Joy... Euphoria... and Wonder. A Kilpatrick Hills Balcony Trail Walk. Summer Flowers.

 

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A summer Scottish wildflower border. A mix of red poppies, blue cornflowers and giant daisies. Although I've been busy doing other things recently I realized the four seasons were galloping onwards without me. Having been confined to the Glasgow area during the Covid 19 lockdown, along with everyone else, and with most car parks full of visitors by 9:30 am, that would normally be somewhere else, I went off going into the great outdoors a bit, preferring less popular pursuits to escape the crowds.

Now though, with several months of good weather and summer in full swing it looked as though folk were escaping further afield, leaving overcrowded local car parks half empty again. This coincided with less restrictive measures to keep people in one city area and the hawthorn blossom appearing on the slopes of the outlying city hill ranges which was an opportunity too good to miss. 

So on a perfect day a few weeks ago in June I started going out again more, enjoying the novelty of summer outdoors yet knowing I would be able to get easily parked again in some of my favourite beauty spots, even if it was mid morning or early afternoon by the time I arrived and was free. Canal reflections here.

It was one of those rare days that must have escaped from Heaven itself where everything you looked at, even mundane everyday things, seemed to have an extra sparkle of magic about them. Warm and sunny enough to walk happily in shorts and tee shirt yet not too hot and humid to be unpleasant. A faint gentle breeze arriving when needed. Just right in fact. The A82 here near Clydebank. A pleasant arrow straight road at the best of times on this particular day it seemed to sparkle and shimmer like a golden highway.

A flowering laburnum tree dangling over the road dipped my receptive mind in pure honey. From this moment on I was aware of three strong sensations on this walk, hence the post title. Joy... Euphoria,... and Wonder.

I parked at the usual Kilpatrick Hills car park near the Erskine Bridge, which for a change, was half empty. This was probably due to it being packed solid for months on end previously, each day of lockdown and folk, free at last to roam further afield, wanting a change from too familiar hills but for me it was perfect as I got my quiet slopes back at just the right time.

For a few short weeks in June the white hawthorn blossom covered the sides of this pretty escarpment and I was bewitched. I've been in continual, undiminished love with someone since early childhood and it filled me again with sincere admiration and joy for her presence. The Sacred Feminine herself. The rebirth giver of new life from old and the greatest eternal muse for humanity. Mother Nature.

It's taken me decades to fully understand that most humans are addictive creatures by natural inclination. It can be anything... coffee, food, sex, golf, hill-walking, acquiring money, power, drugs, gambling, religion, stamp collecting... the list is endless to trap the unwary like unsuspecting struggling insects caught on a sticky Scottish sundew in a damp bog. For me it has always been nature though as a constant companion and I recognized that sharp dopamine rush immediately. For the duration of this walk I was intensely happy. The colours, the various smells and scents (yes, even cowpats, dung flies, and shade rich country lanes have their appeal) all combined to make this poor addict intensely happy. As addictions go it's a fairly good one with few harmful side effects I'm aware of and much cheaper than most. For me, like gold,  jade or opal it never, ever, dulls its luster. I'd recommend it.

The dead end road leading into the Kilpatrick Hills. Straight on then left following this tarmac ribbon the route travels steadily upwards to eventually reach the various summits of the Kilpatrick Hills. Turn right here in this photo and a flat dirt track leads along the edge of fields in what is now called the Clyde Coastal Path. ( this walk will have a separate post later.) Wanting to experience the brief but exquisite hawthorn blossom up close though I took the middle ground, straight onto the open hillside.

Bunnies at play.

Unadulterated joy and intense euphoria my reward here. The hills are plain green again sadly but for a few short weeks each year the blend of white hawthorn flourish, the coconut spice laden scent of yellow gorse and the sweet heavenly perfume of dog rose bushes cast their spell over visitors to Scotland's lesser hillsides. Free ranging cattle herd in the middle of this photo.

Same cattle herd with the wild uplands of Renfrewshire beyond. A rural vision strongly associated with pleasure deeply embedded in my childhood DNA memory bank. So many hot sunny summers like this one spent watching cattle in the fields, roaming the broad-leaved woods, streams, and meadows with friends or alone around the Barrhead Dams. High mountains (when I still had the energy, drive, and spring loaded legs to climb them) I always enjoyed.... but these lower pastoral, lush, rural landscapes have always been my bedrock of happiness. My default setting. My natural homeland.....

So, instead of marching past these lower foothills to explore summits I've done many times before over many years I tried to find balcony trails instead running level along the escarpment at middle height.

 As seen in this photo of the range. the first heavily wooded section with the house ( right side in photo) I had to climb up to the rim and skirt around but after that, just like on the Gleniffer Braes walk,  I found several lower balcony trails to follow at mid level running across the escarpment.  Being sheltered and lush this was where most of the wildlife occurred as well.

 I timed it just right for millions of tiny butterflies to flutter past and I do mean millions... one of these spotted every ten steps along the trail. A small heath butterfly I think this is. Multiply that over an entire hill range. The dry sunny weather has been kind to flying insects and insect eaters this year I'd imagine. Hopefully more productive for them this spring/summer given the decades long drop in many species reported.

Micro worlds. A tiny fly that could fit on a human pinky nail quite easily. Millions of them as well in the deep grasslands like little leaping white winged fairies, flying up to escape each careless landing footfall. Yet each exquisitely formed. Joy! I do believe in a magical, largely invisible, kingdom living all around us and this is it in action right here

.Almost on top of the escarpment now where the views open out further.

Mar Hall, golf course, and a Renfrewshire panorama leading to the hills of Muirshiel/Inverclyde in the distance.

Delightful balcony trail high above the River Clyde. Joy!

Phone box view. The wonderful Kilpatrick Hills in June.

The Erskine Bridge. It was on this Kilpatrick Hills walk that I realized  that I still had unfinished walking business in Erskine as I spotted the low hill and ridge in the previous post that I'd never been up before.

And this is the route here marked out roughly along the River Clyde from the Erskine Bridge then up the low hill detailed in the previous post.

And the route of the other enjoyable Erskine walk from the bridge along the River Clyde downstream then through the Big Wood.

A descent path on a sun-drenched hard baked balcony trail. Deep Joy... and Euphoria!

The return. Kilpatrick Hills main track.

 The Erskine Bridge shimmering like a mirage in the late afternoon heat haze. Joy!

The glorious exception in Scotland of three long months of very stable dry weather, very little rain, and almost endless blue skies all thanks to a static jet stream. Joy!

Just pure simple joy! Having read stories online of people being charged an opportunistic fortune for a one or two week holiday in the UK I cannot recommend a cheap day out locally like this enough. I've not had a real holiday like that for ten years or more yet I don't miss it at all with all this on the doorstep. You could have a week of day trips like this for very little money going back home each night yet still enjoy it immensely. I certainly did.... and have for ages now. Cos I'm an addict I suppose :o)