Friday

The Dog Rambler E-diary

top 03
February 2012
Walk Dogs on walk

Tackling frosty Pentland Hills

Length

6 miles

Brooklyn, Cyrano, Dylan, Finlay, Lucas, Maggie, Otis, Tim

An additional dog today as I agreed help out with an urgent situation. Thankfully the others did not care one jot. So rather than seven there were eight of us squashed into the car. Fortunately no big dog like Darcy or Phoebe. And with both Tim and Lucas not taking up too much space we managed. Best to keep away from too many people and especially dogs. Therefore we set out for the ranging area of The Pentlands. Huge tracts of open space surely we would not meet many folk. Ha. As we arrived at Dreghorn about fifty army boys were beginning to jog along the road heading for the hills. Laden down with heavy looking back packs, kitted out in their khaki uniforms you could see the trepidation on their faces with the challenge to come. Thankfully they were well out of sight by the time we burst from the car. Of course that was not it. Before we managed to get into the small woodland and well on our way to the tranquillity of the hills we bumped into a guy with a small white dog. I did not get a chance to work out what it was as it was soon consumed inside a ball of other dogs. Impossible to control this excited lot so soon into the walk. I am still not sure who it was that broke the walking to heel. I am guessing that it was not just one of them.

Whoever it was they all had to sit in the woods and get a lecture on listening to me. I got disdainful, bored looks in return. It was a relief for all to get onto the frosted and rock hard ground leading us upwards. At last the dogs were able to get a good stretch of their legs. And didnt they take the opportunity with both paws. Almost all of them. Not Otis who was in one of his daydream moods and could usually be spotted somewhere behind us until he took a fancy to Maggie. Ever since his neighbouring dog and both Jolie and Phoebe have been in season he has really discovered women. Maggie did not seem to mind. Indeed I think she likes a bit of attention. And she could attract this attention without having to run around to get noticed. A double bonus for her. Of course Finlay was not in the chase with the rest. But being much more sociable today he did spend a lot of time in amongst the others when they came back to the path or track for a breather. We pounded upwards onto the cold yet sundrenched summit of Capelaw Hill. A wintry haze falling for the sky to half obscure the views like a veil of secrecy. The further hills were not so much stark silhouettes as flimsy cardboard cut-outs. The veil stole away as we looked up higher into the sky. The sky transiting though a range of blues to something quite deep and space like. It made us feel really high up. So too did the temperature. Not a time to linger. Keeping warm was no object for Brooklyn, Cyrano, Dylan, Lucas and Tim as they raced over the wide top of Capelaw and then keeping it going with sprigs of heather to taunt each other on the way to Castlelaw Hill. Finlay disappointed that his usual puddle on the track was heavily iced. It took his weight and more; Brooklyn, Maggie and Cyrano. It still did not give. We laboured up the very steep track to the top Castlelaw Hill before almost immediately descending the other side on a challenging loose scree covered half path. Easy for the dogs who lolloped down it as I carefully picked my way. Then it was back onto a good track and back toward Dreghorn. Less madness from the

dogs as they walked along together in twos and threes or sniffed about off the track. We dropped down the track between Capelaw Hill and Allermuir Hill avoiding the heavily iced bands of white. Much more frozen than the previous two days. But still not frozen enough for Finlay and Otis not to find what may have been the one unfrozen muddy section in the whole of the Pentlands. Even Cyrano had managed to stay pretty much clean but not dry as he ran ahead to plunge into the chilled flow of a stream. He was joined by Finlay and Maggie meaning there were several wet dogs waiting to get in the car as we rounded the corner back to Dreghorn. Nick

Photo slideshow from the walk

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