clemmo.com » Hikes

Fungle and Firmounth Roads

Stace — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:56:40 +0000

Described as an ‘undemanding journey’ in the book, we chose this hike because our friend Gordon said he was out of practice with walking. The reality of the instruction ‘ascend 400m up heathery slopes’ didn’t dawn on us until we were in it. Admittedly, it was more annoying than demanding, as the heather bushes came up over my knees, which did make the going kinda tough. Also, we thought the snow would’ve melted on the hills by now, but it hasn’t (will be even worse now due to this week’s snowy gale force windy sleety chaos). Wildlife count for the day included rabbits, sheep, cows, toads making love, frogspawn (toadspawn?), buzzards, oystercatchers, lapwings doing a funky sky dance complete with calls, an adder, a few roe deer, mountain hare in its winter coat, male and female grouse, two black grouse.

Of course we had to nab at least one cache on our way out to the hike, so we nabbed the micro at Feugh Falls, and we had a DNF for a funky letterbox hybrid next to an ostrich farm. We had a lovely early dinner at the Potarch on our way home, and then it was time for bed!

Geo-walking and easily the weirdest thing we’ve ever seen

Stace — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:31:38 +0000

We headed south today to find a cache hidden about 4 miles off the road, near a waterfall. It was a lovely low-level walk, good for winter. The fog never quite lifted, but it hardly rained at all. The hike took us past Queens Well and along the Water of Mark.

After finding the cache we stopped for a cuppa before heading back the way we came. As we were scrambling down the scree I saw ahead of us something unusual, alien-like on the ground. [The next bit is not for the squeamish] As we got closer we realised it was the scattered internal organs of a deer. We only figured out it was a deer, because one of the organs was a placenta complete with tiny dead foetus. It is easily the weirdest thing we have ever seen. I took a photo. We don’t know how far along the female was when she was killed, but the foetus is a perfectly-formed tiny baby deer, complete with hooves. Head diameter perhaps 3cm. If we had a shovel we would have given Harold a proper burial, but we just named him (obviously the gender is a guess) and hoped the buzzards would get him soon to complete the circle of life. What an odd experience. I’m including the photo; even though he’s dead, he’s so cute and peaceful.

11-12 July Camping at Glencoe

Stace — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:14:09 +0000

Double munro bagging hike, Buachaille Etive Mor and Stob na Broige. Dinner at Clachaig Inn, where we always eat when we’re in Glencoe. Glencoe is still my favourite part of Scotland. We just learned this trip that Glencoe itself is actually the crater of an extinct volcano, and the mountains surrounding are the edges of it. very cool. Ooh when I was just searching for a nice Glencoe link, I read that a fair bit of HP footage was shot there, including the setting for Hagrid’s cottage. Having just seen HP6 (on 07.08.09), it’s so obviously set in Scotland, such spectacular scenery huh.

24-27 July Lake District

Stace — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:13:55 +0000

The birthday hike up Scafell Pike was Saturday 25th. We stayed at a lovely farm B&B at Seatoller, just south of Keswick, where I woke on my birthday to a bunch of cards and gifts, lucky me!

We walked the hike from the B&B. It was a warm and sunny day (rare in the Lake District), so we had a clear view from the very busy summit.

Cute photo of Wes patting a lamb at the farm, but it’s not a Herdwick (the breed of sheep that is local to the district, the one that was nearing extinction when Beatrix Potter saved it and all the traditional farming practices).We were on our way to a lovely meal at a posh house where we drank V&T’s on the lawn while we waited for the waiter to seat us.

We also went to the Pencil Museum, then had a steamboat ride on Lake Windemere where we got a surprise Red Arrows display! hey seriously did their stunts right above us, it was thrilling, we both had grins from ear to ear and I couldn’t stop giggling. Sunday night stayed in Grasmere Hostel. We had the whole hostel to ourselves and it had great views out it’s circular window, my how we love our circular windows, when we eventually settle in a place I’m sure it will have at least one.

Another long weekend

Stace — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:00:51 +0000

Wes and I had an amazing time away this weekend. Admittedly, the weather wasn’t great, so we didn’t get to top the munro we planned. Friday night we headed up to Thurso to check out the surf. We spent our coldest night ever in the tent, it felt like the chilly wind was blowing straight onto our noses so we had to hide away snuggled deep into our goosedown bags. A surf contest was on, the annual Cold Water Classic, which also travels to Tassie! The waves were big, and we spent a good few hours (sometimes in the rain) watching the pros carving it up before heading over to the west coast for some munro bagging. It was raining solid when we reached our destination Kinlochewe and Torridon area, so we skipped the tent pitching and checked into a cute little hostel. Actually it wasn’t as easy as that, seems a lot of campers were looking for a hostel at the same time. But we were lucky and after a bit of hither dither we were cooking our gourmet camp food in a proper kitchen. When we awoke Sunday morning the munros were covered in snow, not a good first sign. When we got to about 500 or so metres toward the summit of Slioch, I freaked out and suggested heading back. It took a wee while for me to convince Wes, but as we started our descent a windy hail storm hit us and we knew we made the right decision. We still managed to score some amazing views for a six hour hike (in between the rain anyway).

Rothiemurchus and the Lairig Ghru

Stace — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:13:30 +0000

Although the weather forecast was not great (rain, 3-9 degrees), Wes and I decided to brave it camping in the Cairngorms. And we’re so glad we did! We had hardly a spec of rain and instead three days of blue skies! Yes it was cold, but bearable when the sun is out. We set up camp next to the fast-flowing burn at the Rothiemurchus Estate and on Saturday we set off on a 15 mile hike up into the Lairig Ghru to the Pools of Dee (where the River Dee starts) and back to Whitewells. We have been wanting to hike into Lairig Ghru for a while, but our previous attempt was foiled by temporary terrible map reading skills. It was a good hike and worth it when we reached the ’summit’ where we could see the pools on one side, and the track we took on the other. We definitely earned our venison casserole at the Cairngorm Hotel on Saturday night. On Sunday we woke early to take part in the RSPB’s Caper Watch, we were running a bit late when we arrived at 7.10am (started at 5.30!), but we managed to see our first capercaillie doing it’s lekking display. Stroke of luck for us, as the previous day they had 50 people turn up and didn’t spot a single bird! Yesterday we packed up camp and had a quick 2 hour hike around Loch an Eilean and a spot of lunch overlooking the mountains before coming back to the city. Just a pity we left our cameras and my phone at home so we have no evidence! I’ll try to get a pic off Wes’ phone tonight, but not sure if it will work.

Christmas and Hogmanay 2008

Stace — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:01:23 +0000

We ate Polish Christmas food for Christmas eve.

We opened presents around the tree and called our families.

We drove hours through freezing fog and blinding winter sun, to see the sights of Scotland.

We tramped through valley, over moor and up hills,

We scrambled over slippery icy rocks, but we got nice views!

We slipped and slid on ice and admired the frozen landscape.

We made lots of sandwiches on the car with frozen fingertips.

We ate chocolates and tablet and leftover Rosemary the turkey until she came out our ears,

We drank water during the day, then at night bubbles and beers.

We played board games and giggled at nonsense.

We bought new pants at the Chemistore.

We shared a room all together for a week and didn’t get annoyed.

We stayed in a lighthouse with frozen pipes, then wasted a day looking for a shower that works.

We saw the New Year in with yummy local seafood; in a pub in a paddock in the middle of nowhere.

We received kisses from strangers at the ringing of the bells.

We lit Andy’s ‘Aussie’ rockets and drank Magda’s pink bubbles.

We were ‘Robbed’ in the lighthouse a few times each at various times.

We had an amazing week with Nick and Michelle.

We shared some good times with Magda and Andy too!

PS – Let Wes or I know if you want any pics at full size, we have some lovely widescreen wintery Scottish landscape shots.

pat.thekua.aberdeen.visit.nov

Stace — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:52:45 +0000

Wes and I have been blessed with the happy company of Pat for the past few days. It was an absolute delight to have such positive company in our little flat! Pat and Wes enjoyed a day in the country on Friday (I had to work). They did an icy four hour hike, the slippery loop around Loch Muick in the Cairngorms. Then they enjoyed a gastro dinner experience at a pub we’ve been wanting to go to, the Potarch, on the banks of the River Dee. We both showed Pat a few of the Aberdonian sights on Saturday and had a nice meal at Cafe 52 with Andy on Saturday night. Lovely but brief visit, it was really great to catch up, even though it was absolutely freezing!

It was also nice for us to share with Pat a few WeStace life moments, like me punching the air and slapping the boys on the back when I found my ‘pass’ on the exam results website; and the joy of collecting our wedding invites from the DHL depot. Thanks again for visiting us Pat, and thanks for sharing some happy times with us!

We bagged two more munros

Stace — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:34:22 +0000

By accident, to be honest. We were meant to park at the Sugar Bowl Car Park, and do 13 miles through what some guidebooks describe as ‘the finest mountain pass in Britain’, Lairig Ghru, ending up at the Pools of Dee, and back down to Loch Morlich then back to the car.

Our mistake was that we didn’t park at the Sugar Bowl Car Park, we parked at Cairngorm Mountain Car Park, so when we set off, it was on a completely different track! No wonder the guidebook’s descriptions weren’t matching up! We didn’t realise our mistake until we were 200m from the top of Ban Macdui (1309m), second highest peak in the UK after Ben Nevis! We kept thinking the track must dip down into the pass. But then we saw Ben Macdui ahead of us and knew were weren’t dipping down, we were about to go up! So up we went, and back down the other side, thinking we must be going straight back to the car. But no, down we went and around a bit, then the track wants to go up again! This time to the peak of Cairn Gorm (1245m). Only then were we allowed to go all the way back down to our car. To be fair, even on the drive back, this Sugar Bowl Car Park still eluded us, so we’ll have to look harder next time!

We camped for two nights next to a fast-flowing stream at the Rothiemurchus Camping Ground.

Arbroath smokies

Stace — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:11:56 +0000