Annandale Way

After Arkle, the weather improved considerably and I was tempted to go for something like Cul Mor given how far north I still was. In the end, however, I decided to camp in Ullapool which was always my intention. Arriving at the campsite, however, Covid policy reared its ugly head: it was pre-booking only despite my tiny tent. I checked the weather, preparing for a wild camp or boot bivouac, only to find that it was on the turn with rain forecast tomorrow morning. So I escaped all the way down to a Perth Travelodge, returning early, and decided to break my journey home in the Southern Uplands. Moffatt has long been a favourite stop for me, so it was nice to try a longer (23k) outing in the area. The Annandale Way seemed perfect - as it takes a big initial loop round to the north. It was wet and misty as I set off along the River Annan from Moffatt late morning, and it stayed wet and misty for the entire outing. After the river section, the route took a minor road (actually the old Edinburgh road) to a hamlet, and then began to climb gradually up to the Tweedmuir road. Across this and up Ericstane Hill, completely clagged in and still wet but still enjoyable. The descent went back down to the road and finally loops round the hills that fringe the Devil's Beef Tub. This is a celebrated feature of the Southern Uplands but I couldn't see a thing. There was a certain irony (or luck, depending on viewpoint) about the fact that the worst weather of the entire trip was here in these little southern hills, no more than 500m high. It got a bit rough along this section, with drops on the right down to the Beef Tub. It lasts a while, over a few mini summits (Fleckett Hill, Foal Burn Head?) but eventually descends south back towards Moffatt. Near a farm at the head of the valley, the cloud lifted just a little to enable me to discern the vague outline of the Devil's Beef Tub, but nothing more, then it was heads down on a tiring run-in to eventually rejoin the outward route above the Annan and back along the river.