Normally I’ll start my walks on the Penicuik side and finish on the Balerno side, so for a change I thought I’d turn that on its head and start at Balerno, which gave me more options on where to finish, weather and fitness dependent. The first part of the walk is basically THIS in reverse order, taking in West Kip, East Kip, Scald Law, Carnethy Hill and Turnhouse Hill. Rather than the sweat inducing initial hard slog up Turnhouse Hill there’s a few miles of warm up before a short and sweet ascent of West Kip. The fact I was again travelling very light was a help too, with a lightweight trail running vest and trail shoes replacing a heavy rucksack and boots.
The Pentland Hills, in reverse order…
The summer has been fantastic, but I spent some of it recovering from knee surgery, and the rest of the time I just found it uncomfortably hot. Which meant that the weather I had on this particular day was a return to normal service- it tipped down all the way from Balerno to West Kip, but eased off as I hit the ridge, by which time I was rather damp.
This plantation is currently being felled
As I traversed from East Kip to West Kip it became apparent that the prominent plantation of trees on the north side of East Kip was in the process of being felled, which would explain the scar of the track running towards Eastside Farm. It’ll be a long time before this blends back in to the landscape.
View a few years back
Current view
It made a pleasant change to descend Turnhouse Hill, as on every other visit I’ve slogged up in the other direction. This was where my options had to be assessed, and all things considered I was feeling fit enough to do a bit more. So rather than heading off in the direction of the Flotterstone Inn I took a path which doubled back on itself, heading west for a few hundred metres before crossing a field to a locked gate, which I scrambled over before climbing steeply up to the rifle ranges at Castlelaw. The ranges were deserted and no red flags were flying so I was able to take the path up past the fort towards Allermuir Hill. The Woodhouselee area had a familiar look, and I can recall being on exercise here many years ago, playing a roving “enemy” patrol harassing the main body of troops on the lower slopes.
Castlelaw Rifle Range
The Ski Centre
From Allermuir Hill I took the path eastwards, along Caerketton Hill above the Pentland Hills Ski Centre. I planned to descend towards the Steading pub on the A702 and although the signposting was a little confusing I followed my nose, coming out at Lothianburn. The Lothian Transport app revealed the nearest bus stop to get me back to the city was only a few minutes walk away, and within 5 minutes I was city bound.
Route data
On checking I found I had done 12.5 miles in little over 4 hours, not only that but I had done over 3900 ft of ascent! I’ve not done a Munro in 4 years due to my knee, but this was a pretty positive milestone, and I’m hoping perhaps I can manage to start adding to my Munro tally again soon.
The Airdrie Rambler 