Alan, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Dougie, Gus, Hugh, Ian, Jim, Jimmy, Kenny R, Kenny T, Paul, Rex, Robert
It was officially ‘dreich’ as we met at the Gogo Burn with grey skies, a smir, a cold wind, and mist on top of the hills. Most took the option to take the low-level walk to Fairlie but Dougie, Gus, Hugh, Kenny R, and Rex decided to go high. Ian had come all the way from Cumbernauld to join us only to discover that he had left his rucksack (and his teeth) at home. What is it about this neck of the woods for Ian? If it is not a missing wallet it is something else!
Robert ordered the ‘high achievers’ to be back at Drouthy
Neebors for one o’clock, so off they went whilst the rest of us set off along
the path to Fairlie. We took our time, stopping at the Pencil to don waterproof
trousers as the rain had become a bit heavier. Of course, soon after, it went off
and we reached the benches at our furthest point about twenty past eleven.
We were surprised to see a gaggle of, flock of, congregation
of, or whatever the collective noun is for twitchers, who were busily photographing,
with rather large lenses, greenfinches and goldfinches, resting on an adjacent
tree. Also present was Kenny T with Freya. Kenny had not been at the Gogo Burn
but had met up with the smaller group at Douglas Park and had joined them on
the climb up the very slippy steps. Having got to the top, the visibility was
very poor, so Kenny had left them to continue their walk and made his way back
down to meet us. A leisurely lunch was taken before the smir returned and we
set off back to the cars leaving Kenny to drive home. When we were about half
an hour out, and with the weather improving, Robert got a phone call from Hugh
to say that they were already back at the cars and were heading for the pub.
The main group arrived back at about ten to one meaning that
the walk of a tad over six miles had taken two hours and fifty minutes. On joining
the other group, it was discovered that they had eventually been beaten by the
mist, had got slightly lost, but eventually managed to get back down safely,
albeit having done much less of a walk than originally anticipated. It was really
good to be able to socialise again in Drouthy Neebors, something we’ve been
missing for so long.
During the course of the chat it was tentatively agreed to
have a curry night on Wednesday 2nd March to celebrate some
important birthdays, although we don’t really need an excuse for a night out,
do we?
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