On the drive from Lochinver to the Torridon area we stopped briefly at the Lael Forest Garden. It was a garden of trees from all over the world....not exactly natural, but stunning regardless.
Here is Jeff posing in front of a giant redwood (many of the trees were quite large)
And this was some kind of exotic birch that had super coppery bark.
We soon found ourselves in a marvelous glen surrounded by large peaks.
We drove past Torridon and found a B&B in the tiny hamlet of Shieldaig. We will return one day to this marvelous little town. It reminded us of a very very small Beaufort.
Sunset over the Shieldaig waterfront
After all of the impressive peaks on our drive the day before, we decided that day 6 would be a hiking day. Along our drive we found this munro and decided to go for it. It looked like a fairly easy hike to the top along the left side...unfortunately we ended up on the right side...
Some sort of frog that was abundant on the slopes.
We also saw lots of red deer
As we began to climb we got great views of the surrounding peaks
Getting up towards the top...you can see Jeff on the ridge on the left of the photo
OK, getting scary now...trying to convince Jeff that we should head back down.
Happy after deciding to head back down even though we were only about 100-200m from the top.
After our 5 hour hike we thought we deserved a few desserts, so we stopped at the Garden Tunnel Cafe in the nearby scenic coastal town of Applecross.
The roads in this part of Scotland were mostly single track.
On Monday we said goodbye to our good friends, Ross and Anna. They were incredible hosts and we enjoyed spending several days with them. We would have been tempted to stay longer, but figured we should let them get some work done! :) Ross sat Jeff down with a map and gave us many suggestions about places to see, so we got our rental car, quickly learned to drive on the left and headed west.
We fairly quickly found ourselves in a much more wild landscape. These were some of the "hills" we saw along the drive.
I think there are more sheep in Scotland than there are people
Our destination was a town in the northwest called Lochinver. This is the coast as we approached the town.
Ross has some friends who recommended a B&B (Ardsaile) just outside of Lochinver. Here is a view of the house from a hike we took the following morning.
Heather
Suspicious sheep
It was super windy for our day in Lochinver. It's a good thing we didn't have much hiking planned. The forecast was for 50-60 mph winds. I was almost blown off this rock.
The best road sign EVER (2nd best is the elderly people sign)
One last view of one of the many lochs in the Lochinver area. After a morning hike it was time to move on and explore further...
Today's adventures to us to a spectacular castle ruin. Dunnottar Castle sits on the coast high above the sea. William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles II, all spent time at the castle. It was also at this castle where a small garrison held out against Cromwell's army for eight months and saved the Scottish Crown Jewels.
The walk along the cliffs to the castle
Ross informed us that the bands on the Pigeon mean that it is a racing homing pigeon that somehow lost its way and ended up calling the castle home.
After the castle we went to Stonehaven for a pint at Ross and Anna's favorite pub. We also checked out the birds along the beach (saw many gulls, Eurasian Oystercatchers, and Redshank). We then went to their neighborhood pub to finish off the day.
For our second day with Ross and Anna we headed to a highland games. Along the way we stopped briefly at the Falls of Feugh to see if we could see any salmon heading upriver. We watched several salmon try to get up the falls. Unfortunately we did not see any make it all the way up, we enjoyed cheering all of them on.
This highland games, the Braemar Gathering, is frequently attended by the royal family, as their estate (Balmoral) is just down the road. This year was no exception. Partway into the games the action stopped, the secret service types (MI5s) appeared, and the Queen's Bently rolled into the arena. They made themselves comfortable in this fine little house surrounded by Paparazzi.
One of my favorite parts of the games were the piper band competitions. I particularly enjoyed this drummer practicing outside the grounds.
At one point all of the piper bands marched through the arena together. It was an impressive sight/sound.
The pipers in action:
The heavy games were also a lot of fun. We watched the weight over the bar event where large men in kilts attempt to throw heavy weights over their heads and over a bar. The man pictures below tied the record, but was not able to beat it.
Next came the caber toss where they throw large trees. Fascinating!
Tug of war was another favorite. This was a contest between the staff of Balmoral and another nearby estate
Our first day in Scotland was a busy one. We started off the day with a visit to the Glenlivit Distillery. We took a tour of the Distillery and sampled some of their Whiskey. A good way to start the day!
We then headed to the Abernethy Forest for a nice hike. We saw some new birds (several species of tits). It was a beautiful day.
