Walk: That sinking feeling on Cairn Table
East Ayrshire | Muirkirk | Half day walk | ★★ [Ascent to Cairn Table] Mainland Ayrshire has a reputation for being quite a flat county, but Cairn Table reaches nearly 600 metres above sea level, giving excellent views over southwest Scotland and as far as Galloway, Arran and even Ben Lomond in clear conditions. Broad, heathery slopes, isolation from other high hills and massive summit cairns make the summit comparable to Tinto (visible to the east), but here the similarities end. Unlike Tinto, Cairn Table's slopes are pockmarked by seemingly bottomless bogs. Until recently, the odd duckboard placed along the path were laughably inadequate, but we hear that recent improvements have eliminated the wettest sections. The westerly return is drier and has an interesting quirk; the last leg passes the ruined residence of Springhill: once belonging to local entrepreneur John Loudon MacAdam, a pioneer of tarmac (short for Tar macadam ). The track here comprises some of his early r