Earth Stood Hard as Iron

It was just as well that the earth stood hard as iron today in the Kilpatrick Hills. I noticed that much of the ground that we were walking on was in fact frozen mud, so the freezing temperatures made our going nice and easy compared to slogging through a bog! James had been talking about going for a walk in that area for a while, partly because he had quite liked it on a previous walk (despite heavy rain) and partly because of its proximity to home - only half an hour's drive and we were striding out onto the hills. Today the weather was absolutely glorious; cold crisp air and blue skies, and we had great views. To the south was a misty Glasgow, to the North were the snow covered hills of the Trossachs and Ben Lomond. We had planned an 8 km walk but extended it to take in Duncolm, the highest hill in the Kilpatricks, so in the end we walked about 15 km with about 500 metres of ascent. A tremendous day.