Friday

The Dog Rambler E-diary

To 11
May 2012
Walk Dogs on walk Over hill to Castlelaw Iron Age Fort Length 6 miles

Brooklyn, Cyrano, Dylan, Finlay, Tim, Struan, Talaidh

Brrr, brrr and brrr again. It feels like there is a new ice age coming. Cold as we climbed into the hills, doused by rain. Barely another soul about. No one so foolish as to take on this ill fitting spring weather. Only two other cars at Dreghorn. Normally much busier than that. But further down signs of army activity. A couple of camouflaged Land Rovers and a Military Police car. We headed off toward the hills in a different direction. But we were to meet some soldiers on the way back. We crossed open grassy land toward the hills. Rising steadily in front of us. Brooklyn already bounding about and ignoring that there was a path. He spent next to no time on the path for the whole walk. A great way to get away from Tim. For as Brooklyn dived through the heather, Tim ran along the wide track. Finlay was scuppered in his efforts to get to the front. With Struan and Talaidh there he could never get away. And Dylan was not for being left at the back today. If anyone was ever lagging behind it was Tim. Having seen little of Cyrano on Wednesday today he was checking on me constantly and never seemed to venture far. Except when he knew we

were approaching water. Then he was off at full pace. And he can shift. But not into the water. No. To lie down by it and wait for me to get there. By which time Finlay would be bathing and the others drinking. It is stiff climb up the pass between Allermuir Hill and Capelaw Hill. Both rising on steep grass and heather slopes on either side. Brooklyns path. It levelled out into a chilly breeze and yet more rain. Cyrano now also pushing through the heather while Brooklyn and Tim had a bit of a chase. A long Pentland Hill ridge their backdrop. Shaping in and out of the dropping cloud as Brooklyn and Tim threw odd shapes of their own as they twisted around each other in the chase. It all had to come to an end as a group of sheep with some young lambs refused to yield very much as we approached. They watched us closely from a close distance. The dogs doing well to barley even look at them. The sheep even seeming to pose with the dogs for the camera. Then it was downhill into slightly warmer climes. Looking down toward the uneven circular mounds and ditches in the grass. All that remains of the Iron Age fort. Like the fading ripples from a stone thrown in a pond but too irregular. The dogs ran onto the fort. Then in increasing rain we climbed our way back up. Finding that the sheep had moved on. Back at the bottom Cyrano and Finlay were straight into a watery ditch, looking for me to throw some stones. They leapt after them but were not much cleaner when they reemerged onto the track. At Dreghorn, beside the abandoned and tumbledown farm buildings we came across the soldiers on exercise. Some acting at being wounded and lying on the ground. Almost too much of a temptation for Brooklyn and Tim, nearly licking the fake blood on one guys face. We got by as fast as we could and covered the short distance back to the car. Very wet, we slowly began to dry out. Nick

Photo slideshow from the walk

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