#1: Hiking the 7 hills

Starting the challenge with a biggie: hiking the seven hills of Edinburgh in one day. The hills are, in the order we hiked them: Corstorphine Hill, Castle Rock, Calton Hill, Arthur’s Seat, Blackford Hill, Braid Hills, and Craiglockhart Hill. And breath!

Andrew and I had a week off with nae plans. And so, on a Sunday night, we thought: let’s circumnavigate the city tomorrow. Luckily, Andrew can whip up a navigation plan in no time, and even luckier, we could start the hike straight from our doorstep – Cortorphine Hill.

Corstorphine Hill is my favourite because of its rich woodland that wraps around the hill. I mean, look at those mossy rocks! It’s magical here, and I always seem to find new paths and cool spots.

Onwards to the city centre, we pushed through the crowds to Castle Rock and Calton Hill. I felt quite irritated by this; it was like I was going to work with all the tourists around. When hiking, I’m used to a calm and natural environment. This exhausted me more than usual.

About 10 km in, we started the ascent up Arthur’s Seat. The sun was beaming at this point, and I was struggling. But we had only covered a third of our distance, so I had to think positively.

Knackered, we made it to the top of our 4th hill! We quickly descended to get away from the masses, with the 3 remaining hills looming in the distance. We zigzagged through the streets of Edinburgh South and stopped at a cafe – perks of city hiking.

We started the ascent of Blackford Hill at 18 km, and I was very much done by then. But we had three more hills to go, and I wasn’t going to give up. It is amazing how much hiking can build up your mental strength, pushing through the discomfort one step at a time.

The views are my favourite at the top of Blackford Hill, where you get a full panorama of the city. At this point, I could fully admire how far we’ve walked and see every hill. The southern hills are quieter, and I started to wonder if we were the only ones doing this challenge today. And I thought it was pretty cool that we were walking a huge circle around Edinburgh. How cool are we?

Walking up the 6th hill, the Braid, was my lowest point. My legs were hurting, and we didn’t know this hill. It is essentially a golf course, but a very confusing one at that – we never really knew where golfers were teeing off. So we awkwardly weaved across. At the top, a kind bench invited me to sit.

One more hill to go! And it was quite easy, I don’t even think I noticed going up, probably too delirious to tell. But we made it! And we celebrated with lots of photos, jumping around. Like I said, delirious!

From there, it took a surprisingly long time to get home, longer than expected. We took the scenic route: along the canal, Water of Leith, Saughton Park, railway path, then home. After nearly 30 km, my dog Josie had zoomies in the park. I couldn’t believe it! She is a machine.

Home, we plonked on the couch, ate pasta, and inspected our blisters: proof of a great hike. For a more descriptive take, check out Andrew’s blog post. This was a great start to the challenge, and I can’t wait for what’s to come.

Thanks for following along,

Kayla