Pentlands – Carnethy, Castlelaw and Carlops

The A702 road descends into Carlops and crosses the River North Esk.

Looking across Hollow Haugh towards Dun Kaim, Seven Cauldrons, Peaked Craig and Hell's Hole.

A noticeable landmark passing through Carlops is this crag overlooking the main road. Legend has is that witches used to take off from the top of the cliff.

The footpath to Carnethy Hill from Scald Law, the flat-topped hill in the previous picture. You can see the pink surface of the exposed rock on the path. Scald Law is 579M whereas Carnethy Hill is 573M above sea level.

Also taken from the summit of Scald Law but zoomed in to show more detail of the footpath further away, as well as some walkers. Hazy sunshine and a slight haar from the North Sea characterise this sequence of images.

Carnethy hill as seen from the ascent of Scald Law.

Photographed in infrared from part way down the path from Scald Law.

The main path up Carnethy's north east slope. This forms part of the path along the entire ridge from Turnhouse (near Flotterstone) to West Kip.

Looking up to the summit.

Looking back down. The path along the ridge is eroded by walkers' boots and new paths form as it gets increasingly difficult to avoid slipping on loose stones. Also, rainwater often follows established paths and walkers avoid the water and mud, creating parallel paths.

A wider view of the scene from slightly higher up.

On the rock-strewn summit of Carnethy Hill, looking down towards Turnhouse Hill (506M).

The cairn at the the summit. South Black Hill and Scaldlaw form the background.

A wider view.

There are several of such stone craters up here. How long the stones have been arranged in this way is unclear. These can be comfortable places to rest a while, dry and contoured and sheltered from the wind. The summit cairn lies a few metres beyond this crater.

A man and his dog at the summit.

Down below to the north west is Loganlea reservoir.

Zoomed in on the dam and its overflow.

Glencorse reservoir looks black down below in this infra red view. Behind Capelaw and Allermuir in the distance the Firth of Forth also appears black.

Zoomed in on the start of Kirk Road beside the A702.

Black Hill's burnt heather patches are indeed quite black. Down below is a little building which caters to the fishermen who come to Loganlea reservoir.

This view of the path up Scald Law also shows part of Kirk Road coming up from the left.

Infrared views of the path up Carnethy from Kirk Road taken on June 26th 2013.

Looking the opposite direction towards Scald Law.

Approaching the steeper part of the climb.

Cottongrass. The North Esk flows from right to left somewhere amongst the trees down below. Auchencorth Moss at the back looks like it's been stripped of its peat.

Sheltering from the wind amongst the rocks at the top of the hill and peeking over the side towards East Lothian. Two blips on the horizon are North Berwick Law and Traprain hill.

The path down passes through a gate then starts to climb Turnhouse Hill. Just beyond the dyke is a quad bike track leading down to Glen Road near Logan House. A wooden bridge crosses Logan Burn between Loganlea Reservoir and Glencorse Reservoir.

A summer view facing north towards Capelaw Hill from Fala Knowe near Castlelaw. This path is sometimes used by the army.

You can read all about the Fort here, as well as enter part of it and examine it from inside. It dates from the 2nd century or before and may be Roman in origin. Behind the entrance to the underground chamber stands Turnhouse Hill at the north east end of the popular ridge walk.

From further away and higher up we can get a better picture of the site. The modern entrance is visible at the left. The entire structure could have been built as a neighborhood grain store, rather than for a military purpose - according to the sign next to the entrance.

Castleknowe is a small hill on the south eastern slopes of Castlelaw. A slight diversion from the main path leads to these Scots Pine trees. It's a sad fact that grazing sheep will eat seedling trees.

From higher up the Castlelaw path you can see the small wood in its entirety, with the Esk Valley in the distance.

Facing towards the last, steep part of the climb. You can see the red flag on the summit silhouetted against the clouds.

If soldiers were shooting at the rifle range then this flag would be raised. The wind has been gradually ripping the red flag to shreds. In the distance, Penicuik is getting a good soaking in a heavy shower.

The path on the south west side of Castlelaw roughly follows a contour above Glen Road. This infrared photo shows a puddle following wet weather. (Late September 2012)

Another infrared view. There's a path down to Glencorse Reservoir and Glen Road at the other side of the nearby trees. Bell's Hill is visible at the back.

This path continues up the east side of Castlelaw and joins up with the bulldozed track that comes up from Howden Glen. The star marks the entrance to the iron age building nearby.

This bird landed beside the path. I think it's a chaffinch.

Some infrared photos of the path round Castlelaw, here heading in an anticlockwise direction, approaching the rifle range.

Continuing the walk round Castlelaw, passing the entrance to the iron age fort.

A shot of the six-pointed star sign.

A path leads to the iron age fort.

The track up Castlelaw gets steeper just ahead.

Before climbing the steeper part, a final look down to the valley. Turnhouse Hill is on the left.

This cyclist pushed his bike up the steepest section before getting back on the saddle again. There was a fierce wind to contend with as well as the gradient.

The track up to the top of Castlelaw is rather steep but worth it for the view.

The view from Castlelaw summit over the Pentland ridge. The nearer reservoir is Glencorse with Loganlea more distant. From left to right the hills are Turnhouse, Carnethy, Scaldlaw, East Kip, West Kip,

The same viewpoint but zoomed in more.

The track was built on behalf of the army. When they're training there are warnings not to proceed beyond fences. Allermuir is the hill on the right.

In this infrared view Capelaw is the hill on the left and Allermuir is on the right. The track descends steeply round the bend as it goes down Howden Glen. Two Forth Bridges are visible in the centre of the picture.

Looking back up Castlelaw at the clouds.

Just before the gate and cattle grid there's a path down to the left which leads to the low path round Castlelaw. If it's been raining you might need waterproof boots as it's quite boggy in places.

Castlelaw hill as seen from Allermuir hill. The footpath descends steeply. Castlelaw is straight ahead but the path also branches to the right, down to Capelaw.

East Cairn Hill from Castlelaw. The sun caught these strange markings on the lower slopes, photographed from 17 miles away.

The entrance to Dens Cleugh as seen when walking clockwise round Black Hill.

The path round Black Hill from Green Cleugh overlooks Threipmuir Reservoir and crosses it at the causeway before continuing to Harlaw. Alternatively you may continue along the foot of Black Hill to Den's Cleugh which is the valley between Black Hill and Bell's Hill.

Cottongrass at Castlelaw

Intriguing clouds at Castlelaw