Day 144: Carsluith to Kirkinner
Distance: 22.00 miles
Ascent: 871 feet
Weather: SunnY Very Hot
Accommodation: Camping Drumroamin Farm (Kindly Complimentary)
Issue with OS Map App; Distance, Ascent & Map currently slightly wrong will correct once app up & running
After a good night’s sleep, I was set up for the day with a lovely breakfast courtesy of the Harmony B&B which included my first haggis in Scotland. The sun was out, and it was already warm as I left the B&B.
After the A75 debacle yesterday, I was glad it looked like today, though I would be following the direction of the A75, I should be able to avoid it. The day started in not the most scenic way following a cycle route for a couple of miles along the side of the A75 from Carsluith to Creetown, but I was very glad this short section of cycle path was there.
At Creetown there was an alternative route, though a bit longer which headed through the town before joining a cycle track that follows the route of a dismantled railway. The climb up to this was incredibly steep 30%, but once up by its very nature it was quite flat and I was very glad it was tree lined as it gave me some respite from the sun in the dappled shade. By now the sun was so strong and I was bored of continuously putting sun cream on, so I used one of my used base layers as a neck protector tucked into my cap. I looked like an idiot but at least my neck wouldn’t get burnt.
When this route reached a small road, I had two options either join the A75 verge for 2 kilometres or a slightly longer and much steeper route following a cycle route up through Kirroughtree Forest. I chose the cycle route and it was a lovely route through a pine forest, following the route of an old military road. It was quite a long schlep up the hill and I was sweating quite a lot, but it was in dappled shade most of the way.
The route headed back down to the flatlands and after a short stretch on a quiet road I was in Newton Stewart. This was a fairly large town, with a great multi arched stone bridge, and a mixture of old and new buildings. I stopped here for a snack and to get out of the sun and also stocked up on supplies in the supermarket.
There was a riverside route out of Newton Stewart which took me under the A75 bridge, before after a short stretch on the A714, I was onto quiet country lanes. Weirdly in a wooded area beside this lane there were some quite freaky statues randomly in the wood. I followed these quiet lanes for 6 miles until I reached Wigtown. This was a quaint little place that given its size had a ridiculously large amount of bookshops, and having googled it is apparently Scotland’s Book Town. I sat down on a bench here in the shade to cool down a bit.
From Wigtown it was not too far till my endpoint. After crossing Bladnoch Bridge, and heading around Baldoon Airfield there was a short core path which took me to Drumroamin Farm Campsite. The owner had kindly let me pitch for free for the night, and this was a lovely little site with great facilities and I was able to recharge all my electricals. I cooked a little meal on my stove, and very lethargic after the heat today I went to sleep quite early.
A very hot day, but the route chosen was definitely the right one completely avoiding the A75.
