We were just back from a great tour of the west coast of Scotland and to my astonishment, the good weather was still here in Edinburgh. My folks were still over from the IOM, so we wanted to make the most of the time with them too; this meant that we didn't want to travel too far to make the most of the weather. I had explored much of the Pentland Hills during my time in Edinburgh, but it struck me that I had never stood on top of Scald Law. Emily had never been up there either so she was keen on getting up there too.
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| Carnethy Hill summit looking northwest to Turnhouse Hill and Allermuir Hill |
We had a bit of a long lie, so we didn't set off that early but we had parked up at the Flotterstone Ranger Centre by midday and were soon on our way with our light packs. Being such a nice day, there were plenty of local Edinburgh folk out enjoying the hills and we met many a dog walker and mountain biker on our way up the tarmac road through the woods. We headed off the road to the left and through the gate to take the large track along the edge of the wood before crossing the river to the left. Now on the path heading west, we were certainly climbing now; straight up the steep grassy (muddy) slopes of Turnhouse Hill. It was certainly good training, and we paused under a small clump of trees, halfway up, to catch our breath. Another push and we were soon at the top. On our way we passed a number of 'tourists' who had clearly underestimated the scale of the undertaking that lay ahead of them and were now clearly struggling and contemplating retreat. Our reward was spectacular views over Edinburgh in every direction, as it was a superbly clear afternoon.
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| Scald Law from Carnethy Hill, Pentland Hills |
We headed along the ridge to the southwest and began to enjoy the easy walking on the soft, grassy turf. Great views down to the reservoirs to the north with the sun glistening on the chilly waters below. The gradient steepened a little to gain the summit of Carnethy Hill, where we looked across to the main event: Scald Law. We then had to loose over 120 metres in height to reach the bealach; much to Emily's disgust! It was a bit of a slog to the top but it wasn't long before we were triumphantly leaning on the trig point at the top and admiring more stunning views. We paused here for a bite, and while Emily munched down her piece, I ran over to bag South Black Hill just because... it was there.
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| Allermuir Hill above the Loganlea and Glencorse Reservoirs from Carnethy Hill, Pentland Hills |
After a nice rest and some catching of rays, we headed back down to the bealach to pick up the path heading down to The Howe. On reaching the road, we really regretted not bringing our bikes and dropping them off here before starting out on the route. On a bike, we would have been back at the car in no time. Nevertheless, we had a very enjoyable stroll along the by the water on our way back to Flotterstone; no rush, and back just in time to meet up with the folks for dinner. What a day.
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| Scald Law summit trig, looking north, Pentland Hills |
