Assynt Log #3

Have I mentioned that Assynt is one of the most beautiful areas of Scotland? Along with Argyll, it definitely makes my personal top three.

We wake up in Ullapool to another bright day with lovely views over the bay with little sailing boats and the hills in the background. I have fried eggs for breakfast, and free bread that someone left behind - the perks of staying in hostels.

We take our time, pack up, have a stroll through Ullapool and then stock up at Tesco for our home for the next few days, in Scourie. We drive to Stac Pollaidh, another iconic mountain, but then decide against climbing it and have a leisurely beach and coffee day instead.

We visit Achiltibuie for a coffee, a scone, and brownies fresh from the oven. We walk barefoot on Achnahaird Beach, and get petrol in Lochinver. This place is so small, that we have to wait for the lady from the grocery shop to come over and take our money, as she mans the shop as well as the petrol station across the street.

Driving up north we cross Kylesku Bridge and stop for some views. When we finally reach Upper Badcall, near Scourie, we follow a long and winding single-track road along the shore of a sea loch until the end, where we see two mobile homes next to a house. This is where we are staying for the the next few days.

We meet Rocket Ron, our host, who lives in the house. He has a parcel for me, how unexpected! Since Kat made the booking, and the parcel was addressed to me, he had no idea who it was for and opened it. He says it's two bottles of whisky, chocolate, and a love letter. It's from Daniel! I must have mentioned to him where we were going, but he must have done some research to find the address. A nice surprise indeed.

Ron shows us the mobile home and promises to be back later to drink the beer we got him, and to show us how to turn on the gas fire. When he comes back he stays for two hours and entertains us with his stories of an encounter with a tiger in the Sierra Nevada, a ghost with no legs, his career as a thief of Victorian fireplaces, a mannequin in an attic that scared the shit out of him, and how Schwalbe named a mountain bike tyre after him.

Morning in Ullapool

 

 

 

  

Near Kylesku Bridge

View from our mobile home

Assynt Log #2

From the top of Suilven we see Stac Pollaidh, another lonely mountain, loads of lochs, and basically all of Coigach and Assynt and possibly even bits of Torridon as well. We take a break and I quickly run up the western peak.

When we descend on the other side, it is quite steep again, but the views distract from the effort and then the sun comes out and everything gets even more beautiful. It's also getting quite warm.

Once down we make our way across the moor, following a decent path laid out with cairns, which doesn't look at all like it's going the way the path in the book is going. But it's the only path around and better than none. The general direction seems to be ok. Things are looking good.

But as the path goes on and on it dawns on us how far we still have to walk and how little daylight we have left. The nearest proper track is several hours away. The mood turns. The midges come out even though it's sunny, and we march on silently. Skimming through the book we realise that we have a long way to go still, and that there won't be a proper path for much of it. A slightly scary prospect as we are in the middle of nowhere, the sun is quite low, and the hills are throwing long shadows.

We meet another path which, according to the book, should be better, but isn't. We may have been on the wrong one, or we joined the wrong one, or the book is wrong. We follow the new path anyway as I don't want to leave it when we don't have a better one. Thankfully there is a series of lochs to follow, so it's not too hard to navigate here.

We have to walk through a hidden gorge, and I'm quite relieved when we find it, as it is quite a unique feature in the landscape and affirms me that we're on the right track. It's also quite fun with the sun setting in front of us and continuing to provide brilliant views. We're still worried but not worried enough not to still take pictures!

After the gorge comes a loch where we follow sheep paths and later meet a potentially human path. We even occasionally spot human footprints which makes me unreasonably happy. My main worries have changed over the course of the day. Up on Suilven I wanted to make it back to the hostel in daylight so we wouldn't have to drive in the dark on the narrow and bendy single track roads. On our way down, when I realised how low the sun was already, I hoped to make it back to the car in daylight. When it took forever to cross the moor I just wanted to at least make it back to the road in daylight. But now I'm just hoping we get to a decent path while it is bright enough to find it. This we manage, although we've set the bar for what a decent path is quite low now.

Both Kat and I brought along head torches. In my case, this was more ironic, I really didn't expect to use them! When we finally get past the loch we can see in the last orange light of the setting sun the silhouette of a house in the far end of a ravine. A welcome sight. We make it through the ravine and to the road by 8 pm and it is dark.

It is still a bit to walk to Lochinver and from there to the car park. We don't know how far exactly, but we reckon 1-2 hours. I don't really mind now. My feet are tired but we can't get lost anymore, we won't have to spend the night in the hills, and we will get to the hostel eventually. I remember a story someone in a hostel in the Lake District told us once. It was about this guy who went walking and camping and didn't know what he was doing and didn't bring a sleeping bag. He ended up sleeping in his bagpack. But this won't be us tonight after all.

The moon rises and is huge. It is a mild night and we see loads of deer. Very few cars pass us, maybe three or four, but none going our way. We eventually decide we want to know how far to go still, and we consult the map. It is another 5 km to the car.

We reach the car at 9.15 PM and are back in the hostel an hour later. The hostel warden has been waiting for us, he knew we'd climb Suilven. He smirks a bit when he sees us. We're too tired to make dinner, so it's a cup of tea for me and an Irn Bru for Kat, a hot shower and off to bed. I sleep like a baby.

View from Suilven

Stac Pollaidh

Suilven from close

Could be Quinaig?

 

Getting real dark and no path in sight.

Pretty sunset distracts us from panicking.

Life Drawing Class

I somehow ended up on this email distribution list of the Talbot Rice Gallery, and they invited me to a one-off life drawing class to celebrate their current exhibition "Live". I happily signed up and then someone told me that this meant I would draw a naked person!

Oh well, why not. It was a two-hour class in the gallery between all these paintings of naked people. There was an introduction and some explanation, targeted at beginners, but I think I was the only one whose last attempt at drawing anything dates back at least 20 years. When the teacher made her round and stopped by my easel she immediately guessed correctly that this was my first time doing a life-drawing, and she then corrected the position of my easel.

By the way, I never thought I'd use the word easel in this blog. Great word! Sounds like weasel, but totally unrelated!

Anyway, here are my master pieces in chronological order of creation. The last piece was easier because the ding-dong was covered from where I was standing. Ding-dongs are hard!

My first study, charcoal

My second study, charcoal

No Ding-Dong, chalk

Jacuzzi Man

Intriguing guy. In his profile he seemed very opinionated and outspoken, even confrontational sometimes, but open to dicussing things. For our first date he suggested coffee and cinema, but it was impossible to find a place for coffee near the cinema that wasn't a bar (which he avoids) or a Starbucks (which I avoid). We took a walk instead and then watched a documentary about corrupt cops in New York City. After the film he rather abruptly took off into the night, and it was only 9 pm. I wasn't sure if I'd hear from him again but he texted me half an hour later, asking if I wanted to meet again.

For our second date, he suggested to go to the jacuzzi together. (I declined.) When he kissed me on our third date I asked him what his intentions were. Can't repeat here what he said since my mum is reading this, but they weren't exactly honorable... I suggested he stop shagging other women while he's with me which he agreed to.

A few more dates followed, but it was soon obvious that while we liked each other, we had very different interests and values. The idea of sleeping in a tent horrified him and he didn't really see the point of walking in a park. I didn't care much for smoothies instead of breakfast, the gym, or city trips to places with a history of political conflict. So things had to end but it was sad.

The best thing about Jacuzzi Man was his honesty and bluntness.

Number of dates had: 8. Overall experience: 7/10.

Assynt Log #1

Kat and I are staying in the youth hostel in Ullapool. Our dorm is full and I feel bad about setting the alarm for 2 AM in the morning, but I saw something in the news about a super moon. I climb down my bunk bed which causes considerable noise and shakes. Peeking through the curtains I can see a full moon in the clear sky over the bay and it is pretty, but not as super as expected. Did I get the time wrong? Not sure what it is I'm looking for so I get back to bed.

We are having a bit of a late start and drive to Lochinver for a circular walk up and over "hypnotic" Suilven. The walking book gives us a rough outline of the walk, and a description of the features along the way. We're starting from a small car park east of Lochinver, walk clockwise towards Canisp, always keeping Suilven to our right until we approach its northern flank, climb up and over and return westward to the road. That's the plan.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather. It's my period! Feverish, and headaches, but I know that the walking will get rid of my cramps, and if not, Ibuprofen is my friend. There is this unspoken rule that you have to pretend to be having a good time when walking even when you are not just now. Because what's the alternative? Going back? That would never do! So there is no point in whining and making other people miserable as well. Also, you always have to suffer a bit when walking, and the rewards are worth it - lunch never tastes better than on a hill. And the views, and the appreciation of little things like a hot shower, a pint, a fire!

The weather is nice, a bit cloudy, but dry. We walk to Glencanisp Lodge on a tarmac road and then join a path. We get occasional glimpses of Suilven, looking imposing, tall, steep and quite far away. After what feels like hours we get close to the foot bridge after which we have to leave the path, cross the moor, and approach Suilven's base.

We meet a young woman, looking happy and fresh. She tells us she's just been up Suilven, and says it's a good one. (8 hours later I'll think back to these words.)

We find the turn-off and plough our way through the mud. The moor isn't as flat as it looked from afar and there are a few ripples to cross before arriving at Suilven's base. We spot small figures high up on the slope, but only half-way up the hill. We're going up the flank, aiming for the bealach (saddle) in the middle of Suilven.

The climb is quite steep, and a bit technical and scrambly so that you have to think a bit about where you're going. For the first time in a week am I glad that I brought along walking sticks. It takes about an hour to get all the way up. In the end we need to climb through a gap in the rocks.

Once through, the view is breathtaking.

To be continued.

The plan: A 23 km circular walk starting in Lochinver.

Hypnotic Suilven

Canisp on the left hand side, Suilven to the right.

I just had to keep taking pictures.

Ditto.

Approaching Suilven's flank.

Aiming for the bealach.

Ho Ho Ho

Happy advent everyone! And a special happy Nikolaus and wedding anniversary to Maria and Dirk.

I found this in the kitchen one morning a few days ago:

 

Great Glen Way Log #8

We are having breakfast with Jörg and Eva. Jörg's chat is still quite entertaining, the line "Raschel, raschel, raschel, Käseplatte" never ceases to make me chuckle. When they make off for Aberdeen, Kat and I go back to the Café 82 for some tea to kill the time before our bus to Inverness leaves.

Sitting in the sun in front of the café a bus for Invernesses passes by. Oops. Oh well, there will be another one.

Inverness is the end of the Great Glen Way, and even if we took the bus on the last leg, I feel we deserve some treats. So after five days in the sticks we enter the first outdoor store we pass and Kat gets herself new boots. We meet my friend Jono at the Castle Tavern and spend a pleasant afternoon in a beergarden. Jono even promises to bring a bearded man! Adam joins us and turns out to be a Czech lumberjack gardener who knows Jono from grouse beating. Grouse beating means walking across the moor and the hills and make noise to startle the grouse so other people can shoot them. Apparently it pays £50 per day and Kat and I are considering it for our next holiday!

We walk past three Arnold Clark car dealerships before we find the Arnold Clark car rental. A brand new Seat Ibiza is waiting for us and Kat drives us to Ullapool in lovely weather with beautiful views. In the hostel by the harbour we make plans to climb Suilven the next day.

Tea at Café 82 in Drumnadrochit

Ullapool - view from my top bunk

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Laser Boy

Laser Boy was a sweetie. A laser engineer, lovely guy, very polite. Wasn't my type, and also lives in Glasgow. But then I was in Glasgow for work anyway and we met up. He was actually really short which I knew from his profile, but seeing it in person when we walked out of the pub was quite stark. He was observant enough to realise I wasn't too keen, but we exchanged a few friendly text messages afterwards.

Best thing about Laser Boy was his graciousness.

Number of dates had: 1. Overall experience: 6/10.

Great Glen Way Log #7

It is dark but there is an almost full moon lighting our way to the loch. One mile he said. It feels like more than that. We're walking on a narrow cycle path and almost get run over by a cyclist with no lights. The castle sits on a little headland besides Loch Ness. It is illuminated now and there are no people or cars anywhere. We open the gate and walk through as instructed by the hostel warden.

Then there is another gate. This one is locked.

We climb over it and this is when is actually feels like trespassing. It is trespassing. 

There are loads of bats, the nearly full moon, the loch, and the castle. A helicopter with searchlights is crossing the loch moving towards us and past. This is brilliant.

Urquhart Castle

Urquhart Castle

The ghost of Urquhart Castle

Full moon. Loads of bats here as well.

Great Glen Way Log #6

It's day five and we're taking the high route from Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit, through the hills that look over Loch Ness. But before we get to the high route we have to follow a switchback road and then a path and then it's just up and up and up. It is tiring, but with Jörg chatting away it never gets boring.

At the top we find some sort of monument or sculpture made of tree branches bent in a circle, providing a nice frame for photographs of the surrounding hills. It's also a great place to sample the plum cake Jörg made and carried all the way up the hill. Or is it Eva who's carrying the cake? Well, who cares when there's whipped cream!

We continue in a pleasant stroll and after a few hours reach a nice spot for another cake break, just before it goes downhill again. Suddenly a horde of Swedish ladies on mountain bikes climb up the steep hill, looking slightly confused when in the middle of nowhere, they see a bunch of Germans enjoy their cake with alpine cream mountains on top.

The descent down towards Drumnadrochit is taking a long time, and Kat and I start to fantasise about a surprise café, when voilá, a sign for a tea room comes into view! It is in fact a pottery as well as a café, Loch Ness Clay Works, and a friendly hobbit serves us. We are soon joined by a few locals who have walked here from Drumnadrochit, and we're pleased to hear that it's only a 1.5 hour walk. They have a small dog with them, looking like a rug, with loads of hair, parted in the middle along the length of the body. Impossible to tell which end is the head.

Refreshed, we're getting ready for the final stretch to Lewiston by Drumnachdrochit. The couple with the dog pass us, walking super fast. If this is the speed required to cover the remaining distance in 1.5 hours, it will take us at least two! But there is no rush, and we even find time for cachaca and beer breaks.

When we finally reach Loch Ness Backpackers after a total of 14 miles (22 km) I'm tired and hungry. I'm struggling to be patient with the friendly and helpful warden who explains in detail all the sights in Drumnadrochit and places to go for food and drink and entertainment. He says we should walk the mile to Urquhart Castle, a major visitor attraction by Loch Ness. By day, hordes of day trip tourists disembark from their buses onto the huge parking lot, welcomed by a bagpiper in a kilt, swarming over the estate and taking selfies with Nessie. The warden says we should walk there after dark, when it is technically closed...

But right now all I care about is dinner, and following the recommendation of the couple with the hairy dog we visit the adorable Café 82. After some delicious beef bourgignon and red wine it is now dark outside and I try to convince the gang to go to the castle.

To be continued...

A thing

Whipped cream on a bed of plum cake

View

Loch Ness

In the surprise tea room - Loch Ness Clay Works

Outside the surprise tea room

Uhm, ... trees?

Moor

Not sure who that is

Random bits and pieces

Here comes an update of the things I have been up to.

Weekend review
I spend most weekends either dancing, walking or doing nothing much apart from catching up with friends, chilling, and being domestic. Last weekend was different though - a weekend filled with cultural highlights.

The National Museum opened its doors on Friday night for a theme party, the Victorian Sensation, which is also the title of their current exhibition on the invention of photography. Fittingly, the dress code was black and white. I dug out my little black dress from a corner of my wardrobe. I had bought it years ago for a sweet date with a French guy in Montreal. I couldn't find anything white though that didn't look very silly, including my flatmate's white underskirt/slip.

The unofficial theme of the party seemed to be Queues, as you had to queue for the bar, for the Gin tasting, for the Silent Disco, for the photography exhibition, for the photo booth, for the place where you get a temporary finger tattoo of a moustache... Was the moustache-thing for Robert Louis Stevenson day I wonder? A propos, I'm sure my non-German readers will be pleased to learn that the German word for moustache translates to "purr-beard".

Anyway, it was good fun, but mainly because of my fun company and the silly photographs we took.

I also went to see George Bizet's opera Carmen which was excellent. To this I went on my own which might seem sad but was actually quite nice. And I was able to get a decent seat on short notice. Also, there is little overlap of friends who are interested in opera and friends who can afford it...

On Sunday I went bowling - not quite as cultured as opera and museums, but I did learn about bumpers. They can put up bumpers along the lane so the balls don't roll into the gutter! Well, to me that's cheating and misses the point of the game, but when we had them removed for the second game, my balls ended up in the gutter half of the time. Oops.

And finally, my bowling date walked me to the last cultural highlight of the weekend, the always so classy jam session at Whigham's weekly jazz club. Last time I went with my friend Leila, and a stranger bought us wine and had it delivered to us anonymously! This time I just enjoyed the opening set of the Glasgow band Rose Room, which were excellent and danceable. And sure enough, the room was packed, and lots of swing dancers showed up, some of them good friends I hadn't seen in a while.

Job news
In other news, my boss cracked a rib playing football. Drugged with strong pain killers he put me in charge, lets me take all the decisions, and said he'd back me up. I think that was a big mistake. My first executive decision was to cancel a big meeting next week. My next decisions will be to drastically overhaul our website, change my working hours and location, and introduce free coffee and scones for my team (which is only me now). All this new power is intoxicating! In his absence I'm now also getting involved in some more political stuff. I'll report on the damage I've done.

Spaced-out Susan, Nat with creepy baby, me: bored

Nat about to drop creepy baby, Susan watching, me: party

Great Glen Way Log #5

We leave the hostel to have a nice breakfast in a café. It seems closed when we get there, but as if by magic they're opening right in front of us. With an egg roll and a scone we watch the action in the locks. Today is going to be a good day.

We're taking the high route to Invermoriston. It is pretty, and most importantly, varying in landscape and views. We pause by a little waterfall on a meadow in a forest. We continue up the hillls until we cross the treeline and have wide views over Loch Ness, Fort Augustus and all the way back along the Great Glen where we've come from. And even the sun comes out in-between showers.

We break for lunch in a dry stone shelter. After walking through the hills west of Loch Ness for a while we descend steeply to Invermoriston which has another picturesque old bridge ruin. At the only café in town, the family-run Glen Rowan café, I decide that today is a two-scone day and sample the home baking. The couple who run the place have come up from Glasgow to escape the city. They took it over in March, and her parents help run the place.

Our B&B for the night, Darroch View, is cosy and has nice views. The owner explains in detail how to operate doors and the telly.

It is Friday. Tomorrow, there is a big marathon along Loch Ness. Sightings of lycra-clad athletes have become frequent. At the pub, we are joined by Joerg and Eva, Kat's friends from Aberdeen. They weren't able to get accommodation, possibly due to the marathon. When we retreat to our warm and cosy B&B, they return to the parking lot next to the public toilets to spend the night in their car.

Lock action in Fort Augustus

Spidernet masterpiece

Looking back at Fort Augustus

Loch Ness views

Loch Ness views

Loch Ness views