Wigtownshire Ramblers-Loup of Laggan Millfore Drigmorn from Auchinleck

I'm using pictures from Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th of June on todays blog.
I was deputy walk leader,and the only day myself and the walk leader could do the recce was the day before.
After climbing Cuilcagh on Tuesday,i'm not sure i'm up to two long days in the hills.We'll see...

Walk day is Saturday the 13th of June,and there are ten of us for this ten mile strenuous hike.
We park at the car park by the Penkiln Burn at Auchinleck,and set off north east along forest and farm track towards Drigmorn.Friday was bright sunshine,Saturday there's more cloud.Contented cows and calves graze and laze.There's a set of antlers on the wall at 'The Cottage'

Two kilometres in we reach the now empty Drigmorn Farmhouse.Here we head north over the moor.The rocky outcrop at the centre of this collage was so marked and scarred i wondered whether it was all natural?Could it have been a 'Tally' rock.
The going from here on in is of varying degrees of difficulty,much of it on sheep or animal track.Though there is the remnants of an old drovers road,it's quite stony.

One small shower of rain brought the waterproofs out,but for the best part of the walk it stayed fair.

We're heading up the glen that the Pulnee burn flows through.This glen doesn't appear to have a name,so until someone tells us otherwise our group have called it 'The Forgotten Glen'.
With very little precipitation over the last week,the water in the burn is very low...

...but there's enough to accomodate the numerous 'wee trooties',that are darting from stone to stone.This one's fairly well camouflaged.This is such a picturesque burn.

We continue following the burn with the distant Curleywee still seemingly miles away,and getting no closer.

Now at this sheep pen we find the remains of the drovers road which was apparently used to drive stock to the markets of Ayr.

Looking back it appears we've covered a fair distance...looks can be deceptive,there's a long way to go yet.

I'm dropping back a little as we begin climbing again.I've got company though,so i'm not worried and Curlywee is getting closer.The extra option of skipping up Curleywee isn't taken up by any of the ramblers...i'd have waited for them.


Finally we're at the Loup of the Laggan.This is supposedely the best route to take for climbing Curlywee-I'll maybe try it sometime.From here we'll head eastwards and upwards.

As we gain height,so Loch Dee and beyond opens up.

With good weather and views like this it's without doubt worth all the effort,and if night didn't fall you'd want to stay longer.

We reach White Lochan of Drigmorn...

...a beautiful spot to have lunch...

...and a group photograph.
This was once a well used curling pond,the stone building that once housed the curling stones long since in ruins.One can only assume that they used horses to come curling up here.It'd be a long way to carry a heavy curling stone up.Mind you,folks were more resilient in the old days.

There are lochans all over the Galloway Hills.In this collage in the top right picture with Curleywee and Lamachan in the background,is a small lochan we skirted known as Black Loch.I wish i had a pound for every Black Lock there is.

Refreshed and continuing on we reach the slopes of Millfore...


...while some skip up like gazelles,myself and others plod on.
Once on the ridge connecting the two summits of Millfore,views in all directions open up.On Friday we'd had views of the Lakeland Mountains and the Isle of Man.
Today most walkers opted to head up to the higher summit.Myself and a couple of others strolled over to the lower summit.

I try out my cameras ten second delay as we're eventually joined by some of the the others.
Our 2008 Millfore climb is here.
Millfore Climb

Butterwort,wild orchids and bumble bees have added to todays views as we begin our descent over Drigmorn.

It's a long way down,but we frequently find quad tracks which will assist us.There's a stony shelter for inclement weather-we wont need it today.

At a cairn on an outcrop of cliff,my walking stick lost on the previous day is held triumphantly aloft.

Now the terrain levels out on the lower slopes of Drigmorn...

...and we're back at Drigmorn Farm.Here we take a welcome short break until the midgies start to get the better of us.
Looking back up Drigmorn we can just see Millfore.It's just the two kilometres back to Auchinleck now.That was a fair old walk.
Surely my fitness levels are going up now.
What a brilliant but tiring couple of days.