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Hill of Wirren,
“the
hill of springs.”
Sunday
19th February 2006
It was a damp February
morning with a poor weather forecast but this was not enough to stop 23
Stockets (some from as far afield as Mexico) setting off on the bus to
Glen Esk to climb the Hill of Wirren. A peak of the
 southern
Grampians, the Hill of Wirren rises to 678m (2224 feet) in the Braes of
Angus to the west of Glen Esk and 6 miles (9.5 km) northwest of Edzell.
The Hill of Wirren forms a ridge with West Wirren (628m / 2060 feet) to
the north west and East Wirren (637m / 2089 feet) to the southeast.
As
we dismounted from the bus the rain started so it was on with the
waterproofs before setting off. From Tarfside in Glen Esk we crossed the
River North Esk by a private footbridge. The sign said ‘Dangerous Bridge –
not for public use’. Peter was volunteered to test it out – “Don’t worry
I’ve watched Indiana Jones” he said. He survived and the rest of us
crossed one at a time without incident. The track disappeared for a while
but a friendly farmer pointed us in the right direction. Back on track we
continued southwards for a few kms to the defile which has the dramatic
name, Clash of Wirren. Clash means large hollow or cavity and was an
interesting rocky feature amongst the smooth rolling hill terrain of the
area. “Looks exciting” said Graeme – I was worried. We took the track
through the clash to the south side which led us onto the open hillside.
From there we gained height quickly and were soon engulfed by the cloud
that was sitting over the tops. It was a windy day and the wind
strengthened as we gained height.
On
reaching the west ridge of Hill of Wirren the snow started to fall. A
huddle formed as maps, compass and GPS were checked before setting off
along the ridge towards the first top. Although this hill is not very
high, in the misty and snowy conditions it was fairly bleak.
Fortunately
there was a fence that ran all the way along the ridge so this helped with
the navigation. As we followed the fence the snow started to fall more
heavily. The wind and snow blowing from left to right was not in our face
but walking was still not easy. We followed the fence over the first top
of West Wirren and onto the summit plateau. The actual summit was half a
mile further along at a trig point where we congratulated each other on a
masterful piece of navigation. A group from Dundee reached the top at the
same time confirming that we were not the only bunch of (insert
appropriate word) out today.
The
poor condition meant that we did not linger here but continued on along
the ridge. More careful navigation was required as the fence disappeared
for a while. After picking up another fence we followed it to a second
trig point on the lesser top of East Wirren. Conditions had deteriorated
again with driving sleet but we were now heading downhill
 and
soon descended through the cloud to get our first views for a few hours.
Because of the poor conditions up high we had not stopped for lunch so as
soon as we descended low enough we stopped for a welcome bite to eat. The
snow had now turned to rain so we tried to get some shelter by huddling
behind some shooting hides.
When we set off again the sun briefly came out giving us the full set of
weather for the day. The dryer conditions meant a pleasant end to the walk
with a mile or so along tarmac roads before arriving back at the bus in
Edzell. The group had stayed together fairly well so everyone arrived back
at the bus within a few minutes of each other. After changing out of the
wet gear it was off to the pub for a well-deserved refreshment before
heading home. I’d certainly been out in better days but there is something
memorable about walking in challenging winter conditions and everyone
seemed to have enjoyed a good day out.
Ken Neil
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This site was last
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26/01/2008
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