Achnashellach Forest - 14th April 2012

Driving approx 25 miles West of home, we stopped at the edge of Achnashellach Forest to start our circular walk via Easan Dorcha bothy.  It was another lovely day as we made the steady, but straightforward, walk up a well constructed rocky path.  The views were spectacular but I was grateful for this walk being not too hilly as I was up for an easier excursion!

Off to the left was Fuarr Tholl, which looked quite scary to me although it wasn't a Munro.  Ahead of us was Beinn Liath Mhor,  which we could have gone on to walk but we'll save that for another day.

We carried on to Easan Dorcha, a tiny one roomed bothy which was situated next to the river with an impressive waterfall.  As we carried on we discovered a wonderful view of -Beinn Eighe, a large scree covered mountain which I'm a tad nervous about doing in the future.

We continued the walk up the Coulin Pass, to reach the edge of the Forest again and had to make a detour along a pony trail due to deforestation (it was a bit boggy which, for me, dampened my spirits a bit).

All in, this was a great walk at around 10 miles/3hrs.

Easter Weekend 2012

The Easter Weekend started with my sister travelling up from Glasgow on the Friday. We went for a great pint at the Castle Tavern in Inverness and then on to dinner at the Mustard Seed.

On Saturday, Blair and I did our 3rd Park Run at Burght Park and I managed a new personal best of 31.18 (great). We then bi-passed the rain and drove on to Brodie Castle for the day and it was great - the tour was very informative. We managed to take a picture of the kitchens before finding out that no pictures were allowed! We had a late, but very welcome lunch before heading back home via the Black Isle Brewery for some beer to go with the curry for dinner!

The weekend ended with a walk in Torachility Woods and then a brunch at the Victorian Tea Room in Strathpeffer.

Sgurr a' Mhuilinn and Meallan nan Uan, Strathconon

24th March 2012

A forecast warm and sunny weekend led us to plan for another weekend of exercise and this time a bit closer to home. We drove through Marybank to Strathconon where we parked up and started a very boggy ascent up Sgurr a'Mhuilinn. The view got better as we climbed continuously upward for around 2 hours. It was a hazy day but you could see the unspoilt beauty of the area.

As we continued the walk we renamed the hill 'frog paradise' as we stumbled into many little bogs full with frogs and frog spawn. We also spotted a ptarmigan and a slow worm or two.

The hills undulated until we started a sharp ascent up Meallan nan Uan. This was actually the smoothest part of the whole walk as it was a big grassy mound. The descent was a mix of bog, heather, boulder and moss. I lost count of the number of times I nearly slipped on my backside. The terrain resulted in an exhausting walk - the most enjoyable feature of it being the outstanding views. Blair enjoyed it more than I did. However, I did enjoy the feeling of utter exhaustion in my legs and we had a well deserved slab of cake in the Strathpeffer Victorian Railway Coffee Shop. 9km/5hrs.

River Spey and woodland walk, Boat of Garten

18th March 2012

The second day of our weekend to Grantown-On-Spey began with a walk around the town and then on to our last walk of the weekend.

We had decided on a lower level walk - a more gentle excursion for our predicted tired legs. The walk started at Boat of Garten and followed the River Spey until we reached a farm which very spookily had around 10 dead moles secured to a barbed wire fence. From there we headed back on the circular route via some lovely woodland, 6miles/2.5hrs.

Again we were lucky with the weather. We couldn't have asked for any better. All that was needed at the end was a coffee and scone but we were turned away from the eaterie in Boat of Garten due to a busy lunch period and ended up making the mistake of going to a cafe in Carrbridge which was nothing more than a greasy spoon. Never again!




Back to Inverness, we headed to Eden Court for coffee and then on to Zizzi's for a quick meal, back to Eden Court for the cinema and then home. Aahhh, bed! It's a wonderful place!

Meall a Bhuachaille and Creagan Gorm

A weekend trip to Grantown-On-Spey, courtesy of my sister, started with a great walk from Glenmore Lodge visitor centre past the Ryvoan Bothy, up Meall a Bhuachalle and then on to Creagan Gorm before heading back down via a track to the start point - 10 miles/990m/5hrs.

The weather was sunny, reasonably warm for a March day but very windy up top. It was so windy that my face was numb and it felt like I had gone ten rounds with a dentist's anaesthetic needle! Poor Blair managed to struggle on without a hat (which I had forgotten to pack when I was preparing the bags the night before!).

We stopped for lunch at the Badaguish Outdoor centre and sat on a bench eating our cheese and pickle sandwiches next to two squabbling ducks. The poor male duck hardly got a look in with the odd bit of bread - that female was so darn quick!

We had arranged to meet one of Blair's webby pals and his wife at their house but we couldn't find the place and had no 3G connection. Giving up on that we headed for the Grantown Arms and booked in. A box of chocs and a shower later we headed to the reception sofas with the wine (also courtesy of my thoughtful sister) and the books with the intention of reading until dinner. I was so knackered I couldn't concentrate on the book and gave up after a chapter.

Dinner was good but I ate too much. A hot bath later I went to bed and according to Blair was asleep in 1 minute.

A great day, lots of exercise and utter exhaustion.