Great pictures Phil. I was interested to see that you used a big chunk of my southern route through the Fetteresso. I wondered if anyone would. When Colin initially challenged me to put together the route I thought I had better make sure it was actually doable and I came across that stile-less fence. It was the shortest day of the year and the light was fading quickly and those useful logs and plank weren't there, some helpful person put them there later. ;-)

I ended up sliding through muddy standing water under the other fence on my belly, commando style, much to the amusement of my dog, in order to get to the car park before it got dark. I hadn't realised that fence had been built, the previous time I went that way the fence was a dilapidated line of rotten posts that you could walk straight through.

On a subsequent visit I met the owner of the land who said that he had plans to plant trees in that area around the trig point and the fence would probably have to be upgraded to a deer fence.

I also thought that the Bervie water would make some good camping. If you had gone further downstream the terraces are grazed by sheep and have short grass rather than bracken and ferns.

Brian

I saw the thread about your route but had already submitted mine and been approved so was happy to see some of it overlap with my inexperienced guesses. I considered changing and copying your exact route, but felt I should stay true to mine and all the winter's work that went into it for good or bad. Seeing that a good bit of it had been ground-verified by a local expert was very heartening to me.

That "mini-stile" was much appreciated and well deserves a pint on my next visit! I've crossed many a fence like that with worse results and was thrilled to find your improvements.

My camp on the Bervie was chosen by the first good spot I could find on a very long day. I had originally planned to follow along the West Burn of Builg from the windfarm, but unless I missed the track the one I found was overgrown and rough going so I turned back and looped south.

I have since read a few journals with opinions on both sides of the Fetteresso. I personally enjoyed the walk although the packed roads were rough on the knees and it was a long day. Paved roads south would have been no better for my knees. Being interested in forestry practices and differences in the US and UK I enjoyed it although had to wait for a logger to finish stacking at one point then dash through a closed area with a wave (wearing a bright orange wind shirt for safety) to avoid a long backtrack.

Thanks for your efforts in vetting out that route on the ground!

Cheers
Phil

Great Blog Phil! I enjoyed reading it :)

Thanks Sally. I enjoyed writing it and finally remembered to share it!