The Minnigaff Hills-Part 2

It's Tuesday the 2nd of March 2010,and after yesterdays Minnigaff Hills blog,I decided I needed a closer look.

I parked up at Auchinleck,and headed north on the forest road which eventually runs alongside the Penkiln Burn up into the hills.

As I head through the Lamachan Forest,I spot a couple of deer on the move.Since i failed to get a picture,i decide i needed something.This odd looking stump became the alternative.

A couple of miles in the views open up.

The Penkiln burn has no two views the same.

About three miles in now,and i get this picture of Bennanbrack and Curleywee.

About three and a half miles in the road finishes.I started late today,so i'm not going much further.What looks like a path veers off towards Lamachan.I head on straight up for a few hundred yards,but after finishing up in the middle of a bog,I'll call it a day.
I could have sworn there were people walking up Curleywee,but after zooming in on this picture I'm having second thoughts.
After a short descent I take another Panorama.

Panorama of Larg Hill to Curleywee on CleVR.com

This one starts at Cordorcan Craigs under Larg Hill,on past Lamachan Scar,Ellergower,Cooper Scar and Scars of Lamachan (Not to be confused with Lamachan Scar).Then over to Bennanbrack,Scars of Milldown and Curleywee.
I'll make an early start when I decide to do it.
I should have the company of a fellow rambler,which makes sense.
Looking forward to it.

Water Water Everywhere (The River Cree in Spate)

After a prolonged cold snowy spell in South West Scotland in the winter of 2009/2010 the thaw came.The result was a rise in river levels.This was the River Cree in that thaw.Apologies for the up and down sound quality.

Strand of the Abyss

Friday 21st of November and late in the day i thought i'd like a warm up walk for the Ramblers tomorrow.
Looking at the map i picked out the exotic sounding 'Strand of the Abyss'.
Parking up at Auchinleck Bridge,i headed north on a forest road.Where i'm heading is somewhere towards the left side of this view.It comes down between Black Benwee,Stronbae and Crammery Hills.

Over to the east,Cairnsmore and Millfore are clear.

There's a lot of RAF jets about today,this was the closest i could picture.They fly so fast,by the time the camera shutters click it's nearly gone.

A rotten tree's become a home for lots of fungi

Here i go past Hespies Linn Waterfall.I zoomed in for this picture,i'll get closer on a better day.

Now guess what this is-yes you've guessed it's the 'Strand of the Abyss'.Not sure what the arranged stonework indicates-maybe i'll get the story of the strange name sometime.

This i'm sure isn't the abyss,but the wee burn flows through it before entering the Penkiln Burn.I think the forestry deliberately dam a lot of these burns,probably they're in case of fire,and they've a ready source of water..
Interesting,but I expected something more befitting the name.Perhaps there is an abyss somewhere along it's course.?..