Wednesday

The Dog Rambler E-diary

top 01
February 2012
Walk

Over Allermuir Hill and Capelaw Hill

Length

6 miles

Dogs on walk

Cyrano, Finn, Jolie, Phoebe, Otis, Solo, Tim

A cold crisp day today. Solid, frozen ground underfoot. At last we would have some clean dogs by the end of the day. All the muddy paths frozen in peaked mountains, with high spiked ridges, their own ravines and glens with frozen lochs. All in miniature. Like a satellite image. Sadly it was not to be. In the clear sky the sun rose above the hill line and began to thaw the ground. The frozen mountain ranges became soft and pliable the dogs big paws cutting them up and into mud. The frozen lochs thawed and the dogs began to get dirty. Particularly Solo somehow. Cyrano next and Otis amazingly manage to stay quite clean for longer but not until the end. At the outset we skipped over the frozen ground from Dreghorn on a path that turned to a half track heading straight for the hills. Tim was in a right state of excitement. Finn and Phoebe his one time best pals who he has hardly seen recently had him barking, yapping and leaping about. Phoebe did get a bit fed up with his constant attention and saw him off with a lunging bark several times. She also wanted her chance to play with Finn who was happy to bundle about with either of them. Of course Jolie as not going to be left out but she did keep an eye on me as they ran in wider and wider circles occasionally losing sight of me.

As we snaked through some low down gorse bushes gradually beginning to ascend toward the great lump at our right. The mass of Allermuir Hill bulky and huge as a backdrop to our twisting track. Cyrano kept tabs on the others as they slowed and then began to chase again as we climbed. Even Otis was caught up in the heady atmosphere and was never too far away from his girls, Jolie and Phoebe. Solo with his tail waving from side to side dragged us all onwards and upwards as we began to overhaul Allermuirs height. Gathering together to pass by a party of school kids huddled together under a drop in the hillside for a snack to boost their energy. There was no stopping for us. To prove it was not needed the dogs raced off down the other side of Allermuir Hill. The lower less challenging curve of Capelaw Hill below us. But across a cleugh meaning we would still have a climb on our hands. Patches of snow clung to the heather and grass as the sun did its best to warm our way. Under its watchful gaze the dogs eyes twinkled with fun and mischief. At this rate they would be very tired by the end of the walk. We dropped off Capelaw leaving the silhouetted saw toothed peaks of the other hills behind us. Turning toward the pastel whitewashed colours of Edinburgh. Strange shafts of dark light penetrating the few clouds overhanging the city. Like rain but it was not, it was the sunlight. Still frozen underfoot at this height we briskly trod down the hillside not worried about any dirt. But as we got lower so it got softer and so the dirt began to creep up the dogs feet and onto their fur and under their belly. Shame, I had been hopeful of a clean sweep of clean dogs. Cyrano and Solo trumped it all by finding to a nice muddy puddle to stand in. Trying to beat the thaw and the spreading rays of the sun we tracked back across the now crumpling miniature mountain ranges more reminiscent to of a cold wet lava flow. Spreading thickly between dog toes. Once more a number of dirty dogs approached the car. Happy and tired they jostled against each other to find the best spaces to lie down or rest their head.

Nick

Photo slideshow from the walk

Follow The Dog Rambler on Facebook and access the e-diaries online

Thursday

The Dog Rambler E-diary

top 02
February 2012
Walk

High above Edinburgh on the northern Pentland Hills

Length

6 miles

Dogs on walk

Darcy, Finlay, Gustave, Jerry, Lucas, Ozzy, Tim

Another cold and frozen day with clear sunny skies. Another day in the hills on frozen ground. The once muddy paths now solid and ridged with peaks of solid earth. More solid today, perhaps with luck the ground will not thaw like yesterday leaving us with dirty dogs at the end. Today we began our hill walk from Swanston. As usual busy with colourfully clad men pushing and pulling golf trolleys. Making the most of the dryness of the weather. Making the most of it too was a couple of cars of walkers. Not together. One almost ready to set off when we arrived the other arriving as we got ready. The first party headed off not in

the direction we were to go. The other person was still tying his laces as we took the narrow path through the trees to Swanstons little village of picturesque cottages around a manicured green. I did my best to keep the dogs to the path until we were through the boundary gate from the houses. Caerketton Hill rose ahead of us. A long undulating line of a hill with three distinct peaks along its ridge. Frosted with snow it shimmered and cast a long shadow toward us. The sun trying to rise above it from behind. Held low by the winter. Darcy and Tim began to wrap themselves around each other, like last week. It was great to see Gustave chasing about with Lucas. Until I realized that Lucas intentions may not have been all that I thought as he tried to pull him toward himself with his front legs.

Jerry ignored this rather unseemly behaviour and bounded about in the crunchy grass, dabbed with snow the higher we climbed. He was not on his own as Ozzy followed him before prying Tim away from Darcy and racing off with him encouraging Lucas to leave Gustave alone. Where was Finlay in all this? Well at the front of course. Striking a good pace up the heavy incline of the hill. Turning back every now and then to check our progress. Nearing the top he slowed for us to catch up. A pale, icy looking blue sky swirled around us. Some mackerel scale shaped clouds heralding a change, signalling rain or snow within the next forty eight hours. Let us not worry about that now. We basked in the cleanness of the air. Thin and brittle as though we could almost touch it. The dogs cut through it easily on their rampaging runs. Everyone but Finlay joining in at one time or another. We stopped for a photo. The dogs all sitting together with a line of hazy, dark hills behind them. A walker clambering up toward us remarking how good they were to sit so long for the photo. They were rewarded by a meeting with another dog a little further along the ridge, just before the climb up Allermuir Hill. A (I think) flat coated retriever came bounding over from it owners on another path almost converging and beginning to run almost parallel to

climb Allermuir. It barked drawing the attention of all the dogs. But they waited until it got closer before investigating. It stayed with us up most of the hill. Then quite unexpectedly it just about joined us at the bottom of the hill when we had gone through a rickety gate heading for the shoulder of Capelaw Hill. Only the gate prevented it from joining us. Looking upward I could see its owners were less than a third of the way down Allermuir Hill. Thankfully it raced back up toward them and we continued across the shoulder of Capelaw Hill. The dogs having a bit of a rest scattered themselves about, Darcy and Lucas homing in on me. Ozzy and Tim stopping to sniff about. Gustave doing his best to get under my feet and Jerry running back and forth between Finlay and the rest of us. We slowly reeled him in. Down we went toward Edinburgh and back along the bottom of the hills. Having to stop to let a line of Highland cows take precedence on the path. We stood to one side. Darcy fascinated by them tried to sneak over. They kept on moving until we moved. Then three stopped and peered before shuffling off again. Over a rise and Swanston came back into view below us. Me getting ahead of the dogs as they took their time back over the recently laid cold gravel track. Back through the thatched cottage village and to the car.

Nick

Photo slideshow from the walk

Follow The Dog Rambler on Facebook and access the e-diaries online

Ramblesnacks

The Dog Rambler www.thedogrambler.com nick@thedogrambler.com t. 0131 665 8843 or 0781 551 6765

Ramblesnacks healthy, homemade treats for your dog with no artificial flavours or preservatives. Order your 200g bags now - Heartbeets, Banana Boost (1.50 each) and Peanut Choc Chip Cookies (1.75).