For me, the best walks are the hill climbs: I love the challenge, the sense of achievement and the wonderful views from the top. However, due to the lockdowns and restrictions of 2020, the last time I was anywhere near a hill was when I was in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, in January 2020. I know I am so lucky to have got that trip to Australia in just before the pandemic. It was during a five-hour stopover at Taipei airport that I realised something big might be happening. Covid-19 had featured daily on Australian news but the biggest news at that time was the bush fires…and it was summertime, you don’t think you are at risk of getting a ‘flu-like virus in the summer. But at Taipei all the ground staff were wearing masks…
Anyway, since hiking in the Blue Mountains in early 2020, the biggest hill I have climbed has been St Boniface Down in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. So during a week in Lanarkshire, Scotland, I was keen to find a hill to summit.
Tinto is an isolated hill in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The walk starts at the car park, grid reference: NS964374. Saying that, and this goes against any advice I usually give, no map is really necessary. There is a clear, well-trodden path all the way to the summit. Tinto stands at 711 metres with Tinto cairn at the summit. The photo (below) shows Ozzy and me at the cairn. This was Ozzy’s first big hill and summit!
It was a beautiful sunny day. We set off early yet there were already a few hardy people arriving back at the car park as we set off. I suspect some people walk, or run, this route regularly. Tinto is the venue for one of the most popular hill running races in Scotland which is held annually in November.
There were families, couples, dog walkers. A hundred metres or so from the summit, there was an empty bottle of ‘Bucky’ on the path. Surprised and disappointed to see litter on the hill side, we then noticed a couple of un-opened cans of Strongbow Dark Fruit cider! We wondered what the story was behind these…why discarded so close to the summit? Bag too heavy??
We stopped briefly at the summit to take in the views and take some photos. The round trip took just over 2 hours. As we are still in a phase of partial restrictions, the café at the bottom was closed. Shame as an ice-cream would have been welcomed!
