Jul 12th, 2017

Author: donich_admin

Up the Brack

Yippee!! The sun is shining today and I am not working – so off for a climb. This is sort of me playing truant from the garden which badly needs done, but I will do it this afternoon.

I had an enjoyable walk up the Brack with great views from the top which were being appreciated by a high flying sheep which was sitting right at the summit when I arrived.

Unfortunately, the path up to Coilessan from Lochgoilhead is not much fun at the moment. Although it is part of the Cowal Way, nothing ever seems to be done to maintain it, and after the recent rain it was a mud bath. So after coming down from the summit and whilst walking along the bumpy ridge, it suddenly occurred to me that I could drop (hopefully not literally) straight down to the bealach between the Brack and Beinn Donich, and then walk along the forestry road which goes past the top of the hydro to get home. This did not turn out that well. The grass was so long I couldn’t see where I was putting my feet and I kept discovering concealed streams and holes. Then when I got to the bottom and forded the (very small at this point) Donich Water – I discovered that the path that I had been counting on leading to the road had vanished into a morass of badly cleared forestry. Luckily I know the area very well and with the aid of the GPS I managed to locate the start point of the road – but it is worth bearing in mind that the lie of the land can change quite rapidly around here – and that even the best Ordnance Survey maps can often be inaccurate. So this route was probably not worth the hassle.