I woke up this morning at 4:40am and couldn't get back to sleep. After looking at the ceiling for a while, I got up had breakfast, made a flask of Coffee, packed my rucksack and headed off to Tinto Hill.

I started on the hill at about 6am, and I really couldn't see all that much except for the lights at the nearby farm and the stars in the sky. I did have a torch with me, but it was one of those ones you have to charge by shaking for a few minutes, which I did as I stumbled along the path in the dark. Luckily, the frost made a good contrast between the grass and the heather so I could just about see where I was going and what I was tripping over.

Tinto is a fairly easy climb with the odd steep slope every now and then made a little tricky by the ice. The great thing with Tinto is the view, almost as soon as you start on the hill you are rewarded with great views over Thankerton and Quothquan to the north and Lanark to the West. The view from the top is just amazing making this hill well worth the effort.