Loughrigg Fell.Coppermines.Lake District.

It felt good to revisit Ambleside again.It seemed to have only three types of shops.Eating shops,Walking and climbing shops,and tea rooms.Not a pound store in sight! Tres Cher if you were a local though I suspect!
A good night was spent around the open fire in the hut owned by a fellow but local climbing and walking club.£7 a night was good value for the property tucked up a steep hill track under the Old Man Of Coniston.
As we,d never been here before even finding it in the dark was an adventure for those without a SAT NAV or GPS to take the fun out of finding its location.(Myself and Alex, pauper old school and proud of it)
After a visit to the nearby Youth Hostel and then the Yorkshire Club,s Cottages further up the slope,the only lights for miles around,we fumbled our way tyre wise to the correct unlit building, me walking ahead in the rain at one point while Alex inched across a burn.At least we had the pleasure of meeting our friendly and helpful neighbours and already felt a small if temporary part of this valley community.

It was a beautiful, wild if slightly industrial setting several hundred feet above Coniston village itself.Numerous spoil heaps and old mines lay scattered around or dug deep into the surrounding slopes,rusting buckets and metal rails silent testimony to its busy past.I liked it,reminded me of Wales or the Leadhills area of  Southern Scotland.
We just had to do a cave while we were here.I love caves.These are some photos from Sunday morning however.A semi dry shelter from the deluge happening outside.It was so wet outside it had its own little river system ending in a sump even though a man made hole.

Next day, after the usual night of snoring in the hut(myself not included here as you have to be asleep to snore,must remember ear plugs next time!) we looked out the door and decided what to do.
Heavy rain, mist and wind  anywhere above 1500 feet.It was a no brainer for myself and Alex.Find a hill below 1500 feet and hope for the best.

The younger crowd were made of sterner stuff however,undaunted by mere weather.
I used to think if you showed people how to find the sun every weekend they would take that option but they seemed in good spirits with a day of driving rain and mist ahead of them.It was not just the guys,several waterproofed girls made the ascent as well happily pulling on rainwear without a grumble.(test those jackets girls)Ah youth.I used to be exactly the same once.Not a girl......just keen in all weathers.That lasted for the first fifteen years then I,d had enough of that nonsense.Ok,OK... maybe I am a girl......I don't care.There,s nothing in my contract that says I have to charge up big mountains  in all weathers Just cos I,m in a mountaineering Club (Oh yes there is..Alex)
I don't mind a good day out with the amblers and ramblers as long as its sunny.

Even the sheep took the dry option and I like to think I,m smarter than the average sheep,though a brainy one might give me a run for its money. We had one convert however.Our friend John,also a man with twenty years of Munro soaked summits under his belt just couldn,t face another vertical drowning at height.One of the main benefits of completing the Munro,s I can see is that you can then start to relax and actually enjoy just being in the outdoors for its own sake.He cant though... he,s started doing Corbett,s :(
I,m a lone island surrounded by a  sea of  active baggers.Normally no one wants to go on a girlie type walk with me,not even the girls :(     But it was so bad outside he was tempted.
"What are you guys doing? "He asked.
We looked at the map of the Lake District..Three hard men together! Nay...more than that...Mountain Men.. but in good weather.
Loughrigg Fell stood out.Situated near Ambleside, home of  country ramblers,(oh, the shame) not far from Grasmere and William and Dorothy Wordsworth,s Dove cottage,(Wish they would show the amazing and controversial Ken Russell,s TV film again of that!"Clouds of Glory".We get the bloody X factor every night instead.)It must be kicking around the vaults somewhere.Anyway... it looked lush ,green and beautiful,even on a map.It was surrounded by a necklace of six big ponds and lakes,crisscrossed by a perfect latticework of paths and tracks and looked good enough to eat.A landscape apple strudel.

It was also under 1500 feet.It was like a fairy tale come to life.We went there.

They must have something in the water here though.The landscape also had a magical effect on its animals.This little horse was only half the size of the black one so it cunningly manoeuvred it onto a stepladder slope to have its wicked way."Reminds me of chalky"(his wee white dog) John commented dryly.
It was also a persistent little bugger.It gave the other two horses no peace at all.

We watched  our backs crossing this right of way field just in case. A delightful path  past cottage gardens filled with free range chickens,dry stone walled lanes,humping bunnies and open, tree dotted meadows summed up what I love most about the Lake district.That and a youthful Felicity Kendal in Ken Russell,s controversial suggestion about......(that's enough of that....Alex..edit)
Anyway we soon reached the summit and it was magnificent.
"Glad I came here with you guys" said John,pleased.

The mist hung in layers in every direction.Even better we were above it yet still in the clear,larger hills around buried in murk.Even for our luck it was stunning.

We stayed up here for a good while, taking it all in.Minute by minute it would change,new views opening up ,while others disappeared.A cloud shifting kaleidoscope of a summit.It was a popular spot and everyone up here chatted happily,bowled over by their good fortune of just being in on the wonder of it all. No sign of Robert Johnston though (Famous blues guitarist) must have been his day off....Look him up if you don,t know why I mention him :)
We then took the balcony trail halfway down,looping around the hill as it passed above Grasmere and Rydal water,mirror reflections in both still waters,banks dotted with little Lowry people playing with  unused open umbrella,s far below.(it never rained all day here)
For a short time it felt like being God,s  suspended high above our world.
Then an underworld beckoned  nearby and we just had to explore that as well.

As flooded caverns go this was the best I,ve been in without a paddle.It went back a good distance and just  near where Alex is the water was deep,full of little fish,hundreds of them.Superb stuff.What a day!
.....................................................To be continued.

Helvellyn.Coppermines Cottage.Lake District.

Not long returned from a  great weekend down in the lake district with our mountaineering club.The first hut meet of the winter season.Most of them were leaving  as usual on the Friday night after work from Glasgow but Alex and myself decided to head down on Friday morning early as the Country file farmers forecast for the week ahead showed that to be the best day.Not that you can always trust  such a long range prediction.It turned out to be the right move though..
He had also done his homework on the Internet  so we could avoid the £7 parking charges now in force down here in the more popular car parks and worked out the cheapest pubs to visit.He,s very good that way.Thinking ahead.Some charge £10 for a pint and a small single burger!That,s the skint hill walkers modern equivalent of a bear trap covered over and filled with stakes.(excuse the pun)
It is a great area though when its done out of season and tourist numbers are down to  bearable.proportions.(excuse the pun again)

Parked in a free lay by just outside Glenridding village and headed along a scenic path beside Ullswater which weaved through trees beside the shoreline then cut up along the side of the road.We have not been down in the Lakes for years and you forget how beautiful it is here.Sure it can get mobbed at times but the network of charming paths,ridges,compact mountain chains and scenery make it worthwhile.Just over the Scottish border into England The Lake district is different to Scottish mountains as a lot of them start from bleak empty valleys.The very thing a lot of people from England like about our Scottish hills.For us though this was a welcome change.

Helvellyn was our hill of choice.A good pick as it stayed in sunshine all day while many  of the surrounding ranges attracted dark clouds.

The path up was broad and dry,a big change from miles of deep  heather,bog and bracken during recent summer trips in Scotland away from the more frequented Munro,s..As we got higher the wind started to increase.By the time we reached the famous Striding Edge it was a full on gale with gusts of 50 to 60 miles an hour.
A few  folk we,d met turned back here when the ridge started to narrow and the first rock towers began.If you didn,t brace yourself when walking you would get blown flat by the gusts.Luckily there were more sheltered bypass routes round the towers which this elephant seal of a climber was quite happy to use on hands,bum, elbows, knees and anything else that came in handy while Alex stayed mainly on the crest.His natural surefootedness can be a wonder at times and an irritation for those less able but  its also good for photos.I bummed along in his wake while he complained, rightly,that he wasn,t getting many good ones of me.

"A man  always on his arse spoils a photo! He grumbled.

It stayed dry though so that was the main thing.

This is us nearing the top of Helvellyn looking down on Striding Edge.Although dramatic its fairly easy under normal conditions with nothing that can,t be avoided which was just as well today.
At the summit we had a short debate.The plan was to head round and descend Sharp Edge as the logical  scrambling horseshoe but that would mean staying in the constant and freezing wind all day.The view along the ridge the other way and a drop in the wind in this direction soon had us changing course.
While not exactly tropical conditions we could at least take off the gloves and drop the hoods on our jackets.
We could even speak to each other again.
"Bumcrawler!"
"Rock monkey!"
It was really good fun to be up on a long undulating ridge again as we admired the views of half remembered mountain ranges in the distance.High Street,Gimmer Crag,Great Gable,Bowfell,Scafell Pike.High Pike.We used to come down here a lot years ago both walking and rock climbing with the club.
Happy memories.Don,t really know why we,ve not come down here more often as its easy to reach from Glasgow even for a day.Although we have climbed a good few hills here it felt like a brand new area again after so long away.

We continued over Nethermost Pike then Dollywagon Pike then dropped down towards  the lovely circle of  Grisedale Tarn where we stopped for lunch out the wind.Jackets came off.The suns rays now felt warm and it was fleece time again for the drop into the valley.

We,ve both done our  share of valley descents over the years but the long canter down Grisedale was an eye opener in every way.Scenically impressive with a long line of steep cliffs on one side and the rugged slopes of Fairfeild and St Sunday Crag on the other.If I,ve been down a more impressive and varied valley it was a long time ago.This is a Lodge used by the Outward Bound.Plenty of remote walks and climbs from here.This looks a good gully for a visit winter or summer.

A cracking day out.And it was only the start of our weekend.......

.................................................................to be continued.

Riccarton Hills Bathgate Hills.

Grangemouth day part two.Read post below first for it to make sense....or not.
 I know.The title has put you off already.The mere mention of Bathgate or Broxburn or certain areas in Scotland tend to put people off who know the location...or think they do.Why is that?You can go to so called remote areas up north and be standing in someone else,s waste droppings outside a bothy like I was a few months go.....But that's all right because its wilderness.Its a type of subliminal unintentional snobbery I suspect.You can have a fantastic day,s adventure here of a weekend  after a week,s hard graft in Hall,s pork pie factory in Uphall.And you will need some quality R and R after that.And stand on no ones ouput as you admire the view.This area is civilized This area has flush toilets.
This is a double post.On the same day a mere mile over the first high ridge from Grangemouth you enter a different land.Out of sight out of mind.Cliches are cliches for a reason....most of them ring true.Tellingly,you cant see Grangemouth from here.Its like the difference in the Wizard of Oz between the black and white drab brutality of Kansas farm life and the technicolour beauty of Dorothy,s new end of the rainbow,tornado utopia where her house lands.

Most people would think of this as beautiful landscape but I did notice that most of the animals and birds  spotted were placed here by man.They did not choose it for themselves.It is ordered.They are fenced in.This is a factory,just as much as Grangemouth.The difference is people find this landscape attractive.But we still use the end product in all sorts of ways.It is all a matter of perception.How we look at things.

It is an incredible place to wander or cycle through however.Up over the ridges towards Linlithgow I cycled leaving my little furry pals behind me, paws aloft trying to climb the wall.It was late afternoon.I,d timed it well as I love that look of low sun on grass where nature turns almost furry and alive.You can almost see Mother nature take a last  few inhales of warm breath then turn over before the long cold night of darkness ahead.

This is Linlithgow.The views around here are exceptional if you like ridge after ridge fading into the distance as I do.

.From here it was up past Riccarton then round to Long Mains.Seen side on like this Binny Craig looked much higher than its real height in the distance.

I love lush landscapes like these.You can sink into them like  pillows of happiness. And it was warm.Something of a novelty during this particular summer of 2011.
From here it was easier cycling past mid Tartraven and Cathlaw to Cairnpapple Hill,the highest point around.Another fantastic Bike/ hill climb is to Park At Beecraigs.The circuit of Wester Ochiltree,past Tarhill, up Binny Craig then round to the Winchburgh bings...Up them...then Cairnpapple hill. Then Up Cockleroy to finish.Its an outstanding bike and hill day.An unknown classic yet treasured by the few that,s completed it..
Hats off to them.(Mr Valley,Its a new area for you to bomb round on a bike.Plenty of hill climbs for a  young tiger like you.Lock your bike inside a field below each hill though)
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/places/propertyresults/propertyabout.htm?PropID=PL_050&PropName=Cairnpapple%20Hill

As a more distinguished flabby tiger I panted up the steep narrow road to the small car park under Cairnpapple then wandered up through a field to this Ancient Hilltop burial Ground.There was a bull in this field.Its a  fairly popular tourist walk up here  so I presumed it was a well behaved bull as I would have to pass it.

It was.Didn,t even look up.Mind you it had a whole field of cows to get round.It was probably tired out of an evening.

Its such a beautiful landscape here I could happily live in Bathgate,Broxburn,Grangemouth or Bo,ness as long as this was my playground.We don,t value certain areas enough.If this was England it would be an area of outstanding natural beauty and have thousands descending on it.Thank god then we don't and this is only going out to a few like minded people.
Its at its very best in harvest time.Glad I caught it this year as harvest was a short affair due to all the autumn rain.

Back to the car at Bo,ness.A knackered but happy peddle hound.Steak Pie supper Takeaway for dinner. Too exhausted to cook or even get out a plate.No wonder that poor bull didn't move much!

Bo,ness Station.Kinneil Reserve.Grangemouth.

Its been a great summer in the UK to be an apple apparently.Me I,m just glad I can find pleasure in the lower hills,pastoral scenes and contrasting landscapes as that,s where the better weather normally lies.
I,m a bagger too.I just have my own lists to tick. Visiting different parts of Scotland of Interest (to me anyway) is one of the rewards.

I,ve been to Bo,ness Railway Station a few times over the years.You can take a steam train from here in summer a couple of stations up the line to Birkhill Clay Mine.Departing at Birkhill,also done up as a Victorian Station the energetic could then descend with a guide down a long flight of stairs into the wooded Avon Gorge where the same guide unlocks the massive steel door and takes you on a tour of the underground clay mines.Fireclay was dug out and hauled  from here to be made into durable bricks for industrial furnaces.Unlike most other open to the public Scottish mines I,ve been to which are fairly constricted places you can stroll through this one hands in pockets, the ceiling out of reach, or even drive a mini bus along it if it was allowed.It twists along at a gentle gradient for almost a mile and was one of the lesser known wonders of this area.For families, kids and the more adventure minded tourists it was a unique day out.There was even talk of boat trips through the deeper network of flooded tunnels though that was always just a pipe dream with today's health and safety laws.

I mention this because Birkhill Clay Mine is now closed at present.There is support to save it so hopefully it will not be too late..A rather convenient rock fall has meant it has had to be reviewed.It costs £50,000 a year to run I believe and employs 8 staff.Not sure if their wages are included in that bill (I hope not for their sake).probably just lighting,running costs.maintenance etc.With implemented cut backs about to bite in every region,Its future is in  doubt.To be honest with the level of mounting power bills to cope with and visitor numbers down after a  very poor summer I can see where they are coming from.Hopefully funding will be found however and it will be saved.Part of the problem I think is not enough people outside of the local area know about its existence or want to walk for an hour deep under the ground.Its not an experience you can capture on a computer...or maybe you can? Having just watched a programme which highlighted the fact that wildlife and countryside TV Programmes are at an all time high yet most of the viewers will not be regular explorers of areas outside of their own immediate.neighbourhood maybe that's the problem.People like the idea of  having countryside but in reality its always getting squeezed,changed ,moulded or lost altogether.Unfortunately once these places are gone they are  usually gone for good due to  rising water seepage in mines.Make a good landfill site though as we are running out of them. The mine is not owned by the Steam railway company which remains open..You can still take the return train ride on a steam train and  then visit the adjoining Scottish railway museum and harbour area which is interesting in itself but a truly unique experience with the mine journey included may be yet another memory of the past.It will not be the only thing to expire.Expect other examples to follow soon as everyone now gets patted on the back finding new ways to save money.I,m not normally political. I find most things to do with politics boring in the extreme.But.... (a but  included here just for Ken :)
Think the old cigarette sign at the top is out of date with its message? Don't believe the words? A more modern one  might read.
"The bankers and the Politicians will share the  hardship of these cuts just like the rest of us". Aye right.
Its a real shame if it closes because there is nothing else like it in Scotland.
Mc Cowans Highland Toffee factory  in nearby Stenhousemuir seem to have made the last bar of jaw jammer as well,victim of changing tastes and times.However the proclaimers can send an Email to America now instead of a letter.Time always marches on sweeping anything that cant keep up into the gutter.
Wham bars,pan drops and Bon bons also bite the dust when its closed.
They were making an Advert or Film  in this train station when I visited.A production crew busy screwing up modern hoardings with what looked like designer clad models on them. Remakes of the Railway Children and The 39 Steps have been made here but I don't think this was a period piece somehow.I got short shrift from the female in charge of the crew when I asked what they were going to be filming and were there any spare models kicking  around or stars arriving  in person that wanted a free tour.Well,  it never hurts to ask.

Bo,ness itself is a funny town.It has a lot of old interesting buildings and a few picturesque old alleyways.It has had and is still getting a makeover with several restoration projects going on.It,s got potential. It could rival Linlithgow as a place for tourists to visit if it had just a few more streets of ancient houses and they were clustered together more.It has fine buildings but they are scattered or in a line along an upper hillside which a lot of less able visitors don't like.It has free car parks though and an interesting nature reserve nearby which is where I was heading now. Its main tourist drawback though will become evident by the end of this post.It is in sight of something.Something large and overpowering.Something dark.

This is the Kinneil Foreshore Reserve just outside the town.Its really beautiful.It has a large car park and is well used.A great asset to the town and the reason I was here.I had my bike with me and set off....a cunning plan in mind.You can travel much further on a bike.
I was here once in the mid 1980.s when it looked pretty bleak and barren though the insects still enjoyed it.Up until 1983 this was the site of the former Kinneil Colliery then it was landscaped with waste materials,a large tidal island created and trees planted that would thrive on such poor soil.It just shows you how an area can be transformed.Now its lush and verdant with some wildlife and a nice place for a  few hours walk.

Many humans walking dogs seem to enjoy it and why not? It has extensive views over the Forth.The reason for the bike however was to visit a sleeping monster just in sight in the distance.One of the great dragons of our age,without which the entire country couldn't, function but which is usually shunned or ignored by the eye of the beholder.I ,ve always been fascinated by this particular monster and with the bike I could cycle out past the reserve and right into the belly of the beast,getting up close and personnel as it were to within touching distance of its hot foul breath....Grangemouth.

I was close enough here to almost feel the heat off the gas flares.There is a grassy track that leads out the reserve and heads west along the estuary right into the heart of swampy marshlands surrounded by a myriad of cooling towers,pipe racks and storage tanks.Its an extreme head trip as birds and animals actually seem to enjoy being here within touching distance,under the  dark shadow cast by this vast Petrochemical and oil refinery complex.The only one of its kind in Scotland.

Nature will always surprise you.Thousands of birds were here,feeding in the not too clean looking marshes.Vast flocks of waders,gulls,crows,finches and smaller assorted others.This in turn attracted predators like foxes, hawks,stoats and weasels.The place was bouncing with life.Far more than on the scenic nature reserve.It brings into question the nature of beauty as its such a  hard thing to define.Even four people in a room may have different views on what it is.To a proportion of wildlife it  just seems to be a place far away from human activity.To our eyes you might think they would prefer pristine uplands or  rural farmlands or the nearby nature reserve but this place has several things going for it.Few people ever come here....It has food, water and shelter....Its tidal....and I bet in winter time its hotter than the surrounding landscape.

I will not lie to you though.It,s very far from paradise here.Its pretty scabby to most peoples eyes. Right up close to the complex and downwind there was a strong and acrid flavour to the air,metalic almost and  little bits of ash fell down on me on occasion.If I had to work here every day I,m not sure
 I,d like it much but a job is a job and the pay is probably good for many with all those volatile substances around on site stretching for miles.
 As a one off visit though...Wow ... its right up there!

I carried on half expecting to be stopped by a security vehicle until I arrived at the natural barrier of the River Avon mouth.lt felt like being in a sprawling industrial kitchen, one belonging to an entity that looked on humans with little favour or regard.
This is where my trip ended in this direction.I had lunch here sitting on an estuary wall,sharing my almond slices with  two bare tailed , not so little, companions moving around on the muddy shoreline below me.I was careful not to place my hands anywhere they might have been for obvious reasons but I didn't mind giving them a few leftovers.They looked at me with fearless curiosity while eating. A dark garden of Eden.
Beauty is variable depending on what you need in Life.A peaceful home.A place to feed.Somewhere to feel safe.... to breed,thrive and survive.For eyes other than ours this is obviously a great place to be.

An unusual and interesting place.

Stronend.Culcreuch Castle Estate.

For anyone who has not been up this Magnificent hill....What are you waiting for?
There are not many hills I,d  do again and again but this is one. I,ve been up Stronend a dozen times over the years since I first discovered it.For my money its the finest hill in both the Campsie and Fintry ranges and for its size (511 metres)  its one of the best within fifty miles of Glasgow.
Its hard to describe what makes it so good exactly but I,ll try.

The drive out past Killearn and Balfron is beautiful past the popular and almost as good Dumgoyne with its lay by stuffed with cars and walkers then round to the much quieter and serene Corrie of Balglass. For once I,d deliberately picked a Sunday outing trip in poor weather as I fancied something different for a change. Heavy intense showers were forecast throughout the central belt of Scotland mingled in with scattered bright periods.This was during our so called Indian summer heatwave which never really happened except in England.It was very warm though and a risk of thunder was a possibility.I like a good thunder and lightning storm me. What I can never work up a passion for is dull ,drab weather  and grey skies,lifeless with no energy.If I go out walking on days like this I always feel the same. I never really enjoy them.
This though was different.The morning had a brooding, pulsing edge to it that had my senses tingling.The animals could feel it too.

Fintry is a smashing little community.A true mountain town if ever there was one,sandwiched in the deep gap between the Campsie Fells and the Fintry hills.It should really be the hub of walking in this entire area considering its surroundings but the hills lie mainly empty.In countless visits,winter or summer I,ve met few folk on the upper slopes.This is the other side from Stronend. Dunmore and Dechrode.Also a fine outing if combined with Allanrowie and Earl,s Seat.Also beautiful but empty hills and ridge lines.

Maybe parking is why this strange state of affairs exists.There are double yellow lines on most of the best parking spots now but the B822 road lay by area beside the rugby fields next to the Culcreuch Castle entrance is empty except on match days and there are other safe areas nearby to park unobtrusively if you look.It is never a problem for one or two cars to get a space anywhere mainly because so few people come here to climb these fantastic hills.Its a puzzle.

When I started out these farm cows were sheltering under any trees they could find in a Capability  Brown style landscape.The rain was hammering down now.Mind you if the thunder and lightning materialised I,d not fancy my chances there.A whole herd of fifteen or so bullocks were killed a few years ago doing exactly the same thing on the eastern hills outside Edinburgh.
As it wasn,t fork and boom time just yet  though I hugged the trees  myself  all along the lane then walked  up past the estate loch where several fishing tents and poles were sticking out,owners snuggled deep and safe inside the canvas while they fished.One of the reasons I,d picked this walk was the shelter it offered throughout this  lovely estate.
Culcreuch Castle is an upmarket hotel ,one of the oldest in Scotland.Its fairly popular with wedding couples getting photos taken in the  grounds.You are still allowed to walk through them though and they are a delight,full of mature Oaks,Giant firs and Redwoods,beech, Ash, Sycamore and  Horse Chestnut.A circluar tour of the main path  through the grounds,up past the castle then on down the  long western entrance towards Fintry Cemetery is a popular local walk as is a pint or a coffee and meal in its restaurant dungeon which is open to the public.Dogs would have to be kept on a lead though until well up the hill due to the numbers of sheep and cattle roaming around,both in the fenced grounds and free on the open hillsides above.Unless they were  well trained.
http://www.culcreuch-castle-hotel.com/

As the castle comes into view just past the small loch a fork in the road occurs.Follow the right hand tarmac across an open car park and the low level hall nearby(parking here with permission.ie Castle hotel or restuarant customers.) and take the lower right hand track that,s signed farm.This is followed past said farm (Barking dogs are normally secure in kennels anytime I,ve passed ) then up left through a gate onto the open hillside.Keep following this track as it zig zags through some lovely scrub land and meadow to the upper balcony of the hill.
Maybe the main reason I like this hill so much is the different levels you pass through at each stage.
Lush woodland  walk....then open grassy meadows...then this.....

The double escarpment of the upper zone.You can avoid this band of crags by trending up right or you can get an easy but thrilling scramble up one of the more open gullies in the middle.Once up here Stronend turns into a proper mountain with a wild almost Peak district feel about the terrain and the outlook..A flat broad ridge is enjoyed rising gently to the cairn and far reaching views over Kippen Muir,the Forth valley and Flanders Moss.... To infinity and beyond!
 It doesn,t feel like a Scottish hill at all,more like a Limestone peak transported to here.A fantastic hill and luckily the good sunny spells matched in with the summit push given a little extra time wasting in the woods with my mushroom guide on my part.I dont eat them as I dont like the taste or texture but I like to know what they are just in case it comes in handy.You never know.
I,ve not changed that much folks.I,m still not going to climb a hill in the pissing rain :0)
A vast flock of geese passed above me close to the summit.Think they were either pink footed or greylags going by the pale breasts and black wings. They look like storks here though.Wierd!

Didn't stay  too long on the summit as it certainly wasn,t heatwave conditions up here.On the way down I could see the dark clouds rolling back in again driven by an increasing wind which at least helped to dry my  still damp clothes.

I was even able to get a photo of a rain shower and sunny patch only a short distance apart so unusual  were the conditions on this strange day.No lightning though.Shame.
Back at the car I headed up over the Muir toll road which crosses  the Campsies,bleak high and empty in yet another sudden downpour.Above Lennoxtown however the rain eased off so I waited a while and I got my best photo of the trip.
Lennox Castle and its Woods boiling in sunshine with mist slowly rising in the evening light.

Magical.A photo can,t really capture the full glory of this moment though.I,ll remember this day for a long time.Wild, empty and timeless scenery. Yet its all under 20 miles from the heart of Glasgow.
The icing on the cake was this sunset just entering Glasgow,s Suburbs once again..Every three or four years you get one as good as this where the clouds seem  to roll like slow motion ocean depths above you.

Yep.I certainly love Stronend! And a  pork chop and stewed apple extravaganza for dinner as my self cooked reward.Happy Days.