Over The Hill

I'm sure it has happened to all of us at one time or another when leaving in the morning with rucksack and boots slung over our shoulders and the neighbour says , "Where are you off to today?" and when you inform them of the mighty Munro you are about to climb, they reply "Well, good luck, rather you than me". On the other hand, if you happen to say "We are off to the Pentland Hills Regional Park" their reply is more akin to "Oh that's nice, hope the weather is okay for a picnic!". Well, at 26 kilometres long and 1700 metres of ascent, this "picnic" was a Munro and a half.

The northern section of the Pentland Hills comprise of two parallel hill ranges separated by the Logan Burn, the Loganlea Reservoir and the Glencorse Reservoir. Our objective for today was to complete a circuit of 13 (or 14 if we include the double-back over Allermuir Hill) of the primary tops along the two ridgelines.

Leaving the parking area at the Flotterstone Rangers Station our first section would take us steadily uphill on a good track alongside of the MoD Firing Ranges and onto our first summit at Castlelaw Hill(488m), then onwards to Allermuir Hill (493m) and finally to the out-lying summit of Caerketton Hill (478m) before retracing our steps back to Allermuir Hill, during which the weather took a change for the worse we had a couple of quite heavy showers.

Our onward route was over rolling heather clad hillsides on lesser paths as we topped Capelaw Hill (454m) with its rather unusual summit marker of two large upright steel girders, Harbour Hill (421m), with nothing but grass and heather marking its summit, and Bells Hill (406m) with a paltry two boulders indicating the summit point. And still the weather was a mixture of sunshine and showers.

Beyond Bells Hill the terrain changed quite noticeably, the paths were either indistinct or nonexistent, with a greater and steeper height loss between tops; the going was getting that bit tougher. It was a long slog through thick heather and heavy rain as we made our way towards the summit of Black Hill (501m) followed by a very steep descent into Green Cleugh, and an even steeper ascent as we climbed out of Green Cleugh and up towards Hare Hill (449m), the last of our outbound hills.

Here we were to find ourselves puzzling over what at first sight appeared to be to earth mounds, which looked very out of place, so much so that we were convinced that they were man-made, as evidenced by some of the rocks at their base being built up and sculptured as if to form the base of a one-time structure, but further than that we were at a loss as to what the structure might actually be. Someone had taken the time to add two small cairn on the mounds, which, being built up as they were are almost a match in height for the true summit cairn.

From Hare Hill there is a clear path which curves south west to cross an old stone bridge at the headwaters of the Logan Burn before curving south east and rising to a small bealach from where we joined the obvious ridge path for the return leg along the fine ridge between West Kip and Turnhouse Hill.

Here the terrain changes once again as the heather hillsides give way to short grassy hillsides, with a clear path striking a line across the length of the ridge as far as the eye can see - no navigation problems here then! The weather was also changing, and for the better, as the rain abated and we at last had some nice dry, but slightly breezy conditions as we ascended the north east slopes of West Kip (551m) and along the ridge, with a short descent and then ascent, to the summit of East Kip (534m).

The final 3 tops, Scald Law(579m), with its old Trig Point marking the summit, Carnethy Hill (573m) where it seems as if every stone that has been cleared from the surrounding grassy hillside has been dumped, and the grassy, rounded mound of Turnhouse Hill (506m) required a little bit of effort at the end of a long day. The descent from one hill and subsequent ascent to the next was fairly steep, and although we made use of the clear ridge path, it was littered with loose stones making it awkward underfoot.

Nevertheless, we were soon on the final descent from Turnhouse Hill and heading back to our cars, and a very welcome glass of refreshment in the Flotterstone Inn, conveniently just a few yards from our cars.

Another one for the storybook - thanks Alan, a great day - And what was that I heard about taking in the outliers next time!