Southern Upland Way: The Ettrick Hills

Sunday 28th May 2023

I had a lovely night in the town of Moffat, staying at the youth hostel, that left me feeling like I must return again to explore the area where there seems to be many good walks. I wanted to have a rest at the start of this day and to delay my walk, so I wandered around the town for a couple of hours before buying some supplies and slowly heading out of Moffat back to the Southern Upland Way. Instead of retracing my steps of the day before to the exact spot where I had left the trail, I took the Old Carlisle Road out of Moffat and rejoined the Southern Upland Way just before Drumcrieff Bridge. I joined the trail just as it started to come good again on entering Drumcrieff Wood, even though at first there didn’t seem to be any woodland flowers and all the trees were young, however after eating my lunch perched on a log I veered off the path and discovered a blanket of wood sorrel covering the woodland floor. Then I came across some bluebells and even more after returning to the trail, which also veered towards the Moffat Water but almost immediately left the wood to pass beside a large field with tall grass. After crossing a road, wide tracks took me through farmland gradually climbing beside the Cornal Burn and into a conifer plantation where I had a choice to make. A high route would take me very steeply up to Croft Head while a low route would take me along forest roads. The high route would be very exhausting in the hot weather, while the low route would be much cooler as I would be sheltered by the conifers. In the end, my choice was made by tree-felling operations on the lower route, so I took the path that crosses the Cornal Burn and heads up the valley past an open area of young trees.

My climb was briefly relieved by a forestry track, but I soon came across a trail post that directed me onto a grassy path that led me steeply up the hillside through thick conifers, zigzagging up the hillside on a relentless climb, slowly, step by step against the sheer gradient. Eventually I emerged out of the trees at a blessed forestry track where I could stop and gaze at the stunning views back across Annandale and the town of Moffat, and catch my breath. A wander along the track took me to a sharp bend around the head of Littlehope Burn where a path heads straight up the hill and out of the trees onto the open hilltop of Gateshaw Rig where the views were now amazing all around me, but most particularly ahead of me towards the steep sides of Craigmichen Scar. I was mesmerized as I made my way along the narrowing ridge, eventually reaching the top of Croft Head, a Graham-classed hill, but with nothing to mark the summit except a junction of fences. To my left were the high Moffat Hills including Hart Fell and White Coomb that were looking really tempting in the good weather, but are sadly not on the Southern Upland Way so I would have to wait for another day. After passing over Croft Head the path began to descend along a fabulous ridge known as Cat’s Shoulder that led me to a precipitous descent down an awesome, zigzagging path. It was a pleasure to walk along such a well-engineered footpath that is so well established as to be perfectly integrated with the landscape.

At the bottom I joined the path that comes up from the conifer plantation, the original route, but now just regarded as a wet weather low route, and together we headed beside the Selcoth Burn below the towering crags of Craigmichen Scar. The path headed slowly up the valley through tremendous scenery until eventually, just before crossing the Selcoth Burn, I came across a trail post with the word, “ultreia” marked on it, which signifies that ahead of me I would find a hoard of hidden treasure and soon after crossing the burn I found the sculptured kist that marks the location of the hoard. Inside I found some coins, so after pocketing one I headed off along the path and up to Ettrick Head. I was in awe of the scenery on this walk, which was comparable to what you would find in the Lake District and yet I had not seen a single person since leaving Moffat. This was a Bank Holiday weekend and the weather was fantastic in an area that is great for walking, but everyone drives past on their way to the Highlands or the Lake District. I am just as guilty of that myself, but never again. I am not going to be able to drive past these hills again as they have won me over on this walk. The whole area around Moffat, including the Lowther Hills to the west, is great hillwalking country.

At a fence I came across a signpost that proudly proclaimed: “Welcome to The Scottish Borders”. For almost the entirety of my walk along the Southern Upland Way I have been passing through the county of Dumfries and Galloway. On my descent from Lowther Hill two days earlier I had passed into the gathering waters of the River Clyde and the county of South Lanarkshire, but when I entered Greskine Forest the day before this walk I re-entered Dumfries and Galloway. While in that county all the waters and rivers had flowed south and ultimately into the Solway Firth. While in South Lanarkshire the waters flowed north into the River Clyde, but ultimately still ended up in the sea off the west coast of Scotland. From Ettrick Head all that would change as the waters and rivers that I now walked beside flowed east into the River Tweed and the North Sea, which was also where I was headed. This was a monumental moment, much more significant than the halfway point the previous day. Now I was now in the Scottish Borders where I would be for the rest of the walk and I would be walking with the waters rather than across them. Unfortunately, almost immediately after crossing the national watershed, I entered a conifer plantation where no views were to be had.

A forestry track soon appeared and took me through the wood to Over Phawhope Bothy, which is the last bothy on the Southern Upland Way so I was keen to stay there overnight. There are five bothies beside the trail and previously the only one I had stayed at was White Laggan. I had merely visited the Beehive Bothy, the Chalk Memorial Bothy and Brattleburn, having my lunch at the last two, so I was keen to stay at this bothy. My delayed start to the walk meant I was coming down into the valley late afternoon, just in time to stay there. I was over-awed by the scenery on this walk and generally around Moffat, which is cruelly ignored by people, including myself, but this walk sealed my fate as I now swore to return and explore the area. I had a fabulous walk along the ridge over Croft Head, helped by gorgeous weather, but the scenery speaks for itself. I was smitten by the Southern Uplands.