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There were lots of alternative attractions in the district
on the 10th of May and we only got two explorers, Calum and
Nicole, with three helpers, Gary, Heather and Philippa. However,
we were well supported by four dogs, who might have outweighed
us since two of them were big dogs, these were Mojo and Susie,
accompanied by regulars, Ellie and Roo. Mojo and Susie were
at pains to point out that they were Newfoundlands, and therefore
particularly suited to cold conditions and climbing two hundred
metres up a mountain on a warm day was not their idea of fun,
but they came anyway.
We started with a bit of a conundrum, the path went through
a field full of cows and calves and I was not sure that they
would be happy to see our four dogs. I shouldn't have worried,
the cows and calves gave us barely a glance as we passed.
The dogs on their leads looked the other way with their noses
in the air.
The path up the hill is a series of zig-zags which get steeper
and steeper, and you get hotter and hotter. The dogs took
advantage of all the water sources on the way up, finally
coming close to drinking a burn dry at the top. Fortunately
the hot weather of the previous week had moderated and, even
better, as we climbed the mist lifted so that we had a good
view once we reached the Three Old Maids.
Unfortunately the mist didn't clear the top of the hill so
we decided against the onward walk to the lochan and concentrated
on exploring the stone 'cave' and the surrounding rocks. It
took us twenty minutes and a Tunnock's wafer before we were
prepared to face the return journey. This time I crossed the
hill and negotiated the edge near the waterfall so that we
cut out the last part of the zig-zag path and shortened the
journey back to the car. This time the cows didn't even bother
to get up when we passed. We got back quite early, which was
just as well since, just as we finished, the car park filled
up with shiny Harleys and the tea room filled up with prosperous
bikers.
Calum lacked inspiration for a drawing but Nicole turned out
a view of the cave with the big house visible in the 'window'.
John
Dye
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