Our pal Jane who lives in the Lakes was up for a day or 2. We had planned on a recce of the Carnethy (her next visit will be for the Carnethy 5) but the weather was a bit blowy so we went for the Gullane circuit. At least we'd be able to hear each other speak. Which was an important part of the run. Jane, unused to being away from her kids had been drinking wine with friends the night before and was a little hungover. The fresh breeze (which nearly blew us off the Footbridge to Enchantment) and the exercise sorted her out and she began to feel human again.
a dusting of snow on the Law
a traditional highland fling on the rock at the end of Aberlady beach
It was a very jolly run and I think the right choice of venue. The next day (the wind having dropped) M and I went to the Pentlands. Digby who was there with a crew said loads of runners were out doing the Carnethy route. However since this is a pretty crappy route (and dreadful race) we chose a more pleasant path from Balerno up to the Kips, along the South ridge, then off Turnhouse past Glencorse and up Maidens Cleugh. This would also mean the wind was to our backs up the main climbs.
firstly Mary managed to score some gear from her dealer
The coffees filled our heads with nonsense. I can't remember most of the banter but it totally lifted our spirits and we were full of bad jokes and worse singing for the first mile or 2. I was disappointed M said NO to my request to do the Redmoss boardwalk. She was saving herself for the hills but we were so full of the joys that by the time we got to Turnhouse she extended the plan to incorporate Maiden's Cleugh and then returned by Threipmuir. Well over 10 hilly miles (I forgot to switch on the Garmin for the first half mile.) The sun wasn't out as much as Saturday but on the taller hills the snow kept things bright. It didn't feel warm (due to the wind) but there was a sense the snow from Saturday was already melting. My thoughts are the C5 will be very soggy (and slow).
Met Keith who'd been birding.
the patterns of heather burning
The wet snow made excellent footprints and I was boring Mary by telling her about everyone who had been along the trail that morning in the style of S. Holmes: "There was a tall guy wearing Inov-8s heading north at a brisk jog, while heading South, a bloke wearing Salomons with a medium sized dog."
A C5 recce-er heading down off West Kip.
The tops of the hills were just in the clouds. We overtook this biker on West Kip and swapped places a couple of times until we got, and stayed, ahead.
woops
I think he has the same disk brakes as I do: a musical third apart
and employed quite a bit on the steep downhills.
true romance
Mary twerks ironically.
Twerking has to be the new lowest point of humanity.
And I thought it would be almost impossible to outdo gangnam style.
The majority of folk we saw on Sunday were on the road beside the reservoir between Turnhouse and Maiden's. It was the least nice part of the run and we were pleased to climb up into the snowier hills again. Some of the ground on the way there was a little soft.
3 photo pan of Black Hill
suddenly a flock of spitz
Got back to the car just in time before it started raining. Quite a lot of talk of what was for lunch on the way home. Great run. Took about 2.40 and seemed a lot longer than 10 miles due to hills. Celebrated after lunch by submitting my self assessment to the Tax people, which is what delayed the blog till now.
However on Monday evening (and Tuesday morning) there were nacreous clouds about, perhaps as a result of Storm Henry. I took a couple of poor photos of them while I was working, at sundown on Monday. Worth noting as they are fairly rare.
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