The weather couldn't be better for a weeks holiday off work, so with blue skies & long awaited sunshine I head off to tackle the killer climb up to the summit of Lammer Law with it's 360 degree views I was hoping to get some cracking photos.
Lammer Law which is part of the Lammermuir Hills here in East Lothian, the law itself rises to a height of 527 metres (1729 ft ). The Lammer Law is a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' which covers an area of 2448 acres & comprises of upland blanket bog & heather moor, with a variety of other habitats such as small cleughs, woodland, scrub & open water. Designated in 1984, it includes the largest area of juniper scrub in the Lothians...
Roll the pics...
Passing these old finger post road signs I couldn't resist jumping out the car to grab a couple of pictures of them.
Parking the car at the Blinkbonny wood just past Longyester I set off on the seemingly never ending hill climb to the summit of the law.
Following a Land Rover track up the hill which was a bit of a struggle today for some reason, 'legs feeling a bit lethargic' & that was when I reached for the water bottle only to realise that I had left in the fridge at home !
A wee sneaky peek overlooking the Hopes reservoir.
Stopping for a breather looking back at how far & quick I had come up the hill, it's amazing how far you can go if you just keep your head down & just keep the pedals turning.
On approach to the summit of Lammer Law I spotted another mountain biker Paul at the top where we had a wee blether swapping bike related stories before he set off on his way back down again. Now it was time for the tradition of placing a stone on the cairn, taking the photos & of coarse the 'selfie' photos of the mission achieved before heading off downhill towards the Hopes reservoir.
Paul heading off over the edge.
A beautiful day but a little bit of a haze far in the distance spoiling the shots of the Lothian Lowlands & out to sea in the Firth of Forth.
The benchmark plate & the mounting plate on the top of the trig point both of which are used by the Ordnance Survey for precise measurements.
Amazing day up here in the hills no noise pollution what so ever just natures song of Grouse, Lapwings & Skylarks & other bird calls which I'm not familiar with their species.
Bottom picture is of a Grouse shooting butt, which wealthy big paying guns enjoy their sport.
The beauty of the rolling Lammermuir hills & another of those evil stoat & weasel traps that I keep coming across in Grouse country.
Give it a couple of months & all these hills will be transformed into a sea of purple with the heather in bloom.
Other than the blue sky it was like cycling in a sepia wonderland, everything different shades of brown.
Rounding the corner coming onto the Hopes reservoir & on a day like today it looked tempting to get the clothes off & jump in for a dook, another day for sure.
Little boat shed for the fishing on the reservoir either that or it's a secret moonshine still ?
Hopes reservoir, I love these old reservoirs always interesting engineering involved in their construction, part of the stonework on this build as depicted by the script on the bottom picture reads...
' The arch of this bridge & the walls of this waterworks which it spans were brought from the Calton jail Edinburgh upon it's demolition 1930-31 '
So there you go from keeping in prisoners & now to keep water in.
After having a look around the reservoir buildings I noticed a nice wee single track path heading around the reservoir which brought me back onto the road that I was on, a nice little detour.
The charred remains of freshly burnt heather which gave of a great smell. The idea behind burning heather is that when it's burnt it encourages new shoots to grow which is what the grouse like to eat.
Looking back to where Iv'e been & forward to where I'm heading.
The bottom side of the reservoir dam.
Bracket fungus covering this Birch tree.
The final wee bit of, off-road before the tarmac & back to the car parked at the Blinkbonny Wood at Longyester.
Another old finger post as I was heading back to the car. East Lothian Council have been giving these old signs a fresh coat of paint over the winter months which is far better than replacing them with modern ones.
Heather burning up the hill & I came across this roadkill Hare still in it's winter white coat a throw back from the ice age.
Well that's another post blogged it was a great few hours out on the bike on I reckon the best weather that we've had this year I even caught a bit of sun, brilliant tracks & trails with even more to explore in the future, stunning scenery & great to meet fellow mountain biker Paul on my travels.
Thanks for looking cheers for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment