Galloway forest, Easter week.

[Lordyosch]

Last autumn I began to plan a week long trip to the Galloway forest. My plan was a few days backpacking, sleeping under a tarp and making a small camp fire to cook on.

The way the weather is at the moment I think it's turning into a full on winter mountaineering trip.

Anyone in the Galloway area available to give me an up to date conditions report?
Planning on heading from Trool to Merrick then north then down the rhinns of kills.

Definite crampon conditions or snow shoes preferable?

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[Barn Owl]

Dunno how much has fell but i'd imagine a helluva lot in the past few days.

Last week we spent 3 nights at Back hill o' bush bothy and there was a good 6-8" fell in a few hours, i even slid into a ditch with my freelander.

 

[Fat ferret]

Newton Stewart bad and stranded motorists everywhere. I am snowed in, I stay in the Glentrool area. Merrick been white with snow for a while now. Looks like you will have to put it off but PM me if you fancy meeting up anytime.

 

[Lordyosch]

Newton Stewart bad and stranded motorists everywhere. I am snowed in, I stay in the Glentrool area. Merrick been white with snow for a while now. Looks like you will have to put it off but PM me if you fancy meeting up anytime.

I'm fine with there being lots of snow about, I have the kit and the know how for crampons or snowshoes. I'm having to rethink my packing list though, its going to be a lot heavier than 12kg!

I think I'll probably end up doing stuff from a base, rather than heading off for multi-day trips. That way I've got the flexibility.

Is one side of the forest park likely to be more snowy than other side or just higher = snowier?


Cheers,

Jay

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Snowhole ? Probably realistic given the drifts.

 

[Mick w.]

Watching this thread with interest, as I'm hoping to head up to Galloway about this time next month. By coincidence, I'm not far from Bradford here in Silsden!
I don't have much of a plan other than wanting to see some wildlife (although I'll have my dog with me so that may not pan out) but I'm hoping to park in the Clatteringshaws area then head out towards Loch Dee and back round via Curlywee, taking a couple of days slow meandering...

 

[yarrow]

Lots of snow still but should be ok. Plenty of really dense forest so you should be fine. Personally I would go for a tipi and stove as a base camp and fan out from there.

 

[Lordyosch]

No teepee in my collection I'm afraid!

I'm heading up in a big car so I've lots of room for lots of kit. Will be equipped for winter highland levels of snow and cold but also have kit for if it's more springlike (as if).

As long as I can get into the forest park I should be able to have fun.

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[copper_head]

Hey there, you can read my experiences up in Galloway last weekend in this thread here. That said we were there as the snow was falling so, perhaps the roads will be clear by then. I did see drifts higher than our van at one point!