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Having been uprooted from Perthshire to Edinburgh as a result of my landlord's sale of my house, The Pentlands are now my local walking domain, and although they are far less wild than the hills round Strathearn, they do have enough gradient to keep me relatively fit.
Having discovered where most of the countless paths lead I decided to do a traverse of all the North summits starting at Swanston and finishing at Torduff reservoir
Donna dropped me at the parking area and I made my way through the village and up the path across the golfcourse.
Refurbished old cottages in the villageAlthough you can walk up the main path and take a Left, I much prefer to wander up through the Tee wood - planted by the Trotter family in memory of a member killed in WWI. - it is actually in the form of a cross but due to the slope of the hill it looks Tee shaped both from Edinburgh and from above.
Lower section of the Tee woodUpper sectionFrom the exit looking up to Caerketton crags's main peak (above) and looking back down (below)Zoomed - the sun shines on the cables of the Queensferry crossingThe path takes you up to a point on the East ridge of the hill near the top of the Hillside skilift
A nice little seat to sit on and admire the view: you can go straight up from here but it's quite steep and you can also take this "cheaty" path (upper picture) which omits the first summit. However, just around the corner an easier angled path heads diagonally up - there is still a steep section but it's quite shortLooking back down the diagonal path - a bit bizarre seeing skiers setting off down the slope at this time of yearThe first summit looking towards the main one - The stones on these hills are all rather small and angular so don't provide much in the way of seats Looking SW towards Castlelaw and the Southern Pentlands beyond. The wind was blowing strongly from this direction and slowed me down a lot: holding the camera steady was quite a problemCaerketton main peak looking on towards AllermuirThe Tee wood from Caerketton Allermuir is about 1km away: the path traverses a third top and jinks about a quite a bit The aptly named windy door nick Allermuir summit looking back to CaerkettonAnd looking South to CastlelawMy natural continuation would be over Capelaw and Harbour hill (just peeping up behind), but to complete all the Northern tops Castlelaw was a mustI descended to the gate where you enter "army" territory - there was no red flag flying : Last time I was on Allermuir I could hear what sounded like machinegun fire I followed the drab road past Fala Knowe, but soon forked right on a grassy trackA short climb took me to Castlelaw summit - but the weather was deteriorating fast and the there seem to be rain showers on the wayCapelaw is a long flat-topped hill - but there isn't a lot of hight to gainBack at the gate - this time I kept LeftThe route up Capelaw - but by the time I reached the top it was drizzling so I descended to Bonaly and returned a couple of days later to complete the route. It was nice and sunny and much less windy Back on Capelaw looking back to Allermuir And further R to Fala Knowe and CastlelawFurther R still to the Southern Pentlands - they always seem to be in the shade Bonaly reservoir surrounded by pinewoodsOn to Harbour hill with Black Hill behind just L of centreDescending from Capelaw the route up Harbour hillHarbour hill - looking back to CapelawAnd to CastlelawTo the East , Harlaw and Threipmuir reservoirs (above)and (below) Bonaly reservoir againThere is a fence with two layers of barbed wire running North South down this hill and the only place to cross is at the Northern end
. The Pentlands seem stuffed with barbed wire - maybe the sheep are particularly athletic - some crossings have been created using rubber hose but more are needed
With the ubiquitous paths, it is quite difficult to find any "off piste" in the area but this section is one: I headed down towards the gap in the trees and Clubbiedean reservoir. It's only just over a Km, but at this time of year the grass is at its deepest and I took my timeGetting nearer - you can see the water through the trees and behind is Warklaw hill - with the mast - above Torphin - but there's another wire topped wall to surmount . previously I had gone through a gate down to the Right - but this little bit of fence at the edge of the pine trees bore obvious signs of "traffic": I climbed over and descended the fieldClubbiedean is a nice little reservoir in a gently sloping valley - and surrounded by Scots pine woods. There is a cafe open at weekends at the bottom end , but I walked across the dam to get a view back up.The route now follows a short road section through forestTo Torduff reservoir (with solitary swan) which by contrast has quite steep rocky sidesThe best view of Torduff however is from the path which runs from Clubbiedean above the top of itAt the far end the light had gone and I couldn't get a view back up - but Arthurs Seat looked resplendant in the evening sunAs I did the route in two parts and the wind was a major hindrance on the first day , the time I have given is only approximate - a throughly varied and enjoyable walk though