Sorn to Ballochmyle Viaduct 1 February

Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Dougie, Gus, Hugh, Jimmy, Paul, Rex, Robert

The forecast wasn’t good, so a decision was made, with little dissent, to do a low-level walk rather than travel to Glenbuck for Hareshaw Hill. Setting off from the car park at Sorn Kirk, we crossed the old bridge and headed towards the path that would take us to Catrine. There was no sign of rain and with a mild temperature, and even some sunshine breaking through, the stroll to Catrine was very pleasant, even although by this time it was apparent that we had too many layers on, in the expectation of wind and rain. Killie Davie and Dougie were taking their time as Davie is still in recovery mode and Dougie is nursing a sair leg, hence the modest pace. We checked to see if Peter was in but got no reply, so we continued on our journey and found the very familiar path up to the Howford Bridge where we stopped briefly for coffee.

The question was asked if we should turn back there, but the majority favoured continuing up to the Ballochmyle Viaduct, and being a very democratic group, we all walked on. Again, there was a number in favour of having lunch and turning back, but Derval Davie coaxed us to continue a bit further and do a loop back to the viaduct. Twenty minutes later, having negotiated some slippy, muddy conditions and some fallen trees, we were back at the viaduct and took lunch.

Light rain began to fall as we set off on the return leg and these conditions were to accompany us back to Sorn, but, as we approached Howford Bridge again, we met a woman who was part of a group looking for a lost poodle. We said we would keep a look-out and continued on our way. At the other side of the bridge, down by the river, we encountered a small group of people also looking for the dog. The dog, however, was in sight in a precarious position further downstream and a fellow came into sight approaching it gingerly from the other side. Seeing him, the dog took off and, fortunately, decided to run up the very steep bank behind it, where it was eventually retrieved, much to the relief of the onlookers who, we surmised, were dog-walkers.

Back in Catrine, Peter was in and we took time to have a chat with him before pressing on back to Sorn. Again, Davie and Dougie took their time and managed to finish their walk in good style only a few minutes behind the rest. We had covered the eight and a half miles in four hours and headed to the Black Bull in Mauchline for FRT.  As per usual, we were well-received and spent a convivial hour there.