Trip to Scotland

Have just returned from a two week trip to Scotland, and all I can say is...wow!

I travelled up via the overnight sleeper service to Aviemore, a small town just off the side of the Cairngorms. I took a basha and a bivi and a bloody good sleeping bag, and spent the first few days camping out and hiking around the lochs and surrounding area. Unfortunately I couldn't do as much wild camping as I'd hoped - I got nabbed by the local warden early in the week as they're reintroducing species of elk into the area, but the weather was fantastic and my gob was duly smacked by the scenery.

I travelled North to Inverness for a few days and explored the pubs and surrounding countryside (not to mention getting horribly hungover on Tennents at a gig on Saturday) before joining Fran and Geoff on the following Sunday for a trip by van around the far North - John O' Groats (the northern-most town) and Dunnet Head (the most northerly point), Durness (the most westerly town) and Orkney, including the famous 5000 year old ruins of the settlement of Skara Brae. A weather front had come in by that point, so there was plenty of traditional Scottish/Orkney rain and wind, with odd patches rolling in the evening. We got lucky though as the weather held out for the majority of the trip.

Balnakiel - out towareds Cape Wrath - is fantastic, white sands, huge waves, and although the tours were shut for the winter season I got a good view of the interestingly named Caves of Smoo and had a good clamber around the surrounding cliffs. The locals were very friendly and chatty, and needless to say I had my good share of haggis and black pudding, and some damn fine Venison steaks courtesy of Fran's excelllant cooking!

The final day was back at Aviemore and a walk half way up Cairn Gorm itself, as well as a trip to the viewpoint on the Funicular. By this point the weather had really started to turn, and there was a good covering of snow on the previously barren mountains, and a good few fog/blizzard storms rolled in: within a space of a minute or two a perfectly clear day with great visibility can turn into practically zero visibility and blizzard conditions. It's no wonder so many expeditions have found themselves in trouble.

Finally, a meal at an Italian restaurant (with, unexpectedly, half a litre of wine...yikes...) was a precursor to the 12 hour return train journey home....

I'm determined to get back to Scotland sometime - what a country! I hope to do a mountaineering course and maybe bag a few Munros to boot....

Watch out for pics on Flickr as soon as I upload them!