Arthur's Seat - a winter sunset


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By Chris Mac on 14/09/15 at 11:42pm

Date started:30/12/2014
Distance:3.3 km or 2.1 miles
Ascent:254m or 833ft
Time taken:2:30
Naismith:1:05

Inbetween Xmas and Hogmany, Iain and I had some free time for a quick walk and decided it would be nice to go through to Edinburgh and do a late afternoon walk up Arthur's Seat to take in the winter sunset.

Parking at the car park to the north, we walked past St. Margaret's Loch then by the ruin of St. Anthony's Chapel which, if you catch it at the right angle at the right time of day, can provide some pretty impressive looking pictures with the summit of Arthur's Seat in the background:

Even this late on a winter day the summit looks packed!

We follow the path round the Chapel and start the ascent:

In no time at all you soon have a great view north/west towards Edinburgh city centre:

The view north from behind St. Anthony's Chapel towards Easter Road and the Firth of Forth:

Looking west towards Edinburgh castle:

One more shot of the Chapel and castle then it's time to continue our ascent towards the summit:

Onwards and upwards and the setting sun casts a shadow down the long row valley towards the Chapel as we look back:

Iain enjoying the walk and the view to the east behind him:

It may just be a short city hill to walk up and a very popular one with tourists but catch the right light and angle and you can get some lovely silhouette shots:

Looking north west towards Salisbury Crags:

A panorama looking north with Whinnie Hill to the right:

Looking down on Long Row:

Continuing to climb higher and the shadow almost looks like it was designed to fit snugly in the valley!

We take the steeper route to the summit slightly north of the main path to avoid the crowds and stretch the legs a bit more:

Looking south east towards Crow Hill:

The view south:

Almost at the top, now looking back towards Dunsapie Loch and Hill Fort:

A busier summit you will not find...!!

Sunset behind the Pentland Hills and another strange wall of clouds to the west...

More nice shadows and lighting looking back down towards the chapel:

It was so nice we decided to hang around for about an hour (hence the very long walk completion time!) at the summit just soaking in the view and sunset:

Hang around long enough and before long other people help provide some great photo opportunities!

As I said, it's a busy summit! :D

Looking down to the west towards the old town, Morningside and the Pentland Hills:

One of the many Crows from Crow Hill although I think they can lay claim to them all!

Starting to get a bit darker now:

The spectacular view to the north west over Salisbury Crags and Edinburgh Castle:

Looking north over Hunter's Bog:

Time to head back and we look west for another nice silhouette shot of Arthur's Seat summit:

Back down Long Row we go, the summit is still busy as darkness approaches!

The city centre from St. Anthony's Chapel is lit up nicely:

One final shot as we pass the chapel and head down the path back to the car park:

Another enjoyable quick walk in the middle of winter although for 2015 my hill walks will have to get bigger and more spectacular but even "tourist" hills such as this can provide a very enjoyable day out if you time it well and take time to soak in the summit views.

We also visited the National Museum before the walk to see the the Arthur's Seat Coffins which were found in a cave back in the 1800's, suggesting that there is still something of a mystery to Arthur's Seat, St. Anthony's Chapel (of which very little is known) and Holyrood Park.



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