Munros + Corbetts - 2012
Shalloch on Minnoch + Merrick - 26/27 May 2012
In late May I was down in Ayrshire for a couple of days, and took the opportunity to go down to Galloway Forest Park and climb two Corbetts that are down there. There are 6 Corbetts in the southern part of Scotland, so that`s 4 to go.
They are generally not the most striking of hills, but Merrick does have some interesting bits.
For Shalloch of Minnoch I started from the roadside not too far from the spot height of 433 metres at NX 384 938, so I only had to climb 335 metres to bag it - so it was more of a walk than a climb.
The views from the top are pleasant enough - lots of open countryside with rolling green hills and forests. Here is the view to the south, looking across to Merrick.
I am writing this a few months later, so I can`t remember too much about it, but as far as I can remember, it was a pleasant enough day, good sunshine and a cooling wind to stop me overheating, so quite a pleasant day.
Driving southwards down the road, you get a few good views across to Merrick -
The following day I did Merrick, which is a bit more meaty, both in height, and in that it is a bit further away, so there is more of a trek in.
I wasn`t too sure about which was the best way to get to Merrick, there isn`t an obvious easy way. There is one possible start point at NX 364 853 - looking up from the roadside, it would be a good walk up the west ridge of Merrick, but the bit between the road and the ridge looked rather unpleasant going.
Eventually I decided to do it from further down the road, in fact from the Glen Trool road. There is a landrover track which starts at NX 375 784, and goes all the way up through the forest to a radio mast on Bennan - much of this track can be cycled up, though it gets a bit too steep and rough higher up. But it is an easy way to get up to 562 metres.
From there, it is a pleasant walk up to Benyellary, then up to Merrick over the quite sharp ridge Neive of the Spit - here is the ridge, looking up at Merrick from Benyellary.
There are good open views from the top, here is one looking across to Shalloch on Minnoch - you can see from this that it would be a good upland walk from Merrick across to Shalloch on Minnoch, so it would be quite feasable to the two of them in the one day, as long as you had two cars or a bike.
If you`re using a bike for the shuttle, do Merrick first, then across to Shalloch on Minnoch, down to the roadside, then its downhill most of the way back to the start point. It would be a fair old bike ride though.
The most striking view from the top of Merrick is to the east - you look down on a landscape which is quite different from most of that part of the country with its rolling hills and forest. The area to the east of Merrick has large areas of bare rock and rocky hills - it would be quite at home in Sutherland.
Merrick has a bit of a bite out of its northwest side, known as the Black Gairy. Here are two views of it - and you can see how it got its name.
Merrick was a lot more enjoyable to climb than Shalloch on Minnoch - it is a longer climb, the views are better, and Merrick itself is a lot more interesting than Shalloch on Minnoch.
It was a good day out, and would be again.
website design by ron-t
website hosting by freevirtualservers.com
© 2024 Ron Turner
