The Southern Upland Way: Scotland's Coast to Coast

From White Laggan Bothy in the Galloway Hills to St John's Town of Dalry

Wednesday 4th April
White Laggan Bothy to St Johns Town of Dalry


White Laggan Bothy sits a short distance away from the SUW and is accessed by a very muddy path	We rejoin the SUW which winds around the shores of Loch Dee

Our roommate for the night tells us tails about the beaches around Loch Derry, and the fishermen who can often be seen on the outcrops and islands of the Loch, which is artificially stocked with fish. We set off at 9:30am; our usual time which shows that not having to pack a tent doesn't really make a difference to what time we set off. It was a warm night in the bothy for us by our standards, and on flat ground for once! Before we leave Pete tells us of a fellow SUW walker who passed by the bothy yesterday evening claiming he was headed for St John's Town of Dalry, yet walking very slowly. We wonder who it was and whether they found somewhere to camp or stay. We later come to the conclusion that he was the Aktoman. Pete also tells us that a couple of years ago when the white shell path was first made, cyclists used to arrive at the bothy demoralised as they had had up to 6 punctures on the way up! He also tells us that the bothy is often abused at weekends by groups of youths drinking in it.

We sign the guestbook, and read the latest entries. We find the father and son pair from the beehive bothy had stayed here the night before, taking only one day to walk what we covered over two days! Slightly demoralised we continue on our way.

Rejoining the track, the SUW takes us round Loch Derry through interspersed coniferous forest. Finding a good lookout point above the Loch we take some panoramic photos. It's quite an unusual setting given the elevation. You're eyes are drawn into the distance where the mountains sit on the horizon, after which the whole world seems to drop away. A nice patch of grass beside the track would make a good place to camp, only half a mile from the bothy - Green flat grass with stones marking out a fireplace, with a view down towards the loch.

Above us we find evidence to suggest that we are sitting under a major airline corridor as we can see at least 12 jet streams criss-crossing the sky. The area is also popular with jets - a couple passes over our heads so close that we can see every detail of them. It's like looking at a fly under a microscope.

The SUW continues past the loch on a broad track through the plantation and across the Black water of Dee. There is a warning sign here that there is CCTV in the area, but no mention of what offence they are looking to catch. We make note that for the next stretch we need to be careful if exposing ourselves for toileting reasons in case we are caught on camera! We stop to fill up on water, being careful to sterilise the water as much as possible as we are downstream from the bothy and have no idea how scrupulous other bothy users are when they toilet. We continue on through plantation forest on broad grey industrial track, with nothing particularly scenic.


Numerous jet planes soar by noisily.	We follow the track over the Black Water of Dee.


The track walking is monotonous but relieved when we come out into a massive plain which makes us think of american plains.	Numerous jet streams criss-cross the sky.

Passing through some open areas we get broad views into the distance. We stop for some lunch, in order to relieve the pain from our feet from walking on such a hard surface. Noodles with some tinned all day breakfast thrown in - we didn't have that much choice at the small camp shop where we last stocked up. We discover later that such a combination is really good for "flatulence especial". Our holiday so far seems to have gone very quickly, which is a good thing of course because it means we are enjoying ourselves, and we figure we are now about a quarter of the way.

We hereby name this area Jet Stream Valley as this seems to be a major corridor for jets to pass through. They pass high overhead, each leaving a trail, with literally several in the sky at any one time. The trails the fall and disperse creating an unusual criss-cross cloud effect.

Jo gets really strong cravings for meat and eggs - maybe her bodies telling her that she needs some protein. We empty out onto a flat plain, with hilly outcrops rising around. It's a wee bit of a trudge over this section and we hope sections like this are kept to a minimum over the rest of the way. Several Red Admiral Butterflies can be seen, and they seem to be the most common butterfly in these parts.

We spy Clatteringshaws Loch through the trees ahead (actually a reservoir but probably called a loch to encourage tourists to the are). As we pass a lovely picnic sight on the shores of the loch, we are disappointed to find it occupied by a large family with young kids. Not wanting to disturb the family, Alan looses his chance for the perfect photo of the loch. We continue on hoping to find an equally nice picky but the way does not pass any other good viewpoints of the loch. Alan eventually heads off the track into marshy land and plunges shin deep into unseen mud before getting a good photo. Nature has peed on his leg in its irritable style of submersion.


Out of the forest we can now see the surrounding hills.	We pass by Clatteringshaws Loch, which seems to be a popular destination for day trippers.


Some curly horned sheep look at us curiously	The waymarkers over this section appear very old and covered in moss.

We continue our track walking away from the loch and see some black faced sheep with curly horns. On joining a road with telegraph wires and power lines around Alan comments that this section is really naff. The electricity pylons look rather strange in that they are all coloured pink!

We turn off the road onto a deserted narrow path. The solitude of the walk is accentuated when Alan squints into the distance and asks incredulously, "Is that a person?" No it's just a wall - Alan was genuinely mistaken. The path takes us through wide swathes of boggy peatland surrounded by plantation forest. The sun is roasting us alive, so we seek out some before stopping for another bite to eat. We find a rock to sit on close to a stand of trees which offer us some relief. This being mid-afternoon is the hottest part of the day, and Jo finds it a bit too hot for walking, especially since no breeze penetrates the forest. Alan finds it quite pleasant and peaceful with the forest being so quiet and absolutely deserted. The path heads through wide fire breaks on this section, with views forward and back, but no shade on the path.


We emerge onto a rugged lanscape shaped many years ago by glaciers.	A not so short section of road


A very welcoming style takes us off road and leads us onto Waterside Hill

We emerge from the forest onto rugged glacier-shaped landscape with heads of rock, and drumlins jutting up against the horizon. We can see down the valley all the way to St John's Town of Dalry, with sheep farming dominating the valley. Although being a good view, its back onto track and road walking the majority of the way which is very sore on the feet. After about 4 1/2km of road walking we finally turn off onto a path leading over waterside hill, on the other side of which lies St John's Town of Dalry.


The view down to St Johns town of Dalry from waterside hill, the landscape bathed in the reddish glow of evening sun.	View from Waterside hill.

We start our climb over waterside hill, the last section of the day before we reach our destination of St John's Town of Dalry. We can really feel it on our shoulders and our feet today, probably because of all the road walking. Waterside hill is a great wee hill to climb, and offers panoramic views of all the hills around. This hill would make a great camping spot, however we must descend the hill in search of food as we have run out!

It's down the steep path leading to St John's Town of Dalry. We join the outskirts of the town accompanied by multiple ugly power lines, coming from a hydroelectric facility, and follow the salmon ladder down to the street. The SUW crosses a green field before entering the main town, where a little lamb befriends us and follows Alan around like its mother. Alan tries to coax it back into the herd, but it stays with him, and we decide the best thing to do is to ignore it. It's amazingly sweet, and nibbles Alan's leg looking for his udders.


A modern looking building	The little lamb that adopted Alan as its mummy


Sheep grazing on the edge of the town	The Clachan Inn draws us in with the promise of food.

We have a good proper meal in the Clachan Inn, with haggis pudding, and beef and ale pie. This is the home for the people who support the SUW by offering various baggage transfer and pick up services. They advertise discounted walker rates but we weren't offered any, and they weren't that friendly. They did tell us that a local farmer allows camping in one of his fields, however since it is lambing season that field is in use at the moment. It's after dark when we leave the pub, having no idea where we are going to stay for the night. We eventually camp in an empty field in the dead of night, which we found by continuing along the SUW until it exited the town. We joke that maybe it's occupied by a bull that has been separated from its female friends!

Kist

This kist is very easy to walk past as the clue ULTREIA is not even written on a waymarker but another post! This kist was made by a basket maker and is slightly off the route of the SUW, the path to it being marked very subtlety. If you find the way to it, you'll enter an idyllic paradise-like clearing with a very obvious kist at the other end, though the chances of finding it depend very much on luck at looking in the right place at the right time. This is by far the hardest kist to find on the entire walk.

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The Southern Upland Way: Scotland's Coast to Coast

From White Laggan Bothy in the Galloway Hills to St John's Town of Dalry

Wednesday 4th April White Laggan Bothy to St Johns Town of Dalry

Wednesday 4th April
White Laggan Bothy to St Johns Town of Dalry