Pentlands – West Kip and East Kip

Photographed from Cap Law.

From left to right the hills in the distance are West Kip, East Kip, Scald Law and South Blackhill. Even from this distance, the well worn path up West Kip is quite obvious.

On this busy Saturday (17th March 2012) there were unusually large groups of walkers on the hills.

An infrared photo of East Kip's eastern slope as seen from the bottom of the path up Scald Law. Taken at the beginning of August 2012.

The sun is shining on West and East Kip making the grass appear white in this infrared photo taken from Scald Law. East Cairn Hill is mostly in shadow.

The path along the ridge is clearly defined in this photo, taken at the summit of West Kip. There's a steep descent before climbing East Kip then down again to the base of Scald Law where the path forks. Carnethy Hill is visible further away. January 2000.

Late August in 2011 and it's cloudy with sunny intervals. The same view as West Kip 7.

Photographed on 29th March 2002. Compare this with the winter view 2 pictures back.

This is looking west from Scald Law. East Cairn Hill is in the distance.

A similar picture but from a slightly different viewpoint.

Facing the opposite direction (WSW) and looking back at East Kip (534M) with West Kip (551M) behind it. In the foreground, a walker is approaching the summit of Scald Law, assisted by a stick he found.

Looking across Auchencorth Moss to the Moorfoot Hills.

Six mountain bikers are traveling north while another two are going south. This path leads from the end of the main Pentland ridge down to Lover's Loup.

There's a crowd of people on top of West Kip and there's more on the path at the bottom. This shot from Cap Law gives a good view.

On the path to Lover's Loup, near the bottom of East Kip is this wide angle view. The flat area to the right is Kitchen Moss, the source of the Logan Burn.

Four walkers can be seen on the ridge in this shot, as well as a corner of the wood.

Used as Desktop Wallpaper in this version: 1920 x 1080 pixels 191K. Four people are on the summit and three birds are flying above.

Near West Kip a small pool provides a little ecosystem for amphibians and insects.

Unlike Jesus, these water boatmen insects don't need a miracle to walk on water; surface tension supports them quite adequately.

Saturday March 17th 2012 was a busy day in the Pentland Hills. This view of West Kip is from Cap Law.

We often take this path around the north side of West Kip. Had we done so today we'd have encountered these three vehicles. I cannot really believe that their presence here was necessary.

Vehicle 1

Vehicle 2

Vehicle 3

We found some peace over on Kitchen Moss beside the southern slopes of Hare Hill but noticed crowds of people on top of West Kip.

Zoomed in on the people on top of West Kip.

Some walkers are taking pictures. One has a dog for company.

If you walk around the side of West Kip on the path that leads to Lovers Loup then you'll pass this bridge for the farmer's quad bike. Infrared photo - as are the next 4.

The path on the north side of West Kip continues along the lower slopes of East Kip. We were surprised to encounter a group of walkers coming the other way on a grey Wednesday afternoon.

A wide angle view of the scene. Hare Hill lies across Kitchen Moss to the left. The visible hill on the left of the picture is Blackhill.

Another view of the party of walkers from closer up.

The electric fence didn't seem to be powered up. We held onto it to avoid stepping in the puddles.

Beyond East Kip are Scaldlaw and Carnethy.