Dry and warm today, if not sunny, so went for a bit of a run, staying in Dumfries & Galloway this time. I took the excellent Castle Douglas to Ayr road as far as Carsphairn (a distinctly remote village in the middle of nowhere), and then turned right on to the quiet B729 for Moniaive, stopping on an old stone bridge for a sandwich.
Winding across the moors, it eventually arrived at Moniaive, where I found that the Dumfries road down Glencairn was closed for the dreaded surface dressing, so I tackled the extremely steep single track road out of the village towards Tynron. Both the climb up and the descent on the other side are as steep as the well known Lakeland passes, but thankfully without the hairpins that make Wrynose and Hardknott such a challenge. Lovely views eastwards over Nithsdale from the top.
Eventually I got back to the Glencairn road, with nice twists and turns down to Dumfries, and then on down to Glencaple to sit awhile by the River Nith, at an unusually low tide.
Then a final run home, dodging more of the surface dressing which is blighting the area at the moment.
