Scotland 2018

mai - juni 2018
  • Holmes Travels
Bob and Val are heading to Scotland Les mer
  • Holmes Travels

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  • The Finish of the Great Glen Way

    13. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    We made it to Inverness. It was a long day today of somewhere around 32 km. We had glimpses of Loch Ness, and saw Urquhart Castle, but most of the day was in forest or behind hills. Our feet were pretty tired when we arrived at the end of the Great Glen Way. There is a marker there, near Inverness Castle, for the end of the route. It started to drizzle about half way through the day, but never amounted to much. When we got to Inverness we had cappuccino’s to warm up and then headed to our B&B. We now have an off day here which will be nice so we can sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast. We’ve walked nearly 300 km from Milngavie where we started.Les mer

  • Day off in Inverness

    14. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    Today is our day off. The wind really came up overnight and it was very gusty with rain squalls that settled down by late afternoon. We just spent the day walking around the downtown area and going into shops. We had a lunch of cream tea at the Royal Highland Hotel. Val bought some “fat quarters” at a fabric shop. We walked up to the Castle for a view of the city. Had dinner at No. 27, a nice pub meal. Tomorrow we head to Aviemore by bus.Les mer

  • In Aviemore

    15. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    We took the bus from Inverness today and traveled to Aviemore, which is in the Cairngorms National Park. The Cairngorms are a huge area of granite that creates a high upland area, incised by rivers and sculpted by glaciers. The Cairngorms are the largest area above 900 meters in Britain. Aviemore has a lot of outdoor shops but we managed to restrain ourselves and Val bought only socks. We are staying in a glamping pod, which is a detached unit that has an all-in-one shower, toilet and sink and also has a double bed. It’s nice but a little cramped. We walked into town and had coffee, and checked out the shops and figured out the schedule for tomorrow. We booked dinner at the Winking Owl pub.Les mer

  • Summits of Ben MacDui and Cairngorm

    16. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    We left today aside to try to get to the summits of Ben MacDui (1309 meters) and Cairngorm Mountain (1244 meters). Ben MacDui is the second highest mountain in Britain and Cairngorm is the sixth. They are both Munro’s obviously. We grabbed some take-out food and coffee at the only open coffee shop in town at 7 am and then caught the bus to the Cairngorm ski centre. From there we did a circuit that went up one ridge to Ben MacDui and then circled around to Cairngorm and then went down by the ski area. The circuit was 17 km long. Once we got above the clouds the visibility came and went, but at its worst was only about 30 meters. It was hard to spot the cairns so Bob’s gps watch was very handy to keep on track in the whiteouts. The wind was extremely strong most of the time and would almost blow you over and there was some driving rain that got a little worse as the afternoon went on. Needless to say, we saw no views at all but at least we did it. We were going to skip Cairngorm as the wind was too strong and take a short cut back, but we decided to bail on that idea when we couldn’t find the cairns leading down the ridge. So we went back to our planned track up Cairgorm Mountain. We saw two people at the start of the day in the distance but nobody else. We had a coffee and snack when we got down to the ski centre and caught the bus back to town, now we have a challenge in trying to dry things in our little pod unit so we can pack up and leave tomorrow. It’s raining in town so things are pretty wet.Les mer

  • View of Portree from our B&B
    At the Inverness bus stationIn Glen ShielPortree from our B&BBob's lamb dinner in PortreeVal's artichoke and walnuts stacks

    Arrival at Isle of Skye

    17. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We left Aviemore this morning and took a bus to Inverness and a second bus to Portree in Skye. It was really spectacular going through Glen Shiel which is a high pass that is surrounded by treeless mountains. We passed by the Glen Shiel battle site and the Five Sisters of Kintail which is a nice ridge walk. When we got to the sea we saw Eilean Donan Castle. We crossed over the bridge to Skye and got to Portree about 4:30. Our B&B is a 15 minute walk from the town centre which isn’t too bad, as long as it’s not raining. The weather has turned wet with a very low cloud ceiling and breezy. At least it’s not cold. Our B&B is comfortable. We have two days here and we’ll have to see what the weather is like to decide what we can do. We had a nice dinner at the Granery in town.Les mer

  • Old Man of Storr

    17. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    It was a windy raw day today, so we had to adjust plans somewhat. We had a nice breakfast and headed into town. It’s about a 12 minute walk from our B&B. We looked around the shops, ducking in and out as the squalls hit and then the sun would come out. Val bought a dog coat for Sammy and we both bought books. Then we grabbed some food at the Coop and got on the local bus going to the north of the Island. We got off at the Old Man of Storr trailhead and hiked up to the top where there is a great lookout. It’s a slog up and took about 40 minutes. It is a busy place with lots of tourists. The wind came in big gusts of probably 100 km or more with the occasional squall thrown in. It was fairly miserable at times but we did get great views. We waited for the bus back at the road but ended up getting a lift from two girls from Saskatchewan who had a car and said we looked cold. We’re back in our room now and the sun just came out.Les mer

  • The Cuillins

    19. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We thought we’d try to hike up one of the Cuillins today if the weather cooperated. We caught a bus in town and headed to Sligachan where we headed out towards Bruach na Frithe. The weather was windy but not raining, and the clouds were below the tops of the mountains. The scenery was really beautiful as we walked up in the meadows and along the Allt Dearg Mor river. The heather is just starting to bloom but there were moss campions about. We turned off the river path and headed uphill towards the mountain. The wind picked up quite a bit. It was roaring over the mountain ridge and then dropping into the cirque that we were walking up. We decided to stop and have lunch and not go any further. It was a nice walk back to Sligachan where we caught the bus back to Portree. There we found a pub and had drinks and then headed back to our B&B ahead of dinner.Les mer

  • More pictures from Cuillins

    19. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Here are pictures from the hike back down.

  • The Pot Still pub
    Wind turbine blade seen along highwayLounge area at Citizen M

    Back to Glasgow

    20. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We caught the bus to Glasgow from Portree this morning. It was a seven hour bus ride with one stop for a half hour in Ft. William. It was interesting to see some of the places we passed on our hike from the vantage of the bus. We were sad to be finished walking. The walking was much better. It’s funny how the British say that you’re “walking” when you’re struggling up the side of a cliff with a pack; whereas we would call that “scrambling”or at least “hiking”. Walking in Canada is where you take the dog around the block.
    We got to Glasgow and checked into the Citizen M hotel, where we stayed when we first arrived here a few weeks ago. We went out for whiskeys and pub food and found the Pot Still. We had Laphroaig and pies. Both were pretty good. Then we went for a bigger dinner at Atholl’s and then back to our room. We’re figuring out what to do with our last day in Scotland tomorrow.
    Les mer

  • Last Day in Glasgow

    21. juni 2018, Skottland ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We spent the last day wandering around Glasgow. We went over to the Glasgow Cathedral. There are a lot of Scottish soldiers memorialized, from all the British wars all over the world. St Mungo’s tomb is there, dating from the 600’s AD. We wandered along Argyle St to see what was left of Sir John A MacDonald’s alleged birthplace above the Fox and the Hound Pub. It’s all been torn down with no plaque of any kind. Good job Canada. We had a beer at the Horse Shoe bar which dates from the 1840’s and watched the World Cup. We went to Waterstone’s bookshop and saw pictures of Kim and Laura in Hilary Sharp’s Mont Blanc hiking book, so took pictures of the pictures. We did some shopping and then had dinner at the Raven. We’re back at the hotel now packing up for tomorrow’s flights.Les mer