The Snowy Pentlands

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.

Heading up Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

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.

Black Hill and Bell's Hill from Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

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.

Enjoying the thigh-deep powder on Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

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!

Emily enjoying the deep snow on Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

A rather snowy Pentlands from Castlelaw Hill

The snowy Pentland Hills and me

Emily's snow angel, Pentlands

Flotterstone by night

After getting in a bit of night nav practice in on Saturday evening, I was feeling quite good about the technical aspects of the SML assessment next week. Richard T and Richard G said that they would take James and I out one evening this week for a bit of night nav, just to make sure we were ready. Both of them were ML qualified so I was very grateful for any help, advice and guidance that they could offer.

Tonight, we met at the Flotterstone Rangers Centre car park at 6:30pm and headed off into the darkness with our head-torches. The Richards put James and I through our paces and ran the evening a little like a mock-assessment. I felt very comfortable finding the features and taking them to exactly where they wanted to go. I was also surprised at how well I was able to follow where we where, when it wasn't my turn to lead - I felt ready.

The only concern I had was that I didn't have enough 'Quality Mountain Days' logged to qualify for the assessment. But there wasn't much point in dwelling on this now, as it was booked and we were heading to Fort William on Sunday evening.

Scald Law Ridge

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.

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.

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.

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.

Scald Law summit trig, looking north, Pentland Hills

Pentlands Mountain Biking - Reservoir Cogs

After purchasing a new mountain bike, visiting Glentress a few times and being part of the GWC Cycling Project 2009, I had spent quite a bit of time in the saddle over the past few months. While I really enjoyed touring the northwest of Scotland, I didn't think that road cycling was my thing; I was finding mountain biking far more enjoyable. I had spoken to a few folk about good places to mountain bike around Edinburgh and more often than not, the Pentlands were mentioned. After a bit of online research, I quickly came across the excellent Bike Fax guidebook: Southern Scotland & the 7stanes. Armed with the guide, I set out last weekend to explore the Reservoir Cogs route. It really was great fun and I blasted round it in no time at all.
Later that week, Emily was keen to get out on the bikes and after hearing me going on and on about the route at the weekend, fancied giving it a go. We headed up to the car park at Rangers Centre at Flotterstone straight after work to get the most out of the remaining light. We geared up quickly and were soon heading along up the tarmac road past Glen Cottage and along the north shore of Glencorse Reservoir. We passed over Kirk Bridge and went through the gate on our right and headed up the dusty, rocky track. Just before the end of the forest on our left, the track forked and we headed to the right, straight up the steep grassy slope. This was a tough hill to climb on the bike without getting off and I was glad of the breather at the top of the steep section. We followed the single track around the hill and over Knightfield Rig. Passed between Harbour Hill and Phantom's Cleugh and then joined the enjoyable track that followed the woods above Bonaly Reservoir and went throught the gate on the left just after the break in the trees.

Scald Law ridge from Knightfield Rig, Pentland Hills

It was a lovely evening and there was still plenty of light left in the sky. The tracks were in great condition; very dry as we hadn't had any recent rain. We pushed on down the hill on the wide rocky track, as if riding towards Edinburgh in the distance. We picked up plenty of speed heading down towards Bonaly and took some evasive action to avoid the many dog walkers! Just before the large gate, we took a sharp left to follow the single track into the woods; taking great care on the many exposed tree roots, then down the rough path to the bottom of Torduff Reservoir. Then a steep zig zag back up the road towards Clubbiedean Reservoir. There were plenty of folk out enjoying the summer evening and we hit the crowds as we headed down across the fields to Harlaw. After negotiating the large wall, we stopped for a snack on the north side of Theipmuir Reservoir.

Emily tackling the first steep section at Knightfield Rig

After a short break, we pushed on along the single track through Redford Woods; appearing back on the road leading up to Bavelaw Castle. The steep road up to the Castle was lung-busting to say the least, but it was the last climb of the day - great news! After pausing to catch our breath and to take in the historical building, we set off over the grassy fields and joined the sweeping single track running nicely down to The Howe. This is a great descent and you can really get some speed and let the bends flow - just watch out for anyone coming up the other way!

Glencourse Reservoir from Knightfield Rig

After a great run down to The Howe at the top of Loganlea Reservoir, all that remained was a gentle cycle along the minor road to The Flotterstone Inn for a well deserved steak and chips.