After a tough intro to winter walking in
The Lakes, I was keen to get into the mountains further North and do some more winter stuff. Ironically, there had been a ridiculous amount of snow - too much in fact. So much snow that it was hard to actually get up the road to Aviemore and access the bigger mountains. The weather was frustrating me and I wanted to get out in the snow and do 'something' before heading back to school for the new term. To my delight, there was a clear high pressure day so we made the short drive up the road to Flotterstone.
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| Heading up Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands |
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| Turnhouse Hill and Glencorse Reservoir from Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands |
We met James at the car park at the Ranger Centre - which was absolutely rammed with folk walking their dogs. James had brought his skis and was keen to make the most of the deep powder. We headed up the road past Glen Cottage and around the North side of Glencorse Reservoir. Turning off to the right, we headed steeply up the track by the woods up towards Castlelaw Hill. We climbed higher still, as we wanted to gain some height. The weather was perfect; sunny and fresh but without wind. I couldn't believe just how much snow there was and as we struggled higher, the fresh powder came up to well above my knees.
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| Black Hill and Bell's Hill from Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands |
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| James checking out the slope on Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands |
As a result of the deep snow, our progress was slow; I headed on while Emily slogged up and James struggled to climb in his stiff ski-boots in the deep snow. Eventually we reached the Southwest shoulder of Castlelaw Hill and were treated to an amazing view of the wintery scene that lay before us. Every thing was totally white and we could clearly see that the reservoirs had frozen and were also covered in a thick layer of powder. It brought home just how much snow there had been in the last few weeks. We could see lots of other folk walking up and dow the tracks below us but we had the hills to ourselves.
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| Enjoying the thigh-deep powder on Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands |
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| James skiing down Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands |
James put on his skis and set off down the slope but it was clear that he was having difficulty in the deep powder and it wasn't long before he was on his back laughing at how much snow there was. He had another couple of goes and Emily and I watched him reach the bottom safely. Meanwhile we had brought our homemade sledges with us; Ikea bags and some old cushions. We started to slide down but it was pointless, there was just too much powder to sink into and we ended up just rolling and tumbling down the snowy slopes. It was perfectly safe, as there was just so much soft powder. I knew James wouldn't be bothered to hike up the hill for another go on his skis and we were happy enough so we headed back to the carpark to meet him. As usual, Emily had time to make a snow angel and get the most out of all the snow. Great fun!
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| Emily enjoying the deep snow on Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands |
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| A rather snowy Pentlands from Castlelaw Hill |
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| The snowy Pentland Hills and me |
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| Emily's snow angel, Pentlands |
