Lowther hills

This was the first day in the hills without my dog as he is starting to get older and these long 20km+ days in the hills are too much for him. I hadn’t realised how much energy he gives off by just being there and I wasn’t more than 20 minutes into the walk before I was phoning my wife and telling her that this felt really odd and lonely.

The route follows the SUW past what looks like a children’s wooden trolley on a pile of rocks to Lowther Hill with some stunning views to the South East towards the Dalveen Pass which a friend said was popular with middle aged men who like dressing up as Power Rangers and riding powerful bikes.

The path skirts West around the side of Lowther Hill and it was here I left the SUW and did a quick out and back to East Mount Lowther. A lovely looking hill with one of those view indicators on the summit which I love. A quick return and a short journey along the road cheering on the road cyclists as they neared the summit of what looks like a long climb on a bike and I was back at Lowther Hill with its massive golf ball radar domes and ancillory buildings. While I love my hills to be unspoilt and even Cairns annoy me, it’s quite cool standing among these massive domes.

From Lowther Hill, the next section is along the ridge via the radio mast access road towards Green Lowther  (Donald 732m) so it’s not very interesting. It was getting cold aso I stopped in the doorway of yet another building to put on my jacket and grab a bite of my lucnh. It was here that I realised that I had made a terrible mistake.

I was already wearing blue trousers and my blue Rab hat. As I pulled my blue jacket out of my bag and put it on, I realised I looked like a bloody Smurf. Thankfully I hadn’t seen anyone for a while now and I was prepared to quickly take it off if I spotted anyone. Lesson learned. Pay more atention to my clothes next time :-)

After leaving the road it was time to get back to proper hills. It was fairly easy going except for a couple of steep ravines that were hard work. But it was the final one on the ridge just before Lousie Wood Law, the final Donald which had a particularly steep and nasty V shaped drop down to Little Windgate Hass and then instantly back up again, reclaiming all that lost height up Black Law towards Lousie Wood Law.

Once on Louise Wood Law with amazing views to the North, it was time to head down the broad tussocky slopes of Great Hill and then across the glacial plateau, crossing Peden burn and down towards Peden reservoir which lies between Faugh and Doddin and is managed by Scottish Water. I briefly stopped at Peden’s stone, one of about 20 stones in the area. I’m assuming this Peden is the Prophet Alexander Peden (1626 – 1686), one of the greater figures in covenanting history.

The final stage was a 2.5km walk along the road back to the car. I usually hate this part of a walk as it’s boring but the road was empty and it wasn’t too hideous.

All in all, the Lowther Hills makes for a lovely route. Lovely blue skies and sun but a strong, cold wind that made walking difficult in places.