Ring of Fire

30th July 2026

Training for the Swiss peaks I was looking for a big day out to do and after considering lots of options throughout Scotland I decided that I should stay local and do a round that since my winter round in 2024 I've always wanted to do again in summer. I looked at the weather forecast and chose a day when the weather was supposed to be cool and dry. I knew the undergrowth would be bad on some sections as it had rained recently but was ready to tackle it.

The forecast was 16C with a breezy south wind so I wore shorts, with 3/4's over the top. A short sleeved teeshirt and my Inov8 Performance jacket, I went with waterproof socks to try out running with them in a hotter climate, and after much deliberation Irocs in a size 7 as I've an issue with my heel and they weren't affecting it.

The other reason for choosing this route was I knew it was good for dogs. No long rocky sections or scrambles they wouldn't like. Quite a bit of fresh water and bogs on route too. So at 5am we packed ourselves into the van and drove to Bruce's Stone carpark. It was light enough for me not to need a headtorch as we set off. The dogs were so excited! The hills were covered in clag which I hoped would clear soon.

Leg 1 Bruce's Stone to Dee Bridge.

I left the Southern Upland way and immediately I was met with brambles and overgrown sikka spruce along the fence. I bashed my way through it with the dogs not helping matters round my feet. This went on, sometimes with me crawling until we emerged onto the open fellside. A job for one day is to clip the brash back as this is a route I do quite a lot! It really wasn't fun and I was questioning my sanity. However trotting along the path to Mulldonoch was good with the dogs bouncing along in front. It was still claggy and the wind was strong and cold. The path to Lamachan was overgrown but the climb was good and again I tried a contour to Larg which worked better than it had in winter that time.

It's a nice "proper" path to Lamachan from Larg and round to Curleywee I always enjoy. Down to the Loop of Laggan and along the route to Red Gairy that I know well. I tried to take a video there as the clag was clearing and it was good to be out first thing in the morning, with the dogs in the mountains! Over to Millfore and then across to Cairngarroch went well. I was deciding which descent route to take off Cairngarroch either through the woods or round the edge as runners on the Bruce's Crown had been quicker going round the edge. I decided on my route but soon regretted the decision as the forestry had been out and had "mounded" up for planting. This practise is basically digging a digger bucket of soil out the ground and turning it over to make a mound. As you can imagine lines and lines of these, all overgrown and in deep grass / tussocks was just a nightmare to try and cross. I headed out into the open ground to battle with tussocks instead. I made it through the forest and popped thankfully out onto the track.

Leg 2 Dee Bridge to Loch Head

Darrou is the second worse climb in terms of undergrowth on the whole route. It's only a 300m climb but through deep bracken and then heather it's hard! The bracken was so deep I was literally high knee walking and squashing it down. The dogs were running around underneath me and in front. I think they were trying to forge a way but not being able to see where they were supposed to be going they just dived around manically. It was so nice to pop out to the heather section and actually I think we got the best line there is up there. That was a mini celebration to reach that top. From there to Meikle Millyea was just a god awful bash. It's usually pretty overgrown but I think the combination of recent rain and dry spring made it tough going. I really was not enjoying it at all and the cold wind meant I was togged up in layers.

I have realised that a tough thing about this round is that you can see the whole route, most of the time. So as you're heading down the  Rhinns of Kells feeling rubbish you can look across at the Range of the Awful Hand which is getting further and further away from you. It's not a great motivator! I had also run out of water but I knew there was some on route and also a lovely little Kings Well spring coming back from Cairnsgarroch (no2).

Heading up Corsorine I cheered up a little eating my sandwich and having found water. I had carried a lot of biscuits with lumps of beef for the dogs and they were enjoying those. I had remembered the three hills that aren't on the Bruce's Crown race route as being really awful, but the first one Cairngarroch was actually rather nice. Plus the wind was behind me and it was sheltered. I took a moment at the Kings Well to marvel at the stone seats and Bruce cleaned up a biscuit someone had left there.

Onto Bow and Corran of Portmark and then off on another bash to Knockodower and then Black Gairy. The descent of Black Gairy is another that can be really horrendous but I opted for a more direct line back to the wall and this worked well. The stream there was very welcome for me and the dogs. I let them have a good drink and swim knowing that the 6 miles of track doesn't have much water on it. It's always nice initially to be running on a firm hard track and it's downhill, however I know it goes on and on so just jogged and enjoyed being out the wind and warm.

We saw a few campers at the Loch Head and as we jogged off along the track it was getting warm. My feet were swelling up and becoming very uncomfortable. I had brought spare socks and promised myself I would stop. This I did at one of the nicely mown picnic spots along the route. We (me and the dogs) all had some food and I also took off my shorts and just wore 3/4's from then on. It was 4 o'clock and not going to warm up enough for shorts! I also took the waterproof socks off and used normal Inov8 socks. The 5 minute stop really reset me and I should have done this all earlier as I felt so much more comfortable and energetic when we set off again.

Leg 3 - Loch Head track to Bruce's Stone

I was making calculations as we were running along the track as I really didn't want to finish after midnight and on the Corsorine ridge I felt so slow I thought I'd be about 20+ hours. I was working out that even if I took 5 hours to finish that would be 11pm. As I climbed through the forest to the top of Sheil Hill I was pleased at how my legs felt. The wind had dropped when we reached the summit and this made all the difference. I trotted along to Craigmansheenie and then readied myself for the last proper undergrowth bash of the day over to the North Top of Shallock. I have never steeled myself enough to do the direct line to the summit and instead go along towards Shallock on the Minnock and then climb up the stream. I did this and it was amazing that I found a little trod. It can only be a sheep or deer trod but in Galloway a trod is worth a lot so I was happy. Of course it pettered out but I was in better spirits and just ploughed upwards to the tiny little cairn. Leaving there I remembered how I and the dogs felt on the winter round. Flynn especially was so tired by this time and I think he's never missed a night's sleep before either. Both of them curled up and wanted to sleep. From then on Bruce plodded on in front, knowing that we wouldn't stop but Flynn kept curling up right on the path in front of me and not moving until I was 50m past him, when he would just repeat this action. All the way to Bruce's Stone!

Today though they were still enjoying it and galloping about on the short grass. It was wonderful to see. We climbed up to Shallock on the Minnoch cairn and then down the path. I was trying to stay on the path as there are some small cliff rocks and the path finds the best way. Merrick looked amazing up ahead and as we got closer there was a lovely cloud inversion and then a brockenspectre. The sun was setting and I thought "This is what it was like last time". "Awful weather to start with and then you finish in brilliant weather with fantastic views and want to do it all over again!"

I was taking lots of photos and calculating that I could get in before 10pm. Not under 16 hours but just over 17 probably. That gave me the incentive to push harder and the dogs were happy with it too. Climbing up to Merrick which was typically in clag I took a couple of photos and then headed down on the path I know so well. The route has Benyellary and then Bennan to finish. I was trying to beat the darkness and running quite hard now. The dogs didn't understand the route change but they came and bounced over the deer stiles. In 2024 I had to lead Flynn up and down the other side of these.

I took some lovely photos on Bennan of the dogs and me and then headed back to the Tourist path. In 2024 I went down the Merrick race route but I couldn't face another bracken bash and the tourist path isn't too bad but a little way out of my way. Running down the path past the bothy and on the little path to the carpark, I wondered what the big light was appearing in the sky and then realised it was the moon. Nearly full and really bright. I took a photo and carried on down. We ran through the carpark and to Bruce's Stone. I touched the stone and had a mini celebration. 17.26 hours Really happy with how it went and how strong I felt. I recorded 81.75km and 4728m of ascent. Perfect.