Yesterday we climbed Arthur's Seat, the peak towering over Edinburgh.
The peak rises up just adjacent to the Queen's official residence in Scotland, Holyrood Palace. (Arthur's Seat, by the way, is probably a bungling of a Gaelic term, in no way related to King Arthur.)
It took three hours, clambering over the rocks behind a pair of rangers, stopping at places significant to history or geology (or the history of geology), until we reached the summit.
The wind blew fiercely, and it seemed like one could see the whole world.
Strange to have a mountain in the middle of the city. Strange and beautiful. And difficult, from the sound of it. Few other national parks in the world, I think, have to balance the needs of community members, hikers, geologists, archeologists, urban planners, teenagers looking for a good time, government officials, fire managers, 5K organizers, ecologists, and the Queen.
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