Climbing Arthur's Seat

Not every step is equal. 

On my trip to the UK I had brought along a pedometer, curious to know how many steps I'd take on an average touring day. Some days were exhausting great reaching a high of 38,000 steps, others were spent in bed and foraging for food only hitting 2,000 steps. Then there was the day I climbed Arthur's Seat. From the base to the top was roughly 800 steps. But they were a steep, inclined 800 steps. Not every step is equal.

It could have been that we were slightly out of shape, huffing and puffing up that mountain; we wheezed as people ran past on their routine run and dogs literally ran circles around us as they charged up. I'm calling it altitude issues. We simply were not used to being that high above sea level, the air was too thin. That is clearly why native toddlers doddled past us, as we reached the rocky summit.

Full disclosure: we were looking for the easy path up. We chose wrong. 

Finally at the top, we found a place to perch our quivering bodies to keep from being blown off and to catch our breaths, only to have it taken away again by the panoramic views of the city. From one side you can see the city centre and Edinburgh Castle looking small and unimpressive in the distance, the other direction you have views of the North Sea.

I was there in January, it was mild weather but still chilly up on that seat. If you are to adventure up today it would hopefully be a heck of a lot warmer and sunnier, but guaranteed to be just as windy!

At the end of our journey up and back down again we felt we deserved a little sugary treat and hot drink to restore our body and  more importantly our spirits. I would climb that mountain everyday if it meant I could eat that decadent peanut butter brownie again and again.

It took me three visits to Edinburgh before I finally got around to climbing Arthur's Seat. For one reason or another I wasn't able to until this last visit and I knew I couldn't avoid miss it any longer. Worth the wait.

Have you climbed Arthur's Seat? What was your experience like? Did you discover you are as out of shape as me?

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