Sunday 26th May 2024
After spending the night in the Moffat Independent Hostel, I made my way back into the centre of the delightful town of Moffat, which I have fond memories of visiting for the first time last year while on the Southern Upland Way and prompted me to return to the area this year. There are many fabulous hills near Moffat that I wanted to visit and for this walk I was heading up to the Devil’s Beef Tub, a deep, dramatic hollow on the western edge of the Moffat Hills where stolen cattle used to be hidden. My route out of Moffat followed the Annandale Way beside the River Annan on a good footpath lined with trees and woodland plants. Later the good path disappeared and I was left to struggle through mud as, although it wasn’t raining at this point, thanks to the overnight rain the ground was very wet while the overhanging vegetation was dripping with water which presented me with a problem in staying dry while brushing past broom flowers. When I moved away from the River Annan I had a peaceful walk along a quiet road that was lined with many flowers including yellow poppies until eventually I came off onto a track that slowly climbed the western side of the valley and provided me with views towards the hills that I would soon be walking over. Rain was forecast for later in the day but I wished the weather was going to stay like this so I would be able to enjoy those hills.
At this point I was sheltered from the wind and there were breaks in the clouds which made for great walking but dark clouds were already beginning to appear from the west and heralded the deterioration in the weather. As the path underfoot became wetter, the clouds overhead grew darker and by the time I passed over Ericstane Hill it had started to rain which prompted me to hastily put on my waterproofs and soon I reached a road that skirts the edge of the Devil’s Beef Tub. However, I was not able to get a good view into the hollow from there so I continued along the Annandale Way, a short distance along the road and up to the top of Annanhead Hill where a trig point marked the summit. The heavy rain had proven to be short-lived, but it wasn’t long before the rain returned in brief bursts before finally leaving me for a while. This left me with a rather dull walk along a grassy ridge with poor views ahead of me due to low-lying clouds and into the hollow due to the edge of the escarpment being some distance away from the path. With hindsight and better weather I may have moved away from the path to get a proper glimpse of the Devil’s Beef Tub but I never did and instead I kept beside a fence that crossed below the top of Great Hill where I may have obtained good views into the hollow.
The wet, grassy ridge undulated gently with the best views south down Annandale where the sun appeared to be shining while dark clouds lingered over the hills and threatened rain but for a time held off while the views north were uninspiring across the vast gathering grounds of Cor Water and the source of the River Tweed. I stopped for lunch on Chalk Rig Edge and the relentless, uninteresting walk continued over Whitehope Height before finally descending painfully steeply to a deep saddle where an equally steep rise brought me to my highest hill on this walk: Hart Fell. Even after the gradient eased I still had a long distance to go and before I reached the summit clouds had enveloped me and it started to rain. The trig point that marks the summit was protected by a fence that could not be crossed so I ignored it and continued along the clear path that branched right when the fence turned left. However, I soon realised that I had intended on staying beside the fence so I could stay on top of the ridge for as long as possible and not start to descend until after I had passed over Swatte Fell, but since it was raining I decided it would be better to get off the hill as soon as possible and followed the clear path that descended over Arthur’s Seat.
After the rain stopped and I emerged out of the clouds I had a relaxing walk off the hills and after passing through young woodland I reached the road at the bottom of the valley. Now I had a long walk ahead of me along the road, which was potentially tedious, but no more so than on the grassy ridge and possibly more interesting as it was the same road I had been on earlier and so it was beautifully decorated with wild flowers. I retraced my steps back to the River Annan which provided me with a great way to end the walk all the way back into Moffat. I had not been sure if I would reach the top of Hart Fell on this walk due to the bad weather so I was glad that I did reach the top even though the weather had deteriorated by that point. I had a very long walk to the hills and back again that was very relaxing and far more interesting than the actual walk over the hills where the views were limited and where there was a lack in variety to the vegetation.
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