4,2,0 Tops Afton Glen 4 September

Alan, Allan, Andy, Davie C, Gus, Jimmy, Johnny, Malcolm, Paul, Rex, Ronnie

Top 4 from down the loch

We welcomed Gus into the brotherhood at our rendezvous at Cumnock – he looks far too fit to be an Ooter – but were disappointed to see Jimmy arrive in civvies. Not that his civvies were an issue, they were fashionable when he was demobbed, but his back had gone again and he obviously was in no state to walk. His drinking arm was unaffected though, and he was able to join us later in the day for FRT.

Fun boy 2

Journeying up to our parking spot at the waterworks in the Afton glen the weather was set fair for the 4,3,2,1,0 tops.

 (See previous reports for a descriiption of this walk).

Allan, Andy, Johnny and Malcolm decided to take a more leisurely walk round the reservoir whilst the rest set off back down the road for the main event.

Looking back from lunch spot at the head of the loch

The walk round the reservoir was reasonably uneventful although, for a while, the wind brought with it a chill. It was interesting to note that, even after a dry summer, parts of the path were still very boggy, as Malcolm found out to his cost. One question though. What’s the explanation for the parallel strips of white water running down the reservoir? For all the world, it looked like the wake of umpteen torpedoes passing down the length of the loch.

Malcolm and Andy left for home soon after arriving back at the cars as Malcolm was on camera duty in Durham later on in the day, but the other two amigos set off down the road to the cut off point for the hill walk (basically to kill time) before returning to the cars and awaiting the arrival of the rest.

Explanation please!

Alan arrived first having done two tops whilst the remainder appeared about twenty minutes later having bagged all four. A bedraggled looking Ronnie was last to report in before we could set off for FRT in the refurbished Sun Inn in Cumnock where, not only were they obliging about turning the music down so we could hear ourselves speak, but provided us with copious amounts of free nuts.

Maybe one of the 4 toppers could write a wee addendum to this blog.

A wee addendum

With Holly being on holiday and Jimmy being incapacitated, the 6 (Rex, Paul, Gus, Ronnie, Davie C, Alan) who chose the 4 Tops walk were left leaderless; but remarkably two of their number had brought maps with them, whilst others claimed to remember the route.

The long descent down the newly-tarmaced road eventually took us to the turn off for Blackcraig Farm and above the farm we stopped for coffee at our traditional resting place. Continuing our ascent, Rex pointed out how dry the track was and how on previous walks it had been very boggy.  A few steps more and we reached the bog.

The first cairn at Quintin Knowe was reached and at the wall we turned sharp right up the steep path towards  Top #1, Blackcraig Hill. We picked our away across more boggy ground, having to cross and recross a fence in search of a drier route and soon reached the trig point. The wind on the top was strong and we decided to descend into the steep valley between Blackcraig and our second top, Blacklorg. There we would have lunch. However, despite the steepness of the descent the ground was far too wet to sit on and after a couple of stumbles by Gus and Paul we  reached the valley bottom. Still searching for dry ground we were two thirds the way up Blacklorg before a halt was called on the stroke of one o’clock.

From our lunch spot it was no time at all before we reached Top #2 Blacklorg, where fences delineate the boundaries of Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire (we do listen to Jimmy, sometimes).

After another sharp descent and more gentle climb we reached Top #3, Cannock Hill – but now the 6 had become 5 as Alan chose to skirt the hill and wait for us below. “I don’t need the tick” was his justification.

Below Cannick Hill, Alan decided to head back down to the reservoir, whilst the 5 survivors headed for the final top. Top #4 Craigbraneoch Hill is more rugged than the others and we picked our way up to the summit carefully. Paul and Ronnie  had become semi-detached by the time the leading group got to the top, and in true Ooter tradition, when they arrived at the top the vanguard departed.

The descent to the Afton Reservoir is steep and it was a case of each man for himself as we picked our way around boulders  and rocky outcrops. Four made it to the bottom, with Ronnie bringing up the rear. Having directed Ronnie to the steps which descended to the track, the four Four-Toppers at the front set off for the cars, where they were reunited with  the Zero-Toppers and the Two-Topper … and by Ronnie, eventually.