The Kilpatrick Braes are a remnant of the stratovolcanic range that encircles the Glasgow valley to the north. This range includes the Campsie Fells and stretches from Dumbarton in the west to Kilsyth in the east. It is only one of many such ranges all over this part of Scotland's midriff. They are gentle for the most-part, not rising too far above 500m, in fact the highest point in the Kilpatricks is Duncolm at 401m, but there is a quality to them that emerges from this gentleness that higher mountains just do not have.
Here, as we move up the Loch Humphrey path we can take a detour into the braes themselves via a hidden gate. This takes us up into the braes via steps or terraces of which there are several. Here, you will find not just the corrie of the fallen log, but the sacred waterhole, the original Hillary Step, and many other geological oddities that bring this place to life. It is a marvellous place with waterfalls, and fallen trees. Indeed, it is this fallen-ness that adds to the whole beauty of the place. It is left to its own devices and is largely devoid of any people (they just don't see the hidden gate as they are too focussed on the straight and narrow Loch Humphrey path). But there are deer, buzzards, ravens, all manner of woodland birds, even a great-spotted woodpecker who has recently moved in.... And with those aereating views over the valley and down to the coast, you simply cannot beat this place for stilling the self, and gathering Mind.
It is one of the great primal perches of the Greater Glasgow Valley.
The man with wheels for arms... atop the Kilpatrick Braes...
The fallen log in question. An exceptional perch if ever there were one. Sadly now, since the Forestry Commission's controlled burning of the bracken (a few weeks after this picture was taken) the log and its immediate surroundings are in no state to be perched upon.
The brae buzzard patrolling its range.
This is the controlled burning which took place on June 2nd. I had actually been sitting right beneath it at the water hole for some 2 hours without noticing anything, protected as I was by the ledge and the brae wall, and of course the wind which was carrying the smoke away to the north. I only noticed this when I was cycling home and saw this from the boardwalk at Braehead. I must say, that without these controlled burnings, much of the braes would be literally impassable due to the veritable jungle that emerges when these ancient ferns decide to club together.
