|
Mackenzie and I had talked about doing a
hill together - one last Scottish one before he moves to Wales.
Originally I was going to go to Edinburgh, but we changed plans
Mackenzie came through to Glasgow instead. Campsie Fells it was.
Mackenzie ticks off HuMPs (Hundred Metre Prominences
- Google it) as well as Munros, so we picked out Earl's Seat, a hill I
had visited three time and was more than happy to visit again. For
Mackenzie it would be new and therefore his 100th. I took a train into
town, met him there and headed to the hills...
It was a great feeling to be walking among home turf with someone else
as opposed to alone. Kind of like the feeling of going for a shared
adventure, but equally feeling at home... In any case, it was good to
walk among these hills, catching up again and reminiscing with Mac about
days gone by.
We headed up the Blanefield-Dumgoyne access track and followed it to the
stream crossing, cutting up towards the summit of Dumfoyn as a quick
route to get altitude. It was a slog to the top - I was sweating in the
sun (January - c'mon!) but the views were immense, Dumgoyne especially
so. And so we crossed to Garloch Hill and towards Earl's Seat which
seemed to require a lot of effort to reach.
But the weather was bliss, as was my mood in fact... And rounding the
last bend from the Ballagan Tops, Mackenzie reached the summit of Earl's
Seat and his hundred Scottish hill - with prominence 100m!
(www.hill-bagging.co.uk is guilty for this)
We left immediately to find somewhere to eat that wasn't so windy. And
maybe a hundred metres south of the summit we sat on a snow bank feeding
hungry stomachs, as the sun slipped into the horizon's haze. In minutes
the colours changed from blue and white to gold and blue, the tones
turned up a notch that left that Cairngorm-feeling inside me, where the
winter
sun briefly warms cold winter plateaux.
And it's an amazing feeling to be up high as the sun dips ahead of you,
walking back to civilisation but still among the wilds, taking in the
moment, still and content as it is, the settling landscape a reflection
of the soul.
Shit, I'm getting hippy.
Well, it is the truth...
And we traversed Dumfoyn as the sun slipped away, picking away at the
distance back to Blanefield. Mum (mine) picked us up to make up for the
rotten bus timetable and dropped Mackenzie at Buchanan Bus Station in
Glasgow.
I think I have my mojo back now. By that, I mean I'm ready in my
mind for some more Highland days spent on the high tops. I'm looking
forward to it. The weather usually dictates otherwise, but the pull of
the Highlands is certainly in my system...
So here's some Highlands:
|
