Grace and Travis are new to Edinburgh, so today we went on a tour of crags they could reach relatively easily on public transport. The first stop was Blackford Quarry, which is a short bus journey on the South side of the city. It’s probably best as a bottom roping venue as the harder lines are bold and the rock a little friable, but it dries quickly and lots of variations are available.
Next up was The Hawkcraig at Aberdour just as low tide was arriving. This tidal cliff can be reached by train from Edinburgh and has lots of good routes in a pleasant setting. We did a number of starred routes here with the pick of the bunch being Pain Pillar.
Finally on the way back to Edinburgh we called in at Rosyth Quarry, which can be reached by bus from Edinburgh. We climbed a few lines here with Travis and Grace doing a great job of climbing The Waullie, just as the rain arrived.
With twelve routes climbed at three venues the day felt like a good introduction to cragging in the area. All of the crags we visited dry quickly after rain and were only suffering from very minor seepage even after the wet weather of Friday.
