SO, our time in Scotland has been defined by shockingly good
weather, our first set of randomly met travel friends, a few glorious hikes,
some great soccer, and entirely too much sheep poo. We started in Edinburgh,
which was notable mostly because our strange hostel owner got short with me for
walking into the reception area with my shoes on. We spent our time there in
size 9 slippers instead of our shoes, which were entirely too small for my feet
but pretty funny when you saw dozens of young folks meandering around in extremely
clean, but much too small, white slippers. This effect was doubly funny because
everyone had to wander the halls while the bathrooms (three single-person
bathrooms for three stories of huge dorm-style rooms) were constantly occupied
and everyone impatiently waited their turn. Also in Edinburgh: a lot of jokes
about the awfully designed Scottish Parliament building, a fairly miserable
hike in the rain through Arthur’s Seat which got all of our plane tickets wet,
and a little sadness realizing that we had just watched the second to last GOT
episode of the season.
After Edinburgh, we headed up to the Fort William area to
base ourselves for some hikes in Ben Nevis and Glencoe. While we were in the
area, Tirrill discovered what will probably be his first and his last true
love: Beunos candy bars. Despite being named by a Spanish toddler with a small
vocabulary, the candy bars are delicious. Unfortunately for Tirrill, a Beunos Bandit came tearing through the hostel and stole/ate his last few bars and when
we checked the grocery store, there were no more in stock. Much grumbling
ensued, both from his mouth and his tummy. It only got worse when a drunken old
Scottish guy accosted Tirrill in the bar and accused him of checking out his
daughter. Because we could only get wifi in the bar, we also had to set up shop
in that same bar every night to plan out our hikes for the next day. Lots of
awkward eye contact there.
Tirrill’s luck turned around when we were hiking on a wet
day in Glencoe. Despite being the only person who hadn’t invested in hiking
shoes, his trusty New Balances were true to their word and kept him balanced
over all of the rainy rocks. The rest of us would not be so lucky; Zeke spectacularly
tripping over himself and doing a somersault inches away from falling off of a
bridge, Evan trying to hop over a river and slipping on some rocks, cutting his
hand open, and myself slipping down the side of a slanted rock, opening up some
cuts on my legs and hands. Despite all of our falls/wounds/wounded prides, it
was a really pretty hike:
The next day was hiking Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK. It was a great hike because there were different stages of terrain to keep us from having a monotonous view. We went from sheep pastures to gravelly uphills to stumbling into lakes on top of some of the smaller nearby peaks to hiking through snow to climbing over rocks in the mist. The variation and the feeling of conquering a mountain combined to make it a really great day that all of us really enjoyed (until Evan had to sprint down the mountain to find a bathroom). Here are some various shots from the day:
At the hostel we met some Dutch friends. At first I figured it was just going to be a fun conversation, but then we ran into them at a bar later in the night. I kid you not, we also ran into them again the next day in the Isle of Skye at another bar and then AGAIN on some random cliffs in the middle of Portree the next day. At that point we figured it was destiny and agreed to meet up again that night for drinks and to watch the World Cup. Turns out they both were also both 22 and had graduated with law degrees. It was just crazy coincidence after crazy coincidence and they were great fun to hang out with:
Our time in the Isle of Skye has been pretty awesome. The Old Man of Storr was a spectacular hike and had some great rocks for me to sit on. I have a little bit of an addiction to sitting on the edge of things; rocks, cliffs, whatever. I never feel more alive, both powerful and insignificant, than when I’m looking out over things with my feet dangling. I also had a really great run in the evening, looking out over the ocean and jogging over a pretty epic bridge:
After more than ten miles hiking today, tomorrow will be a
day of rest. It’ll also be a day of sadness, as the fourth season of GOT comes
to a close for us. It’s a show that we’ve spent hours talking about, debating,
and dissecting. With almost a year before the next episode, it’ll be back to a
ton of games of Six Degrees of Separation, Twenty Questions, and Word
Association for entertainment on long walks and hikes along with Spades, Scum,
and Rummy to pass the evenings. On to Inverness!
Perhaps you all need to wear helmuts on your next hike. WTF, you sound like a bunch of old guys tripping over themselves! Which reminds me of the time I tripped over rocks at the tennis courts at Olde Raleigh - ask Zeke. You know, those rocks were treacherous! Just stay off the Segueways (sorry Sherry!!). i am enjoying reading the blog and all the great photos - good stuff. Now, back to "The Lives and Times of Obscure Presidents", By Jack Handy...
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