Hilltop 5

Lili Tuggle-Weir
Jun 9, 2015
2 min read

Hello all!

Today was the first day of a coming warm spell, so we took advatage and decided to go climb Braid hill. Edinburgh is built around 7 hills, Arthur's Seat, the largest, Castle Rock, the most obvious, Calton, Corstorphine, Blackburn, Craiglockhart, and Braid. We have been to the top of 4 of these, and today we took out Audry to go find number 5, Braid.

We decided to take a more scenic route and decided to go out to Blackburn and follow the path to the Hermitage of Braid, a ravine that was cut by glaciers a few years ago. We were soon climbing our way out of the Hermitage and starting the ascent towards Braid Hill. As we approached we realized we were towards the backside and had to walk our way around towards the front, skirting a golf course.

It didn't take long to find where we wanted to go and so the climbing began. Much of the elevation we gained was making our way to the front, so it wasn't much of a climb to the summit. As we reached the top it became worth it. The views to the north were of the city, which still makes us smile everytime, and on this clear day you could see all the way out towards Fife and the Highlands.

Looking to the south we were greeted with unrivalled views of the Pentlands. Being the second tallest hill of the 7, Braid offered unique sights of the city and the surrounding countryside. It is amazing how Edinburgh is a city, yet when looking at it and the surrounding area, you never get the feeling of anything being over developed. The city seems to blend very will with the surrounding hills and greenspace, especially with the amount of parks and greenspace within the city.

Soon we were making our way back to the house. A short walk down and we took to the streets, going for the more direct route home, both of us looking forward to getting a donut to reward our good work today. Audry was happy to get home, and after some food, was quick to get comfortable and fall heavily asleep for the rest of the evening on the couch. We had a wonderful time and look forward to exploring more of what the Braid Hills have to offer.