None of us had been to this region before, and it did not disappoint in terms of scenery, though the weather left a lot to be desired. Claire, Alan, Keyna, James, Maggie, Jill, and Andy spent a week in a very quirky house called The Buchan, located spectacularly at the road head in Glen Trool, just below The Merrick, the regions highest hill (at 843m). The house is not connected to the outside world, with electricity generated from the local burn and hot water/heating from the wood burner. Therefore power and heat was a bit random, not being able to operate too many appliances at the same time (who switched the kettle on plunging us all into darkness?!!!). After a few days perseverance we did manage to get the hot tub up to temperature (such are our priorities!), though the Everhot oven was Neverhot. The best walk in the area is without doubt the Merrick, particularly the off path route back past all the lochans. We had a great weather day for this, but for the other mostly wet days we stuck to low level woodland/loch walks, and a trip out to the Mull of Galloway for some spectacular coastal scenery (in the wind and rain). And we did stick to our promise of having a BBQ and fire on the final night using James’ mega fire pit birthday present. A much lower key Easter trip compared to previous years (largely down to the weather) but very enjoyable all the same, and great to explore a “new” area.
