Tinto run

Peak: Tinto (711)
Area: Southern Uplands
Tinto is a familiar feature of the landscape south of the central belt, and gives a perfect short 'leg stretcher' on the journey south. A glorious drive from Skye yesterday evening: fish and chips in Broadford, then a magical tour through familiar parts of the Western Highlands in soft evening light. After a car bivouac outside Crianlarich, I woke at 4.30am, was devoured by clouds of midges as I performed my morning ablutions, and decided to crack on instead of bothering with a claggy, midgy run over An Caisteal (my original intention). Instead, I pushed on down quiet early morning roads and pulled up at the primary school in Wiston, Lanarkshire, at 7am. This is not the standard way up Tinto, but the route is fairly obvious after the lodge is negotiated. A series of inclining cow fields leads to a steeper section at the open hill. It was cool and breezy, with some cloud boiling up to the east, but no hint of what was in store. In the event, as my run slowed to a walk for the steep final climb, I began to suspect I might be in for a treat as cloud wisps lapped up from the valleys. At the summit, which is a huge cairn, a glorious cloud inversion - particularly solid to the east. It had taken me less than 25 minutes running from Wiston, so I just enjoyed the spectacular effects for a few minutes. Stunning and a totally unexpected bonus from such an innocuous hill. To the south, the Uplands stretched out above the sea of cloud. I ran back via a more direct route to Wiston, over the main path through the scree 'crag' back to the village before the primary school opened for the morning.