I'm unfortunate to live on the edge of Gotham (Weegieland for those who are not initiated!) But it's my wife's choice and for the immediate future Gotham is made more tolerable by the accessability of some marvelous wildish places that I've recently started to explore in a little more depth! With the Trossachs only 30 minutes awaythese places get overlooked by the majority and for a half day with no driving they are perfect!
This morning I got up at 5.30am and after a coffee got stuck into some long needed DIY on the outside of the house, by noon I had scraped, sanded and painted enough to enjoy an afternoon exploring. So off we went, my good lady, and my dog n I. First part of the walk went through some rarely explored farmland with a hidden gem. An old ruined Mill house and lead. Picture postcard stuff only 5 mins from Weegieland.
The Kilpatrickhills rise very steeply from the Clyde Estuary and they are steeped in history going back at least 4000 years, probably more. This a view towards the clyde. Most of the carved stones have been covered in earth for protection and very little remains of the burial chambers here.
We kept climbing gently up a zig zagging rough path to a waterfall for our first wee break.
There is a waterfall near here called the "Gray Mares Tail" (like in every area in Scotland!), but this is not it, it's hidden in trees further down the burn and harder to reach.
As we climbed higher, the city appeared miles away, it was refreshing being up in the breeze and clean air!
We walked alongside a few reservoirs. There was quite a few goosander feeding on them.
And it was so chilly in the breeze we stopped for a cuppa in our bothy bag. I bought this a while ago and it's the second time it's been out it's bag. It's a 3 person Trekmates bothy bag and it really does work. You would not believe how warm it was inside compared to sitting out in the wind!
The view was terrific and even better with my new Opticron 10x 42 BGA waterproof monocular. Over the last few months it has been getting used every couple of days and it really is a small, tough and good quality alternative to bino's.
Can anyone spot the fishing hut?
Brochlach was loving it!
The view was astonishing for being so close to the Gotham!
On the long walk home I observed something observing me observing it hidden but not very well camouflaged on the edge of the wood!
All in all a great afternoon out although I think my good lady is reconsidering giving up walking! Not a lot of wildlife, although what I did see was nice,plenty goosander in the reservoirs, a red kite in the distance and a sparrowhawk in the woods lower down. A nice afternoon on the edge of the city!
This morning I got up at 5.30am and after a coffee got stuck into some long needed DIY on the outside of the house, by noon I had scraped, sanded and painted enough to enjoy an afternoon exploring. So off we went, my good lady, and my dog n I. First part of the walk went through some rarely explored farmland with a hidden gem. An old ruined Mill house and lead. Picture postcard stuff only 5 mins from Weegieland.
The Kilpatrickhills rise very steeply from the Clyde Estuary and they are steeped in history going back at least 4000 years, probably more. This a view towards the clyde. Most of the carved stones have been covered in earth for protection and very little remains of the burial chambers here.
We kept climbing gently up a zig zagging rough path to a waterfall for our first wee break.
There is a waterfall near here called the "Gray Mares Tail" (like in every area in Scotland!), but this is not it, it's hidden in trees further down the burn and harder to reach.
As we climbed higher, the city appeared miles away, it was refreshing being up in the breeze and clean air!
We walked alongside a few reservoirs. There was quite a few goosander feeding on them.
And it was so chilly in the breeze we stopped for a cuppa in our bothy bag. I bought this a while ago and it's the second time it's been out it's bag. It's a 3 person Trekmates bothy bag and it really does work. You would not believe how warm it was inside compared to sitting out in the wind!
The view was terrific and even better with my new Opticron 10x 42 BGA waterproof monocular. Over the last few months it has been getting used every couple of days and it really is a small, tough and good quality alternative to bino's.
Can anyone spot the fishing hut?
Brochlach was loving it!
The view was astonishing for being so close to the Gotham!
On the long walk home I observed something observing me observing it hidden but not very well camouflaged on the edge of the wood!
All in all a great afternoon out although I think my good lady is reconsidering giving up walking!
Not a lot of wildlife, although what I did see was nice,plenty goosander in the reservoirs, a red kite in the distance and a sparrowhawk in the woods lower down. A nice afternoon on the edge of the city!
