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Difficulty<\/strong>: Strenuous. Track then rough moorland. Map and compass essential. Allow 5-6 hours. On a rare weekend without my kids I decided to ask my mum out for a wee hike somewhere. Mum decided that since she used to be area officer for SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage), she\u2019d like to explore one of her old stomping grounds \u2013 Hill of Stake at Clyde Muirshiel.<\/p>\n My mum is renowned in my family for yomping \u2018off piste\u2019 often in search of wildlife or flora and fauna resulting sometimes in some rather \u2018hairy\u2019 experiences. My sister still recounts when they were lost for hours on a Spanish hillside with no food supplies \u2013 \u2018hanger\u2019 alert. My partner Antonia, on her first visit north, was persuaded out with mum on a walk which resulted in her clambering across moorland waist deep in snow. Often Mum\u2019s walks culminate after dark. But she\u2019s in her mid (late?) sixties now, I think to myself. She\u2019ll have calmed down, right? Wrong.<\/p>\n It was a lovely, crisp late-winter morning in Kilmacolm. Clyde Muirshiel, however, looked rather foreboding, covered as it was in a cloak of cloud. We set off from the Visitor Centre in high spirits nonetheless as we walked up the track towards the disused barytes mine.\u00a0 Here the track ends and we clambered up a feint path into tussocky moorland, keeping the mine to our right. As the cloud descended, I began to get a little nervous and quickly downloaded the OS Maps App to my phone while I still had signal. Mum then told me cheerfully that three planes have crashed here in poor weather. \u201cWe\u2019ll be fine if we just follow the burn,\u201d she said. Hmmm, I\u2019ve heard that one before.<\/p>\n Clyde Murshiel Barytes Mine<\/strong> It wasn\u2019t long before we were in thick fog and deep bog. We continued across \u2018the moor of despair\u2019 as the boggy moorland towards the Hill of Stake shall henceforth be known, navigating in the most part by one elevated solitary pine tree on our left. This is as much as we could see of the hill!<\/p>\n The 2km touted in the walking guide took about 3\/4 of an hour as the going was very tough. It was later than we had hoped when we arrived at the foot of the hill. Being unable to see above us more than a few feet meant we had no way of quantifying the size of the climb. In a moment of madness and despite the late hour and the desperate visibility we decided to push on. The ascent was pretty quick and we reached the summit in good time (522m). There was zero visibility. High on endorphins and relief and unable to see behind or in front of us, we decided again to carry on – this was in part because it was our only option. Descending the hill as we had come up was impossible as the visibility was so bad. Following the fence towards East Girt Hill was some comfort as there was a fence to hang on to and navigate by.<\/p>\n Thankfully at the other side of this hill the mist had cleared enough for us to see the contour of the moor as it swept up towards the area\u2019s highest peak, Misty Law. Having spent most of the last hour trying to work out how I would get both of us back if one or other of us twisted or broke our ankle on the hill, I was relieved to hear Mum wasn\u2019t keen on bagging this one today. The return by Raith Burn was spectacular – the gorge is beautiful. It looks like somewhere a hobbit might live. As the sun began to set, with weary legs but happy hearts, we finally made it back to Clyde Murshiel Visitor Centre, (where we wolfed down our sandwiches in the visitor centre picnic area as the light faded).\u00a0 A great adventure, but one to try in the drier months! (April onwards.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rona Simpson and her mum, Dorothy, go for an epic (terrifying) adventure on a very foggy day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18,19,7],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Mum-and-Me-walk.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWildlife:<\/strong> Hen harriers, ravens, kestrels, willow warblers, grey stonechat and wrens. Green hairstreak butterflies and common hawker dragonflies can be spotted amongst the heather in summer.
\nPoints of interest:<\/strong> Disused Barytes Mine, aircraft remains.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Mine-walk-300x272.jpg\")
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\nThis was a working mine for over 200 years employing many local people from Lochwinnoch and Kilbirnie. It was a fairly dangerous job. Many men were killed or badly injured by rock falls or accidents with explosives. The mine closed in 1969. Since the early 19th century barytes has been used in the production of paint, cosmetics, paper and porcelain because of its value as a dense, white pigment. Little remains on the surface but the gullies are visible where the rock has been cut away. There are many fragments of the heavy pink mineral which can be seen near the track.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Hill-of-Stake-panorama-walk-300x44.jpg\")
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\nWe headed down the hill, bearing left towards Raith Burn. Following this large creviced burn, Mum assured me, would take us back to the visitor centre. Hallelujah! We were saved!
\nAfter a tough ascent to the top of the gully, I stopped to tie a lace. At that moment a large bird took off from a nearby fencepost. It was a young hen harrier. Wow! As we walked back, mum explained to me that hen harriers have been heavily persecuted by those with an interest in game shooting and are now endangered. Despite some changes in attitude these birds still struggle due to habitat loss.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/hen-harrier-walk-259x300.jpg\")
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