Day 1 of our Ring of Fire Challenge visits the Minnigaff Hills.
The route starts at Bruce's Stone, from where we follow the track through ancient oak woodlands to Glenhead where the Southern Upland is picked up taking us to the site of the Battle of Glentrool. At this point the route heads south and the ascent of Mulldonoch is challenging with the better part of 500 metres climbed in 1.4 kilometres! A coffee break to catch breath and appreciate the views will be most welcome. From here to Lamachan is another 2 kilometres but the ascent of 200 metres is less steep than the first section. Lamachan at 717 metres is the highest point in the Minnigaff Hills and a Donald. A short descent to the Nick of the Brushy is followed by an easy climb to Larg Hill and then back to Lamachan.
From there the Nick of Curleywee before the short steep climb to the distinctively craggy Curleywee (674 metres) crossing over to Millfore and then the Final summit of the day onto Cairngarroch before a final decent down to the forest track at the Black water of Dee.
