We are in Edinburgh tonight after a huge day of walking. I think Ben found another gear today. He made short work of the Pentland Hills, and had me pushing myself along the Water of Leith to keep up. After 30 km we walked up to a posh looking hotel and had most of the lobby staring at us as we checked in. I am sure I looked like I was about to keel over. When I asked where the nearest restaurants were the front desk guy started with, "Well, about 10 to 15 minutes walk from here...". We cut him off there and said we'd eat at the hotel restaurant!
The Pentland Hills were awesome to walk through. It felt very peaceful there, and I think it was a high point for me so far. We passed a reservoir in the hills that seemed to double as a bird sanctuary. There was a small shack, "Dulverton Hide", that we stopped and had a rest in. There was a log for bird watchers inside, and we noticed that somebody saw some Canada Geese yesterday. We left a note saying how fortunate that was since it was Canada Day!
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| Dulverton Hide |
As we were leaving the Pentlands we saw two elderly gentlemen having a break for lunch. They looked to be in their seventies, and we were at least 7 km from anywhere (14 km return!) at the time. It was inspirational to see them out there enjoying their country at such an old age. As with everybody else we've met they were very friendly and interested in what we were up to.
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| Lunch Stop At Bore Stane |
As we walked through Balerno, about 10 km outside Edinburgh, we came across another elderly gentlemen walking up the street with a walker. He stopped us for a quick chat, and let us know he hiked Ben Nevis (Google it) twice back in the day, and that despite the walker he still loved getting out, if only to go around the block. Amazing.
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| Distant View Of Edinburgh From Near Balerno |
The last bit of the hike into Slateford had us go over the second largest aqueduct in Scotland - 180 m long, and 18 m high. It was built in 1822. There was no railing between the sidewalk and canal, and one missed step while passing oncoming bikes or walkers would have had us swimming. It was very impressive when you think of when it was built.
Back in the hotel room now after dinner, and I'm sure we'll be drifting off soon. We are off to Linlithgow tomorrow. It will be all flat river path walking. We will make sure to enjoy it as the weather forecast is for rain from the next day on.
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| Cool Window In Hotel Room |
Thanks for reading, everybody!!
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