The Ettrick Hills: Ettrick Pen (692m), Croft Head (637m) and Capel Fell (678m) 8th August 2009

Bodesbeck Law (665m) from Ettrick Pen

 

Ettrick Pen (692m)

After a drive of nearly 3 and a half hours to the dead-end road in the valley of Ettrick Water, I started walking at 11.50 am. It was a sunny morning, although windy, and there was plenty of cloud about. Initially I followed the Southern Upland Way as it led up the valley on a broad track, passing the abandoned farmhouse of Potburn and then the bothy of Over Phawhope. There were attractive views of Capel Fell, Wind Fell and White Shank rising above the sea of forestry that choked the valley. Just beyond the bothy there was a track which was signposted to Ettrick Pen, which I followed, and this gave views to Capel Fell, White Shank and Bodesbeck Law, while Hopetoun Craig poked its head above the trees to my right. The track soon ran out and I had to climb the boggy open slopes, which were full of Bog Asphodel. It was steeper than expected but I gained height quickly and had views to Hart Fell and White Coomb. I reached the large summit cairn marking the top of Ettrick Pen at 12.45 pm, only 55 minutes after leaving the car. I sat eating lunch whilst admiring the great view to the Roxburgh Hills, Cheviots, Eildon Hills, and the Lowthers. The mountains of the Lake District poked through the haze and nearby hills of Hart Fell and White Coomb seemed to tower above the other Ettrick Hills.

 

White Coomb (821m) from Ettrick Pen

 

  Ettrick Pen

Croft Head (637m)

I recommenced my journey at 1.20 pm by following some ATV tracks in the grass over Hopetoun Craig (632m) and Wind Fell (665m). I enjoyed the views all around, particularly over the Eskdalemuir Forest and to Capel Fell and Croft Head. The latter looked steep and a bit forbidding but I could see that a track zig-zagged up the slopes and my hope was that this would ease the ascent. I descended to Ettrick Head and the Southern Upland Way, and followed this above a small but impressive gorge cut by the Selcoth Burn. The path descended to the pass between West Knowe and Croft Head and there was a sign here showing how the Southern Upland Way had been diverted from the top of Croft Head and instead followed a lower level route. The sign stated that the path up Croft Head was closed due to forestry operations further on along the route but I ignored it as I wasn’t going as far as the forest and the sign was a few years old. I was grateful for the track up Croft Head as it made the steep ascent easier, although it was still hard work. There was an interesting view to Carmichen Scar on Capel Fell and to the gorge of the Selcoth Burn, a ruggedness not usually associated with the Southern Uplands. I reached the unmarked summit at 3.05 pm and enjoyed the views to Scaw’d Law and the Lowther Hills. I could see dark clouds approaching and the weather was obviously deteriorating.

 

Croft Head

 

Swatte Fell, Hart Fell and Under Saddle Yoke from Croft Head

 

Capel Fell (678m)

After 5 minutes on top of Croft Head I descended back to the Southern Upland Way and followed this back to the pass between Capel Fell and Wind Fell. A fence climbed the slopes to the summit of Capel Fell and I followed this, coming across traces of a faint path. The weather was definitely on the turn but I still enjoyed views of Ettrick Pen, Wind Fell and Loch Fell. I reached the summit at 4.15 pm, just as the clouds descended over the hill so I saw very little from the top. It started to rain, so I descended back to the Southern Upland Way, although by the time I got to the track the rain had stopped. I followed the Southern Upland Way back to the road, which I reached at 5.35 pm. This was a total of 5 hours and 45 minutes for the 11.4 mile round trip.

 

Loch Fell (688m) from the Southern Upland Way

 

  

Ettrick Pen

 

Link to Picasa Photo Album

Technorati Tags: Scotland,Southern Uplands,Ettrick Hills