Wanting to get out in the cold but not get too cold Scott and I set out to walk across the sidlaws from Tealing to Newtyle. This would allow us to use the bus from Fundee city centre. We set off from the bus stop at 10:15 arriving at Tealing no later than 10:30. The bus drops you off on the A9, though Tealing is fairly small and easily passed. From there the walk is fairly straightforward along the road turning right up onto Craigowl, the mighty Angus peak. With snow on the ground from this point on it was a bit of a winter wonderland.



The road itself upto Craigowl will be a familiar site to anyone in or around dundee but it's very quiet. There are a few gates on the way up that would prevent drivers but I thought the sheer number of locks were a little OTT.



Once past this Barrier, it's a straight path up and would be great fun for anyone with a sledge. At this point the snow was only a couple of inches but even on these small hills it was beautiful.







Most f these hills can be walked independantly and would make great walks with the dog on an afternoon. Of those closest to dundee I'd have to recommend Balkello and Auchterhouse Hills as those with the most to offer in terms of views.



The navigation of these hills is fairly straightforward and we only really needed to usethe map for planning possible lunch stops.
Lunch was had ontop of Auchterhouse hill on the south side away from the cold wind. Having myself not realised that Tealing didn't have any shops we were forced to act like artic explorers and make a brew from the snow. Having made sure that the snow we used wasn't yeallow We sat and admired the view for a while before our bums got cold and the feeling of satisfaction from our snow coffee had disapeared.



From then on the scenery changed slightly and was a lot more rolling and gentle. However we decided to skip some of the paths and headed through the heather and then onto one of the quarry paths. From there we got our first view of Kinpurney Hill monument. I have a real soft spot for this hill and think that the moument is very enviting and offers superb views. It also brings a smile every so often when traveling around the area as it suddenly pops up out of the blue.



The walk from the path to the base of the Hill is once again through the heather. At the top the views were once again very good with crystal clear sky's



Finally We walked down to Newtyle and caught the bus back to dundee after a very enjoyable and varied day out on the often overlooked sidlaws. As neither my friend or I have a car It's alwys good to find a walk thats close by and easily acessed by public transport and this ticks all the boxes. It's also a great way for some easy snow hills.



Anyone reading this for the first time please refer to walkhighlands advice on winter walking..

Finally the gpx file was from my new Etrex 10 and I wasnt sure how to uplead 'my tracks' without my waypoints so if anyone wants to offer advice on that one i'd be greatful. Also why didn't the incude a lock featrure to prevent buttons being pressed in a bag or pocket...