Fisherton to Doonfoot via Brown Carrick Hill 30 August

 

Allan, Davie C, Dougie, Gus, Kenny R, Malcolm, Rex

What a great morning for a walk! Blue skies, no threat of rain, and a cool breeze to keep us from over-heating. Anyway, we got off the bus from the Co-op at Doonfoot at Fisherton P.S. at ten to eleven and immediately started on the uphill track which would eventually take us on to Brown Carrick Hill (288m). In the past we have deviated from the path to, for example, visit the wee loch, but today we headed straight for the hill, only stopping at the tree stumps just before the final push up to the top. Here we took coffee, and with excellent views all around, we relaxed before it was time to move on. The last fence was cleared, and we were atop the hill in no time at all, albeit we had to share the trig point with a herd of inquisitive cows.

Having satisfied ourselves with this superb, or maybe fabulous, viewpoint, we pushed on past another herd of cattle, this time they had horns, towards the masts where the backmarkers, no prizes for guessing who, thought that we would have a stop, but the front runners had started their descent down the road and didn’t stop until our traditional coffee spot i.e. when we go up the hill from this direction, was reached. The log we usually sit on was a bit overgrown, but it managed to accommodate most of us, and, as we took our pieces in the sun, we pondered about how hard work this retirement business was.

The walk alongside the road to the farm park was taken with care and as we reached Craig Tara we paused for reflection. It was very warm by this time, so the question was ‘Do we go down to the beach, along past Greenan Castle and then back up to the cars, or do we take the shorter route along the pavement?’ The shorter route won and, before too long, we were at the new underpass on the cycle track adjacent to which a new sensory garden has been established, complete with plenty of benches for the weary walker. We hope that this very attractive addition is treated with the respect it deserves.

Ten minutes later and we were back at the cars. From getting off the bus, it had taken us three hours for the seven miles or so and we were ready for FRT in the beer garden at the Balgarth. If anyone ever wondered about how fast Rex could move, the question was answered when he was ‘attacked’ by a low-flying seagull, or is it just gull, Jimmy?

Other than this, a fine, relaxing time was had to finish off a well-enjoyed walk.