Morton Loch and Castle walk

On a slightly murky day Jae and I set out on a walk in Nithsdale out of a book of local walks Jae possessed. Now Jae had done part of the walk, in that he had visited the castle before. But not done this full walk which started in woodland. And I have nothing but admiration for Jae in navigating us through the woodland paths up the hillside based only on what I would describe as scant clues rather than careful descriptions in the walking guide!

But finally we got through the forest and lo and behold, the ruined Morton Castle came into view.

While Jar had said the family had visited the castle before, he hadn't previously been able to get inside, presumably its ruinous state having been too ruinous for health and safety, but now a bit better restored.

Coffee break

So our walk was supposed to take us around the other side of the loch following a trail through the woods. Now if you see a lack of trail here, you are perceptive. But this doesn't tell you the half of it. To this point I had been congratulating myself on my choice of attire, namely shorts. Despite the cloud it was a pleasantly warm day. But now I found the trail had disappeared into a what I can only describe as a thicket of thorns, thistles, brambles and nettles. All designed to leave battle scars on my unprotected legs. Honestly, I don't think I have been stung by a nettle since a kid, so I had forgotten the sort of pain nettle rash can deliver!

Eventually we cleared our way through the gauntlet of stinging plantlife and continued the circular walk which did also take us past a much smaller loch. And a lot of curious cattle. This is beef country. (And we enjoyed a truly delicious lump of t-bone steak for dinner. All those cows merely gave me a taste for them!)