before heading to Burncrooks Reservoir and then following a road back to the car park. This was decided, but your correspondent decided to accompany John back to the cars.

The start

As we watched the noble nine make their way across the long grass it did strike us that there did not seem to be any defined paths to be seen.

Good luck!

Arriving back at the car park John and Allan had lunch in the now warm sunshine, sorted the world and waited,…and waited,…and waited.

At about quarter past two a car drew up and out of it emerged a limping Malcolm. The story as related was that the going had got very rough indeed with poor underfoot conditions, head high bracken, slippery slopes, snakes and tigers…you get the notion. Malcolm had tripped and fallen, aggravating an old knee injury making further progress difficult. The group did eventually, however, manage to make it to the reservoir where a fisherman took pity on Malcolm and offered him a lift back to the car park.

Debating the way forward already

The others took advice as to the best way back but soon found themselves in the curtilage of a rather annoyed woman. Now what would you do if you saw the Ooters in your garden? Would you a) invite them in for a cold beer,  b) phone the police, or c) phone round the local care homes to see if there had been an escape?  The resident, having encountered the usual diplomacy, threatened to take option b) and would not be pacified. Little did she know that the boys just wanted to get off her property and find the quickest way back to base.

Anyway it was about quarter to three that the main group arrived back at the cars, four and a half hours after having set off in the morning.

If nothing else, The Whangie had been seen and done. As for the rest, it will no doubt go down in the annals as one of the more ‘interesting’, if not to be repeated, walks. We said our goodbyes to Kenny and John as they set off towards the Paisley area and the rest of us motored to the Kings at Fenwick for FRT.