Previously on our adventures in Scotland...
After tea and scones and a browse through the gift shop (oh, how I wish I would have ignored my ego and purchased souvenirs there, because they were the best ones I saw all trip) we got back in the car and started driving. Fi fell asleep quickly, so we drove to the Cairngorms, to Cairngorm Mountain Railway, for the purpose of taking the funicular railway to the top of the mountain. Cairngorm Mountain is not a very tall mountain. I think the top is about 4000 feet or something like that, and is the sixth tallest mountain in Briton. Cairngorm Mountain has a sub-arctic ecosystem, so it looks very alpine-y, my favorite kind of mountain landscape. We took the funicular almost to the top and enjoyed amazing views from the crowded viewing deck (including Ben Nevis in the far distance), however, you cannot leave the observation station to hike to the top of the mountain unless you are accompanied by an interpretive guide, even though the top is only a few hundred feet away. Um, no thanks, we don’t really want to learn about cushion plants, we just want to walk around outdoors while the sun is actually shining. In fact, you can only go outside if you are hiking down. I kept thinking that before Fi I would have walked to the top (a hike of 1-2 hours) and probably walked down a different route, but with Fi, walking up was out of the question (I would have had to carry her at some point, no Ergo with us) and we hadn’t originally planned on going to the Cairngorms, so I was not properly attired (I was wearing jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, and my wool pea coat).
Instead, after another scone and some tea (have I mentioned how much I LOVE the prevalence of scones and tea here?), we took the funicular back down to the parking lot, then went on walk along a trail that had some stairs at the beginning. We walked until we found a nice turn around spot at a cascade, then went back to the car. Fi had a blast! The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the air was warm, the scenery was beautiful. It was just perfect. I think we were all smiling and laughing the whole time. Fi enjoyed stepping over the culverts, with my help at first, then on her own. John commented that Fi is like her mommy; happiest when she is outside in an alpine setting. Fi had fun stepping aside for other hikers and saying hello to each one of them. I never saw her be more social.
In the funicular:
Their motto: Life is different at 600 meters. We had a chuckle at that.
I know we took photos from the observation deck, but I do not know which ones they are. :(
Getting closer:
Some views from the parking lot:
When asked what her favorite part of the whole trip was, Fi responded, “The stairs!”
On the trail, Fi pointing at something, maybe another hiker?
Stepping across was the joy of her hike:
Not us:
Posing on rock, after removing small pebbles from shoes:
These may just look like big rocks, but they were actually the way over the stream. John was helping Fi over them in the second picture. A nice natural way to cross a creek.
And then I figured out that my camera had exposure compensation. Note that the sky is actually blue in these photos:
I am not lying when I say that I kept telling John there was something wrong with m camera’s metering system. I am not a professional, nor do I know much of anything in photography, but I know that when the camera says the photo will be underexposed, but the photo is really washed out and the sky looks turquoise, something is wrong.
Random bouquet left on the side of the trail:
It was like a fairy tail...I went up the stairs and found a single shoe. To whom did the shoe belong? I search high and low, and finally found the teeny foot to which the shoe belonged:
The owner was in tears, having lost the shoe and feeling kind of tired, and also wanting her mommy to hold her. Luckily, the car did not turn into a pumpkin on the way home, though I’m sure Fiona would have found that amusing.
That evening, after a nice meal made in our tiny little kitchen in our little cottage, we did some interneting and decided to go to the Glen Affric area, north of Inverness, for another hike. I really wanted to go there because I read it was really beautiful and we figured it might be our last opportunity on this trip to get into the woods. I found a great website that details all the different hiking areas, including how to get to them, what you will see, the level of difficulty, the conditions of the roads in, etc. The site is called walkhighlands, and it even includes photos of key points so you can tell you are on the right track. The hikes are listed in order of difficulty using boots as a key, making it is easy to sort by what you want to do. We chose to go to Dog Falls, with a side trip to Plodda Falls.
We began the day with a visit to Culloden to see the battlefield. I’m pretty sure that the visitors’ center wasn’t there 20 years ago when I visited with my grandmother, but it was nice none-the-less.
A battle happened out there:
We recently learned that John’s ancestor that emigrated to Canada, William McCarter, was born in County Morray in 1747 or 1749. County Morray is near Inverness (and Morray Firth, hence the name) and we think it is possible that William’s father may have fought in the Battle of Culloden a couple of years before William’s birth. We can’t think of any other reason why a McCarter, who would be part of the larger Clan Campbell, would have moved from Argyll into Stewart and MacDonald territory otherwise. This is all speculation and perhaps one of John’s family members might know more or have a more accurate family history.
After Culloden, Fi took a nap in the car (what a surprise) and we drove out to Glen Affric. The Dog Falls trail is really easy and very pretty. It was overcast and little misty, but not rainy, and the slight breeze kept the midges off for a little while, though later they got braver and found me and all of my exposed parts. The hike is very wooded and at one point, I split off from John and Fi so I could go out to a view point. I caught them later. I was walking down the trail, wondering how far ahead they got, when I heard singing, “The Wheels on the Bus” to be exact.
A lot of our hikes began with bridges and crossings over creeks. I think it is inevitable. There is a lot of water in Scotland:
Random far away waterfall on the side of hill (one of so many we saw on our trip):
Looking forward and looking back:
At one point, I was all by myself on this hike, as in, there was no one else around. John was up ahead somewhere with Fi, the other two hikers I saw went a different way, and it was just me and the sound of the wind through the trees. I was overwhelmed with emotion at hoe happy I was, not to be alone, but to be alive in a beautiful quiet place, in a green forest. Then, it was off to find my Fi and my John.
A path off into the trees:
I followed it, but it lead to the edge of a cliff, so I turned around and continued on my search for my hiking party. At one point, I wondered if fairies and elves ever led people astray into the woods. These woods seemed like the sort of place that something like that might happen.
My love:
Another bridge:
Dog Falls peeking out between the rocks:
Dog Falls from above:
Fi, pointing at the camera:
More creek-y prettiness:
Allegedly, all sorts of animals, including salmon, otters, and foxes, live around this part of the Glen and can be seen visiting the waters. We didn’t see any.
Plodda Falls. Sudden and dramatic.
The description on the website said that the several miles long dirt road to the Falls was pretty bad. It also said that there was a fee to park at Dog Falls, but both of those things proved to be false. As we were driving to Plodda Falls, we discussed how the road looked recently graded. It was so recent in fact, that we saw the grader on our way out! It was still working! No wonder the road was so smooth. The hike is very sort, just 1/4 mile, downhill from the parking lot, through a beautiful forest. We were walking along, Fi whining because she was hungry and tired, and suddenly, we were on a wooden platform at the top of the Falls. The falls drop a couple of hundred feet down. It was crazy! I really can’t describe it and the photos do not do justice to the scene. Let’s just say that if you are afraid of heights, do not look over the side. It was a little dizzying, and also exhilarating. It was beautiful! I really want to go back there some day, just to hike around, but it was getting late in the afternoon and we needed to feed Fi.
A random cascade:
You can see Fi’s pouty face here. I had to carry her all the way back uphill. The midges were having a field day with the side of my head. I’m getting itchy just writing about it.
We stopped at a restaurant in the little town of Cannich, called The Slater Arms. There was one woman working behind the bar. At first she seemed a little standoffish, but her service was good and the food was great! John had a mocha and fish and chips (I think), Fi had (real) chicken tenders and chips, and I had a tomato soup. I also had a jasmine green tea, the only one I had anywhere in the UK that did not come with me from home. Needless to say, any place that has jasmine green tea is a place near and dear to my heart. Jasmine green is my favorite tea and it is not widely available (at restaurants and coffee shops) even in the US. Not even all supermarkets sell it, and Twinings has a version, so there is no excuse for that, therefore to see it on the menu in a restaurant with dogs at the bar in a town that probably has less than 1000 people living in it was pretty cool in my book. Speaking of dogs, there were several that mostly stayed in the bar area, and large bookshelf with lots of books. The lowest two shelves had children’s books and we had fun reading a bunch of them, including “Clan MacWee” (that I later saw in a souvenir shop in Falkirk and purchased for Fi as a reminder of our time near Inverness). We also had a salad because the lady who was working told us she grew the lettuce herself and didn’t want to waste is if we weren’t going to eat it. It was delicious!
With tummies full, we headed back out in our little Seat Leon. We took a different yet still incredibly picturesque route home and still managed to avoid rush hour traffic. We had a light dinner of leftovers and slept well that night. The next day was going to be a traveling day, as we were heading to Edinburgh to meet up with Krista, Dan, and Sophie. Traveling days are always hard on Fi so they are rarely that much fun.
The thing I loved most about our hikes near Glen Affric is that they are no along logging roads. The hikes in Trossachs were in logging
John, Fiona, and I loved the highlands of Scotland. I think it is in John’s (and therefore Fiona’s) DNA to feel at home there, and me? Well, when I was in 9th grade, my favorite poet was Robert Burns, so I guess going there was sort of like destiny. We had such a magical time there. I know we must return someday. I was really sad leaving it, my only consolation being that we would see Krista, Dan, and Sophie soon.
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