This walk was around 16km and took me approximately 5½ hours including stops. I wanted to try and find Balnamoon's cave, a hidden location used by a Jacobite rebel for about a year before he was betrayed and sent to London. Fortunately for him they mispelled his name on court documents and had to let him go again!
Screenshot_2013-06-29-21-03-25 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0137 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0138 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0141 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0142 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
I used my swim shoes to cross this bit on the way out, but on the way back I found that it was just shallow enough to allow me to keep my boots on and them not fill with water.
IMAG0143 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Balnamoon's Cave from approximately 20m away. Even right up close it is very hard to see.
When I set off I had intended to do this old school and navigate using my map and compass. However, when I rounded that last bend into the very head of Glen Mark, I realised this is no place for mucking around. It is very wild, remote and isolated. I elected to navigate using my GPS instead, since looking at it was about the only way I could find the track. It seems not so many people make it to this side of the river and I frequently lost the track altogether and wound up wading through heather. It was very tough going.
IMAG0144 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Balnamoon's cave itself.
I elected not to go in. Balnamoon was obviously a much slimmer man than myself, and getting wedged in a cave entrance 8km from the nearest help didn't sound like fun. I'd have had to wait till I slimmed down like Pooh....
IMAG0146 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Dinner time. I used my Trangia Mini to boil some nice peaty water from the river for noodles and tea. There were quite a few sheep around, so I wouldn't recommend drinking it neat though.
IMAG0157 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Looking back on Balnamoon's "front garden" as I was leaving.
IMAG0159 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Looking the other way, back to civilisation.
IMAG0160 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
An example of the sort of track I had to follow on the far side of the river. I had to double back several times when I lost it. Without the GPS it would have been almost impossible.
IMAG0162 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
The main ford. Notice the wee house in the distance behind. It was actually inhabited. It is about 2.5 miles from the nearest paved road, and I'd have thought it tricky to get a 4x4 up there. Nonetheless, the guy appeared to drive an old Citroen or something. I guess he must really like his privacy!
IMAG0163 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Using my swim shoes to cross the ford. From the high water marks on my trousers you can see why they were needed. Even with the river low, it was still almost to my knees at the ford. My walking trousers are an old pair of linen dress trousers my wife accidently destroyed back when she was learning to sew. She hemmed them about 2 inches too short to wear, but they make great walking trousers. When I crossed the ford on the way out, the trousers were dry again by the time I got to the cave. On the way back, they were dry by the time I got to car. They don't cling when wet either. Linen is great stuff.
IMAG0164 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
The Queen's Well, where Queen Victoria stopped for a drink.
IMAG0166 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
I did not re-enact the event!
IMAG0167 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0168 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
At least it was easy to follow now!
By the last stage I was in quite considerable pain. The journey had been rather more ardous than I expected, and the strain on my ankles was incredible. I loaded up on painkillers and anti-inflamatories from my FAK and hobbled the last few km leaning heavily on my walking pole.
Today was one of the hardest days walking I've had in a long time. Rewarding though. The OS maps are not exactly clear about the precise location of Balnamoon's cave. The name is written almost 300m across on the map so finding it was tricky. If anyone wants to try for it themselves I dropped a GPS waypoint right at the door of the cave and logged the OS grid reference to 8 figures.
The cave is located at "NO 3959 8327" (highlight the white space to make it visible, I didn't want to spoil it for anyone who wanted to find it for themselves.)
Be warned, it was a much harder hike than I thought it would be. Not hugely challenging in terms of cadio-vascular demands, but hugely punishing to the ankles. I could barely walk by the time I got back to the car. Oh, and there is no mobile phone signal for about 10 miles in any direction. You're very isolated out there.
Fun, but scary.
Screenshot_2013-06-29-21-03-25 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0137 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0138 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0141 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0142 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
I used my swim shoes to cross this bit on the way out, but on the way back I found that it was just shallow enough to allow me to keep my boots on and them not fill with water.
IMAG0143 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Balnamoon's Cave from approximately 20m away. Even right up close it is very hard to see.
When I set off I had intended to do this old school and navigate using my map and compass. However, when I rounded that last bend into the very head of Glen Mark, I realised this is no place for mucking around. It is very wild, remote and isolated. I elected to navigate using my GPS instead, since looking at it was about the only way I could find the track. It seems not so many people make it to this side of the river and I frequently lost the track altogether and wound up wading through heather. It was very tough going.
IMAG0144 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Balnamoon's cave itself.
I elected not to go in. Balnamoon was obviously a much slimmer man than myself, and getting wedged in a cave entrance 8km from the nearest help didn't sound like fun. I'd have had to wait till I slimmed down like Pooh....
IMAG0146 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Dinner time. I used my Trangia Mini to boil some nice peaty water from the river for noodles and tea. There were quite a few sheep around, so I wouldn't recommend drinking it neat though.
IMAG0157 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Looking back on Balnamoon's "front garden" as I was leaving.
IMAG0159 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Looking the other way, back to civilisation.
IMAG0160 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
An example of the sort of track I had to follow on the far side of the river. I had to double back several times when I lost it. Without the GPS it would have been almost impossible.
IMAG0162 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
The main ford. Notice the wee house in the distance behind. It was actually inhabited. It is about 2.5 miles from the nearest paved road, and I'd have thought it tricky to get a 4x4 up there. Nonetheless, the guy appeared to drive an old Citroen or something. I guess he must really like his privacy!
IMAG0163 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
Using my swim shoes to cross the ford. From the high water marks on my trousers you can see why they were needed. Even with the river low, it was still almost to my knees at the ford. My walking trousers are an old pair of linen dress trousers my wife accidently destroyed back when she was learning to sew. She hemmed them about 2 inches too short to wear, but they make great walking trousers. When I crossed the ford on the way out, the trousers were dry again by the time I got to the cave. On the way back, they were dry by the time I got to car. They don't cling when wet either. Linen is great stuff.
IMAG0164 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
The Queen's Well, where Queen Victoria stopped for a drink.
IMAG0166 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
I did not re-enact the event!
IMAG0167 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
IMAG0168 by Abrasive Scotsman, on Flickr
At least it was easy to follow now!
By the last stage I was in quite considerable pain. The journey had been rather more ardous than I expected, and the strain on my ankles was incredible. I loaded up on painkillers and anti-inflamatories from my FAK and hobbled the last few km leaning heavily on my walking pole.
Today was one of the hardest days walking I've had in a long time. Rewarding though. The OS maps are not exactly clear about the precise location of Balnamoon's cave. The name is written almost 300m across on the map so finding it was tricky. If anyone wants to try for it themselves I dropped a GPS waypoint right at the door of the cave and logged the OS grid reference to 8 figures.
The cave is located at "NO 3959 8327" (highlight the white space to make it visible, I didn't want to spoil it for anyone who wanted to find it for themselves.)
Be warned, it was a much harder hike than I thought it would be. Not hugely challenging in terms of cadio-vascular demands, but hugely punishing to the ankles. I could barely walk by the time I got back to the car. Oh, and there is no mobile phone signal for about 10 miles in any direction. You're very isolated out there.
Fun, but scary.
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