Coulter Fells: Two Grahams and a Donald

I woke early this morning to find glorious sunshine streaming in through the bedroom window, the skies so blue and hardly a cloud to be found, a pleasant light breeze. I can run in the hills for a few hours with minimal clothing and kit today, yay! I was up Tinto Hill in very fine weather last weekend, looking wistfully at the hills near the village of Coulter, and the magnificence of Culter Fell. The family were served "big breakfast" and the happy old plodder set off in the car for the small car parking area near Culter Allers Farm on the Birthwood Road out of Coulter. I stop the car for a moment on the road to view my first target for the day, Culter Fell. At the car park, It was nice to have a brief chat with a couple of other runners there getting ready for their out as I set off on mine.

To start I have about half a mile along the road, using the grass verges as much as possible of course, before a left turn onto the track up Fell Shin. It starts, the steep, a tough piece of ascent is ahead of me, over the next 2.5km I must climb about 480m. The path runs past a line of old tumbledown stone grouse butts, still in use, and just as well it's not the grouse shooting season at the moment. The views on the way up Fell Shin are gorgeous already, after twenty minutes my car is a small red dot in the distance hundreds of feet below me.

Culter Fell viewed from the Birthwood Road

Starting at the small car parking area near Culter Allers Farm ...

... about half a mile on the road (grass verges) before ...

... it starts, a track to the left leading up steep Fell Shin.

Tumbledown old stone grouse butts ...

... the ascent is steep and relentless.

The scenes are wonderful, Tinto Hill in the distance

Beautiful hills and ...

... more beautiful hills

With much huffing and puffing I reach the small cairn at the top of Fell Shin and the terrain becomes more gentle, as in not so steep, but also a bit boggy. Boggy ground is a major feature of today. The sight of the trig atop Culter Fell is very welcome this morning and the views are more than rewarding. This one is a Graham."... hills in Scotland between 2000 and 2500 feet (609.6 and 762 m), with a relative height of at least 150 metres (492 ft)".

Small cairn at the top of Fell Shin ...

... the climb is less aggressive now ..

... although the terrain can be a bit boggy.

The trig at the summit of Culter Fell is a welcome sight and ...

... the views are more than rewarding ...

... such beautiful hills here.

I'm descending now toward Holm Nick and then ascend again to the summit of Gathersnow Hill. It's a nice name for a hill but perhaps that's the most distinctive feature. There are no footpaths here but navigation is a breeze - just follow the fence, and enjoy the view down over Coulter Reservoir. Fences are a major feature of today. From Holm Nick it's another section of ascent now on rough ground. The sun is beating down on me and I'm sweating hard, time for a short stop to take off the shirt. I take a quick look back to Culter Fell, hard to believe I was there fifteen minutes ago.

No footpath just follow the fence down to Holm Nick ...

... and enjoy the view over Coulter Reservoir.

After Holm Nick ascending along the fence on rough ground ...

... and looking back at Culter Fell.

Some more huffing and puffing and the summit cairn of Gathersnow Hill is reached. There's a strong cold wind to my face here so it's time to put the shirt back on. Today was a kind shirt-off, shirt-on, shirt-off day. This one is another Graham. The route onward is straighforward enough in principle, just follow the fences, which is good because I've never been along here before. I soon discover that I think I will never be along here again, the terrain is dreadful, I am up to the ankle in bog half the time. It feels like the ground would like to swallow me up and eat me alive. The fence is new, and the remains of the old fence are an ever present hazard. Oh well, it's not like I can call a taxi to get me out of here, so never mind, carry on. I will not be forgetting one fence corner for a long time, the ground fooled me into thinking it would be firm, but one leg went knee deep and after the faceplant I pulled the leg out ... luckily the walsh was still attached to the foot!

Summit Cairn on Gathersnow Hill

Follow the fences down to Fingland Moss

Boggy terrain ...

... soggy terrain ... 

... new fence here, the discarded old fence is a trip hazard.

Memorable corner ... squelch, plant, schloop!

I'm still running the fences and on the ascent of Hudderstone there's a mast, not marked on the OS Explorer map, and more views over the reservoirs. I arrive at the featureless top of Hudderstone. The map shows a "Pile of Stones" but in two visits I've never found that feature. This one is a Donald "... hills in the Scottish Lowlands over 2000 feet (609.6 m)". The next section of the run is in a way the highlight for me. I'm going to descend along Cowgill Rig. I walked there with the family on April Fools Day of last year and remember thinking to myself "what a wonderful place this would be to run". First a quick check of the map for some nav, and, oh yeah, it's follow the fences until I hit the hill farm track.

Mast ascending Hudderstone.

I'm still running fences on tough ground ...

... lots of wind farms in the distance ...

... and the featureless summit of Hudderstone.

One of the Cowgill Resvoirs below.

Keep following fences and then along Cowgill Rig.

I was so right! This is gorgeous running here. Just before the patch of forest in the distance I veer off to the left to peer up Key Cleugh toward little Cowgill Loch. Then I'm really enjoying running past the trees and descending toward Cow Gill. The wind has dropped, or I'm in the lee, and I'm sweating profusely again, so a short stop to take the shirt off for the second time. The sheep seem interested or bemused by the spectacle, the lambs are getting bigger now. The valley below me is picture perfect, and soon I am down and looking at a beautiful spot for a picnic ... I had lunch there under the trees with the family on a lovely walking trip back in November 2011. I'm almost done now, I just have about a kilometre alongside the pretty little stream, sometimes on the road, mostly on the grassy verges, back to the car park.

Gorgeous running along Cowgill Rig

Looking down over one of the Cowgill Reserviors ...

... and peering up Key Cleugh toward little Cowgill Loch.

Really enjoying running down past the trees ...

... and getting far too hot, the sheep watch me remove the shirt.

The valley below is picture perfect ...

... with a super little picnic place.

Cow Gill, a pretty little stream.

Returning to the car park I'm welcomed by the two runners I met before the start about 2:45 ago. We have a brief chat about the day, our runs, and the conditions. We've all had a good day today. I've done about 19km and climbed just a shade under 900m, I'm tired, I'm happy. Apart from the friendly running couple at the car park, I saw a few folk in the first fifteen minutes, coming down Culter Fell ... after that, nobody, not a soul for over two hours, just little old me and the sheep and the hills and the bogs, on such a beautiful day in such a beautiful place, its just kinda weird.

Enjoy!