The Pentland Hills & Edinburgh Walks
Scald Law & Carnethy Hill
Date: 11th April 2009
Distance: 11.5 miles
Ascent: 3181 feet
Time: 5 hours 40 mins
With: Andy
Start Grid Ref: NT233631
Walk Summary:
A superb walk up on to Scald Law via Loganlea Reservoir and the shapely pairing of East and West Kip.
Route Summary: Flotterstone - Glencourse Reservoir - Logan Burn - Loganlea Reservoir - Green Cleuch - West Kip - East Kip - South Black Hill - Scald Law - Carnethy Hill - Turnhouse Hill - Flotterstone
Pictures:
1. A cormorant on Glencorse Reservoir
2. Black Hill and Glencorse Reservoir
3. East Kip and Loganlea Reservoir
4. A small waterfall on Logan Burn
5. West Kip
6. Looking south west towards East Cairn Hill
7. Andy on top of West Kip
8. Black Hill and the northern Pentlands
9. South Black Hill
10. Approaching the top of East Kip
11. Looking back at East and West Kip
12. Scald Law from South Black Hill
13. The large cairn on the top of South Black Hill
14. Looking back at South Black Hill
15. The summit of Scald Law
16. Carnethy Hill
17. Scald Law from Carnethy Hill
18. Andy on Carnethy Hill
19. Turnhouse Hill
20. Looking back at Carnethy Hill
Walk Detail: During our stay with some friends in Edinburgh we were treated to some excellent weather and this day in particular provided me with, what is for me, perfect conditions for a walk.
The first half of the walk was very pleasant and I did enjoy the settings of the two reservoirs. Though man made, and despite the road running alongside, and despite all the anglers, they still had a feeling of remoteness.
Once we got to West Kip though the walk took a whole new dimension. Between most of the summits there was a fairly decent amount of descent and re-ascent which gave every hill its own distinct feel. West Kip, though not the highest and also cairnless probably had the best view and outline though Scald Law and Carnethy Hill were also very impressive.
We ate our lunch sat next to the huge pile of stones on South Black Hill trying to work out what a group of people were doing holding hands for over 20 minutes round the trig point on Scald Law. We never did find out as they had gone by the time we got there.
The climb up Carnethy Hill was probably the toughest but it was another fine hill while the final descent from Turnhouse Hill was quite pleasant. If these hills were 100m higher and in England this would probably be one of the most popular hill walks in the country.
All in all this was a brilliant rollercoaster walk with exceptional weather and fantastic views in all directions and I would definitely rate it as one of my favourites. My only disappointment was that no enterprising salesman had pitched up an ice cream van when we got back to the car park!
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