Edinburgh - Recipe for mid week fun

Most overnight trips are inevitably confined to weekends and holidays. But over recent months an idea had been simmering in my head to rustle up a bit of outdoor fun in the middle of the work week. If I'm working 9 to 5 then why not be outdoors 5 to 9!

The first ingredient in my recipe for mid week fun was a friend who also works in the city, is equally as daft as me and was up for a wild camp on a work night. Rob Burgess fitted the bill! 

We chose a day in late summer when the elements had cooked up a beautiful evening for getting outside. The brashness of the summer sun was on the wane, replaced by cooler air and soft, peachy rays that bathed the landscape. Tall summer grasses danced in golden light and the last of the willowherb provided a splash of colour.

Fundamental to the success of this recipe is having somewhere to go outdoors that's a quick getaway from the city but still handy enough for getting back into work the next morning for the early shift. It also needs to be relatively remote for camping. The Pentland Hills on Edinburgh's southern boundary are perfect for this being at the end of the number 44 bus route from the city centre. Once off the bus, we set out up the wooded path of Poet's Glen and within an hour found ourselves in the open hills. 

A copse of pine trees at the top of the trail provided a perfect pitch for the night. 

For a bit of extra fun, we hadn't packed our usual tents but had taken instead our bivvy bags to feel more outside and less confined. It had been years since either of us had used our bivvy bags so it was a bit of a giggle getting set up and tucked away inside. With the hood open, I could lie looking up through the pine trees at the stars. At some point during the night, the moon rose, flooding our spot with silvery light.

It was a beautiful walk next morning through the quiet stillness of dawn to catch an early 44 into the city. However, there was one downside to this recipe in that it left a nasty residue in the pan, that being the requirement to go back to the office.

Fact File

Start: Currie

Finish: Balerno

My route: Took number 44 bus to Currie, alighting at the bus stop beside the Sainsbury's garage and shop. Immediately beside the stop are steps down to the Water of Leith. Crossed the bridge, walked straight ahead through the houses to join the Water of Leith walkway. Turned right then left up the hill (signed by rights of way post). This is the route through Poet's Glen. Twice the wooded walk reaches a road, turn right and the next path will be on the left. At the top of the trail called Ranges Road, camped in the pines on the left. Next morning at the top of the trail, turned right for Harlaw then left on reaching the road for the visitor centre. Immediately before the centre there is a path on the right which joins Harlaw Road into Balerno for the 44 bus.

Ochils - Outlier

The Ochils are a range of small hills that extend eastwards from Stirling, forming the northern boundary of the flat strath of the Forth Valley and butting up against the western fringes of Fife and Kinross. I've walked and cycled there many times over the years so know them reasonably well. However, what I didn't know until recently is that they extend further than I realised, sneaking behind Fife's Lomond Hills and culminating in the little, outlying peak of Norman's Law on Fife's north coast. Being a bit of a map nerd, I became fascinated by this fact and drooled for months over the browns of the Law's tight contours and  the blues of the Tay Estuary, above which the hill is perched. Finally a warm, sunny late summer's day provided an opportunity to get to the top.

The walk started at the quiet hamlet of Luthrie and headed west on a farm road before joining a dirt track to climb up into rolling terrain and scattered copses of trees. When the path broke out onto open moorland, it really felt like being in the Highlands or at least somewhere more grand, especially with the purple heather in bloom. The route then descended into a wooded, swampy dip and passed through head-high bracken before climbing up the final, steep cone of the hill. Here house martins filled the air and swooped passed at eye level as the path gained height. 

The top seemed a long time coming for such a little peak. But there had already been great variety in the decent length approach walk, much like a big hill but on a small scale. Norman's Law is only 285m high but it's a significant viewpoint in these parts with vistas over the rolling hills and farmland of north Fife and the broad waters of the Tay. Ancient people recognised this fact as well and on the south side of the top a jumble of rocks marks the remains of their Iron Age fort. Looking south from the fort, they would also gaze over the dramatic, twin peaks of the Lomond Hills which, like Norman's Law, are extinct volcanoes. 

For a different return option, the route gingerly crossed a field of Highland cows and zig-zagged through jaggy gorse before following a delightful path along a woodland edge back towards Luthrie. Looking over my shoulder for my last view of the hill, I marvelled at how a little peak could deliver such an enjoyable walk. And I felt very pleased that I'd finally made it to the Ochil's outlier.

Fact File

Start/finish: Luthrie, north Fife

Transport: Luthrie can be accessed via quiet roads by bicycle from the National Cycle Network route number 1 route between Dundee and Newburgh.

My route: From the sharp bend on the main road through Luthrie a farm track heads west and is signed for Norman's Law. At a crossroads where the road becomes dirt track, turned right up the hill and followed this track to the wooded dip above which it passes through a gate to join another track. Opposite and slightly to the left of the gate , the hill route continues to the top as a footpath. To return, descended back to the track at the gate and turned right. When it become open field, the track is less clear in the grass but passes down to the left where there is a gorse-filled dip, crosses a gate then another, then continues as good track. At least that's how it should have gone but it wasn't that obvious. Soon there is a path junction with walking signs along a woodland edge. This comes out at the first crossroads.