What a difference a week of thawing makes. Last week we were walking in winter wonderland in freezing temperatures, now there’s hardly any snow and ice left. The well trodden paths of stamped down snow have turned inot a sheet of very slippery ice. Apart from these icy paths and the frozen loch and little pools in the moors, all the snow has gone. Even Drumgoyne, the Campsies and Kiltsyth hills have little snow left on them. It even felt like the start of spring, no need to zip your jacket up with temperatures touching double figures.
The going was very slow due to the icy paths, so we walked along the loch, out up on the moors to the viewpoint overlooking Strathblane, the Campsies and the Kilsyth Hills. Especially, the views to the Kilsyth Hills were stunning with the late evening sun throwing it’s golden and red light onto these hills with a blanket of dark cloud cover.
Lola got the scent of something and scampered down into a little craggy gully. We followed her, deciding to explore this little gully. It’s always nice to venture of the main path and doddle around. That’s when you see the beauty and hidden gems often missed when running past. The gully concealed ice pillars along its rocy sides and lots of lychen including bright red patches entangled in the heather.
A short walk in distance, but quite long in time. On the way back, Lola made friends with a Portugese waterdog and they ran ragged until exhaustion overcame them. A nice outing after all on a dreich day.