A hike up the hill (Lee Pen)

The car hasn’t been replaced but the feet are feeling better so to try and get the blood pumping the dog and I set off for a hike up Lee Pen, a 502m high hill that sits above the town of Innerleithen with fine views of the mountain biking meccas of The Golfie and Glentress and beyond to the Southern Uplands. I packed the camera in the hope of capturing the snow capped views.

The walk from our house initially took us past the remains of Nether Horsburgh Castle a ruined 16th-century rectangular tower-house, one of many in the region, these fortified dwellings are a sign that the Borders region wasn’t always as peaceful as it is now. We continued up, along and across the Hope Burn onto onto the hillside proposer. The South facing slopes below Lee Pen, Mill Rig and Black Knowe have been planted with trees since we moved in and will grow into a substantial forest of mixed stock as I understand. You can already see the native birch taking hold along the higher streams and the slopes are constantly patrolled by the resident Buzzards.

We then followed one of the old stone dykes above the snowline and onto the moor proper. Once on the ridge we were greeted with wonderful views North up the Leithen Water to the Moorfoot Hills between Edinburgh and ourselves and South towards the the Southern Upland way and the Border beyond. I took some pictures but I’m not sure any are worthy of the front page of the website but I have posted a video clip and some photos on my Instagram page (link in the top right corner). Practice leads to improvement and hopefully the light will come out to play next time.

From the top we dropped into Innerleithen for a bowl of soup and leftover haggis and tatties (it was the day after Burns Night). Thanks Mike. Feet still working and the legs and heart put through their paces.