Yesterday, after a fruitless quest failing to persuade anyone to go out cragging despite the glorious sunny weather, I went for a bouldering circuit at Glen Lednock (scene of last year's debacle). When I got to the car park, it all seemed a bit strange. Lots of the familiar aspects of Scottish hill bouldering seemed absent... Where was the hideous (and woefully underestimated) slog up a hillside? The man-eating vegetation? The obscure boulder jumbles? The ankle-breaking tussocks? The dank shade? The seepage?
An easily accessible boulder field scattered above decent landings on an open sunny hillside with a quite splendid view...
...this isn't what Scottish bouldering was all about! However, there was a wee catch. The bouldering was okay, but not that great. Definitely too many sit starts, a few too many eliminates, and a bit too much lichen. Not a place to go for mega-classic lines, but quite good for a steady circuit, which is what I did, and in a great location. The best problem I did was a high-ish thing with a dodgy landing, I liked the committment on that. Hopefully all good mileage in the end, although I need to get a bit more focused on flashing easier stuff (better training for Easy Trad(tm), you see). On the way out I doused my hands in an icy mountain river which was, errr, fun, and made my arms ache with the returning chilled blood!
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