Arthur's Seat

9 April 2011.

Participants - Me, Roddy and Ben
Where - Arthur's Seat, 251m/823', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, in the centre of Edinburgh.

A number of very recognisable hills have a sufficient amount of relative height to qualify as a Marilyn; Arthur's Seat must be the most recognisable and is almost certainly the most visited. It is the remains of a volcano which would have been active about 340 million years ago and it dominates the Edinburgh skyline. One of the best views is obtained from nearby Calton Hill.....

It was a warm sunny day and the tourists were out in force so we were lucky to find spaces to park in the St Margaret's Loch car park. It was a bit hazy however so I have added a few pictures that I took on a previous visit to some of the ones that I took today. There are lots of different routes on the hill, some of the paths have been improved although the more rocky areas are worn and quite slippery, especially if you are wearing trainers- which we weren't. On this occasion we decided to walk up the road as far as Dunsapie Loch and then take the short walk up to the summit.....

This is the view from above Dunsapie Loch down the Forth estuary to the distant North Berwick Law, taken on an earlier visit.....

and this is looking north over the city to the river.....

It was very busy on top but we managed to find a moment when the trig area was relatively clear to take a picture to record that Ben had climbed another Marilyn.....

As I said, it was a bit hazy and the sun was in the wrong place for a good picture looking over the city to the Pentlands so here is another one from a previous visit.....

Ben was on his lead so the descent of the rocky bit at the top was a bit tricky as he pulls a lot and he is getting strong. On this evidence, he won't be going along Collies Ledge, or the Aonach Eagach, or over the pinnacles on Liathach; mind you, I won't be going to these places again either as my nerves when in high narrow places were never very good and are a lot worse now.

We descended in a southerly direction and took an improved path down steeply to the start of Hunter's Bog. This is looking back at the summit from the start of the path.....

and on the path with Salisbury Crags in the background.....

and another view back to the summit from lower down.....