Tinto

Tinto from carpark

Now that the fishing season is effectively over it is time to get out and about focusing on walking again.
My walking partner has suffered badly with planter facitisis but felt that he was recovering and wanted to give a reasonable hill a go. I have been struck with this three times over the last 10 years and the last was so severe it effectively finished my jogging career and took almost a year to heal. The treatment is effectively rest, then stretching, then slow introduction to exercise, but it is notoriously difficult to cure.

Neither of us had walked Tinto for over 10 years so it would be nice refresher. Tinto stands in splendid isolation in the Southern Uplands close to Lanark and Biggar and is a prominent landmark for traffic on the M74. It stands at 707 metres but you are starting from an elevated spot so actual height climbed is nearer 500 metres. The open summit gives some great views in all directions and with today's weather forecast being good we were optimistic. It is said to be the highest hill in central Scotland but that depends on your definition of central.
We were joined by his pointer and a lab that needed to lose a bit of weight so 4 to the party on the hill.

Lee & dogs on scree path

There are 2 options and we decided to take the standard trail from Thankerton. The other route from Wiston is longer but I thought that it might take us over farming fields and livestock, not recommended with the dogs.
There is a good car park at Thankerton and the hill is so popular that the route is a distinct scar on the hillside all the way to the summit.
The lower slopes are all patchwork heather and great grouse country. About half way up it splits into a more reddish rock strata. We thought the dogs would spook a few birds but we only saw two and that was right at the end of the walk.

Half way up looking northwest

It is an easy climb and can be achieved by anyone with moderate fitness, Some of the people we passed today would be surprised by the chill factor at the top and some clothing was certainly not adequate. So, the usual provisos, it is a mountain and weather can change very quickly. There are some scree patches as you gain height but mostly you are walking on solid ground, so for us good time was made on the ascent. Looking straight ahead the view is not great, just the hill, so it is worth stopping and looking back to take in the impressive vista. We had a few walkers in front and met 2 groups going down. More impressively 3 different hill runners came past, those were the days but certainly nowhere fit enough for that now, mighty jealous of them.

Dark clouds started to gather over the summit and a fresh wind picked up, jacket back on. We reached the massive cairn after 1 hour 10 minutes. This is a massive prehistoric bronze age cairn now well hidden with many thousands of boulders. The view indicator is detailed so if it is quiet you can take your time, hog the indicator and pick out a lot of the hills. Sadly wind turbines spoil a lot of the views, what a mess some of our countryside has become. We can see as far as the greater Glasgow conurbation to the north, the river Clyde below and the M74 traffic. The official trig marker is a short way off from the cairn.

A couple of walkers approach the summit, the cloud over the summit

The wind was freshening so we had a quick bite to eat then slowly went back down. My partners foot had far from healed so he was in a fair bit of pain, slowly down the hill we walked. A pair of kestrels were spotted, lovely, all to rare now. A pair of ravens glided over the heather trying to spook a small bird and a single buzzard. That was all for the birds today apart from the grouse later on. Going slowly was not an issue, magnificent views to savour in a blue autumn sky.

On the way down looking south

Looking back the summit cloud was now very dark, possibly rain and it looked cold up there.
Overall 2 and a half hours for the round trip. An easy hill with super views, well worth it but I don't think my partner will be walking again for a while, recovery is not that quick.