A wintry weekend in Galloway

Back from our weekend in Galloway and while Gary was doing his bird watching, I went to explore the area.  On Saturday I walked up a mountain called Cairnsmore of Fleet from which on a clear day you can see the Lake District and the Isle of Man - not today though - I had lovely views most of the way up but about 20 minutes before reaching the summit it clouded over and was a whiteout and I struggled at times to find the path in the snow

On the way up looking down over the Cree Estuary

No view from the summit - lots of snow though!

As I sat at the summit cairn eating my lunch it started to snow quite heavily so I headed back down, following the footsteps we'd made on the way up!

On Sunday the weather wasn't sure what it was doing so I thought I would chance going up the mountain again in the hope of getting that view from the summit - today there was lots more snow about and it felt much colder with a wind chill - yesterday there hadn't been a breath of wind.  I got about 3/4 of the way up and the cloud came down making it a whiteout again - it was also very icy so thought it best to head back down

Lots more snow than yesterday and much icier

I got to the top of this section before heading back down

I decided to visit Kiroughtree which was just a 5 minute drive away from the Cairnsmore of Fleet car park and was rewarded with some gorgeous red squirrels at the wildlife hide there - we also went on a walk around Bruntis lochs and through the forest

While I was watching and taking photos of the red squirrels, I heard a chattering and turned to see this robin perched, looking at me and chattering away as if to say - photograph me, photograph me - so I did!

Today was our last day and it was a cold, wintry, misty day - after dropping G off at the kingfisher hide on the River Tarff, I drove up to New Galloway and along Queens Way, stopping at places of interest along the way, then I drove back to Kirkudbright and had a wander around the town hoping to visit some galleries as it is known as the 'Artist's Town'  - unfortunately I wasn't able to visit any as dogs weren't allowed and I had Holly with me so I went for a wander down the River Dee and visited Tongland Bridge designed by Thomas Telford.

Loch Clatteringshaws early this morning

A young red deer in the snow

Wild goat

Murray's Monument

View from Murray's monument

Tongland Bridge

I enjoy exploring new places and Galloway is a beautiful area with lots to see and do - I'm already looking forward to my next visit!