Turner Cleuch Law 551m 19th November 2009

Chris climbing to the summit

 

The drive north was wet, really wet. The Lake District was flooded, people had died but what did Chris and I do? We climbed a Marilyn! Driving through the Southern Uplands was incredible, flooded valleys, swollen rivers, and even a car that had come off the road. We took the road over the Yarrow Water to get to Turner Cleuch Law, the river was incredibly high but we carried on, determined to climb our hill. The car was parked by the side of the road, at NT282290 and we followed a track that climbed the hillside by the side of the forest. Conditions were highly unpleasant and climbing upwards in the lashing rain we seriously doubted our sanity. We reached the unmarked summit after 25 minutes walking, a thankfully short time. It was windy and the rain felt like needles in the face. After a few photos we turned tail and fled down the way we had come, the round trip taking 45 minutes. However, our adventure had only begun …

We had to head back towards the Yarrow Water and an hour and a half after passing over the river, it had burst it’s banks and was flowing in the road. It looked iffy but Chris went for it in his 4WD and we made it. At one point he was driving in the river as it was impossible to separate the two and the river was flowing in the same direction as the road. The water on the road became shallow and then we came to the junction with the A708 Moffat to Selkirk road. For about 100 yards to the left and right of the junction the road was under deep water and it looked touch and go whether we would make it. Luckily our route was straight on and straight uphill. After that we had no more problems but another hour and we wouldn’t have made it through the Yarrow Water.

Chris on the summit

 

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