Meikle Bin

 

After dropping Val off at work this morning! I headed for the hills. Meikle Bin on the Campsie Fells! to be exact. My pal Alex G and I had a relatively easy climb to the summit of this conical wee peak. Underfoot conditions were ideal with the ground hard with frost. After getting to the summit we had our lunch on the wing of plane wreck which crashed near the summit 66 years ago in 1950. Then we made our descent back to the Carron Valley Dam then drove back over the “Tak ma doon” road and headed for home!

Return to Tinto

On Tintock tap, there is a mist,
And in that mist, there is a kist,
And in that kist, there is a cup,
And in that cup, there is a drap.
Tak’ up that cup, and drink that drap, that’s in yon kist, on Tintock tap!

I recently revisited Tinto Hill for the umpteenth time.  It was a lovely day up on Lanarkshire’s highest top, however it was a little too busy for me on the ascent up. It’s a much quieter route to the summit from the south side of the hill so will bare that in mind the next time I decide to go to Tinto.

Tents

I plan to do some wild camping next year and maybe try a winter camp before this year is out!  However I intend to upgrade my tent . Im thinking a of getting the Vango Banshee 200.

These are my currents tents which are fine but really lack the quality I’m looking for!

Glencoe

The Three Sisters

Proud and rapturous are my family of mountains,
Always inspiring.
Their sun kissed,boulder strewn peaks entice me
and invite me,
from the Lochs and the Rivers on the Moors and glens below.
They lure me, they entrap me, they delight me.

Dark and brooding are my family of mountains,
many are haunted
Their wind swept,thunder clapped peaks float upon a sea
of swirling mist
that smothers the sombre weeping glen below.
They wail, They scream, They kill
They sometimes scare me.

A M Hutton

Doon the Clyde

The Falls of Clyde

I recently visited the River Clyde. Not in a fishing capacity though as I just went for walk down by the falls of Clyde to try shake off a recent sciatica attack and try to get some pics as its particularly nice down there at this time of year with all the Autumn colours at their best just now. I started the walk from the conservation village of New Lanark and walked along the Clyde walkway up to Bonnington Linn then walked back down the other side for a mile or so where I brewed up a hot drink before retracing my steps back to my starting point.
I intend to get back down there again soon once we’ve had a great spell of rain to see the falls in all their gushing glory!

 

Hillend loch & Lily loch.

I haven’t  been out on the hills recently ,however I’ve been out and about flyfishing in and around the Hillend Loch and the Lily Loch. The area around these two local lochs is ideal for a very pleasant stroll and if one is fortunate enough to be there when the lighting conditions are correct then it can be surprisingly picturesque especially for a semi urban enviroment. Here I tried capture the beauty and atmohere of my local flyfishing venures.  

                 

Pottering about the Pentlands

A couple of weeks ago My two friends WAlex and Willie I had a brilliant day hillwalking in the Pentlands all be it a bitterly cold and windy day.
Views were mixed as the low cloud kept coming and going all day but managed to get a few pics in between the cloud and mist.The views from Allermuir hill were great over the Capital and across the Firth to Fife.It was rather misty when were were on the tops of Capelaw Hill and Harbour Hill. So not many photos from there. Here are just a few of the pics i captured.

Tom Weir In his Own Words

A wee montage I put together as a wee tribute to the wee man wae the wee wooly hat

https://soundcloud.com/hillend-da…/tom-weir-in-his-own-words

The Campsie Fells Podcast

Please have a listen to my first hillwalking podcast. I hope it expresses how passionate I am about the great outdoors.
Do please get in touch by leaving a comment about the podcast.
If it was rubbish tell me it was rubbish and of course if you enjoyed it please do let me know. It would be encouraging to get some feedback.

Cort Ma law.

My son Allan was too lazy to get out his bed this morning and get himself organized to come hillwalking with me up the Campsies.
So off I went on my own. I parked @ the big carpark on the Crow road which croosses right over the Campsies.There were quite a few cyclist on the road this morning which is no surprise really as I know that hill is a popular challenge for them.
I was soon off up the hill and passing the old shepards hut heading for Cort Ma Law via Lairs and along the boggy intermitent path marked by a few cairns. There was one particular piece of bog which was troublesome to negotiate through but eventially I made it through. The views as always were great although some low clow was making the distant views hazy. There was one particular landmark near Lennoxton which when observed from high up on the Campsies looked pretty much like a blot on the landscape lol.
On a better day I would have seen Glasgow layed out below me but it was too hazy. Further to the east I could make out the three flats @ Holehills , Milton Court and Bartlets factory in my home town Airdrie as well as Cumbernauld and Broadwood etc.
It appeared I had the hills to myself until I was nearing the top of Cort ma law I saw a couple of walkers. On reaching the top it turned out there was twenty of them all sitting round the trig point having lunch. They were a rambling club from Kilmarnock.
I was intending having my lunch there but decided to go back over to one of the tops with the cairns and rested there.
So after lunch and a rest I was back re tracing my footsteps back along the broad boggy ridge back to the first cairn and back down the steep hill back to my starting point.
All in all a very pleasing way to spend a Sunday afternoon in early winter.
PS. I recorded a few bits of audio of my day today in the campsies which I hope to put together and creat a podcast with. So watch this space.