Alan, Allan, Gus, Ian, Kenny T,
Malcolm, Paul, Rex, Robert
The forecast was horrendous with the
central belt going to suffer from the effects of storm Ali, so it was
pleasantly surprising that so many Ooters turned up at Crookedholm. It was dry
as we set off along the Grougar Path, but we were well sheltered from the
strengthening wind, so progress was good. A fallen tree on the path didn’t
trouble us too much and before long we got the tarmac at Milton Road and we decided
to stay on the road rather than take the riverside path.
A large tree had come down blocking
this road, but we were able to get past easily. By this time, though, we had to
have one eye on the road and the other watching for falling debris above us. We
really felt the force of the wind in the exposed sections but marched on
regardless. After fifty minutes or so, Kenny who had brought Jim’s dog, Amber, turned back (this had always been his plan as that had been enough for the dog), and within minutes our luck changed as we were hit by heavy rain. This continued for about twenty minutes until we reached Loudoun Kirk when, as if by magic, someone flicked a switch, the rain went off, and the skies turned blue. We were sheltered from the wind, so coffee was taken in relative comfort and by the time we set off again, we had dried out.
We stayed on the road and turned down the A719 towards Galston, stopping at the bus shelter next to the Co-op to decide our next move. The gusts were ferocious by this time, so we agreed not to walk back against the wind on the exposed cycle track. There was a suggestion to walk to Newmilns and get the bus back from there but, in the end, we decided not to chance our luck any further, and take the next bus back to Crookedholm from where we were. We had walked nearly five miles in two hours and were back at the cars at twenty past twelve.
FRT was taken in Wetherspoon’s which was unusually quiet, not surprising given the conditions.
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