High in the Highlands

Before leaving Aberdeen, my human went to check out the maritime museum. For her, the two most interesting pieces were a enormous model of an oil platform, hung up from the ceiling and reaching down all four floors to almost touch the ground. And then there was a Newt Suit, still in great shape.

Drill bits

We drove on after lunch, planning to spend the next few days in the Cairngorm National Park, which is home to many on the UK's highest "mountains". The definition of a mountain seems to be different here than where we come from, but let's show some curtsey.

Ballater is one of the bigger towns on the edges of the largest National Park the UK has to offer. So we stopped there to get some information. As we arrived it was - surprise- raining. Nothing unusual here, but we still haven't gotten quite used to this as a permanent feature. 

It stopped a couple of hours later, kind of, so my human set out for a walk around the area, which is really quite pretty.

Seemed a bit lost in the landscape

The  next morning, after patiently waiting for the rain to stop, she took the bike, rode it up to Loch Muick, some 15km along a narrow road. She then walked around said Loch and up a ways to a waterfall. The weather was relatively kind, meaning it didn't rain. Coming back on the bike was pure bliss, since it was downhill all the way.

One of the starting points to hike up the second largest mountain here, Ben Macdui, lies some miles down the road, past the village of Breamar, which is where we spent the night before an early start the next morning.

Which was a very windy one. The forecast predicted some 100-120km/h winds. Unfortunately they were right. 

You can reach this mountain by first climbing up Derry Cairngorm, 150m lower, and then go on from there. But that day, there was no going on. 

The next front coming in

Our camp spot for the night

Those who know my human will know what it means when I say that she considered turning around a number of times. She didn't, no brownie points that day, though. She could hardly take the phone out to take some pictures out of fear the wind would take it right out of her hands. As it did with the rain cover of her backpack. Which, magically, she found again on the way down. Something, at least. 

Carmelo didn't even poke his head out of the pack once, he was still a bit shaken by the time they got back down. An experienced mountaineer he is not.

For the following day, a very special tour was planned and my human was viciously excited. She would go on a tour to the only free roaming reindeer herd in the UK. Yes, reindeer in the UK. 

They do roam free in an area about 45 square kilometers large, which lies in a sub-arctic zone, where they can find food. They don't really leave this area, although they could, there are no fences, but just like us, they don't stray too far from where the food is.

The herd is managed, though, to a certain extend. Breeding, mainly. Since there is only this one herd, they can't find a mate from another herd, which would result in inbreeding. They are used to the rangers which come up every so often with some treats and to check on them to see if all are happy and healthy.

And on such an occasion, tourist can go with them and be amongst the animals, if they so choose. And they do, of course, it's called bribery.

Out of all the facts my human learned about this animal during those hours, one stuck with her in particular. A reindeer has a tendon running across it's heel. When they walk, it slips over the bone and makes a clicking sound. This is used to communicate and so loud, they can even hear it during a snow storm to orient themselves and stay together.

Nature is so very clever! 

There are about 150 animals in this herd and each one has a name. Currently the oldest bull is 11 and his name is Elvis. Of course. Females do tend to live a little longer, but they don't get very much older than that. Living in a sub-arctic climate doesn't seem to be good for longevity.

Loch: an arm of the sea, especailly when narrow or partially landlocked

What didn't happen because of the weather two days ago was a walk in the park today. The sun was shining brightly. Instead of a rain jacket, sunscreen was the name of the game.

It was a bit of a drag to get to the mountain, if you want to call it that, distances are very deceiving here. Everything seems close, but is not. The landscape was crafted by glaciers and all is undulating, softly rising hillside. Really pretty, but the eye is somehow looking for a stark summit, a high cliff, a craggy edge. 
But nevertheless, now my human have climbed the second highest mountain in the UK, Ben Macdui, all of 1309 meters high. 

Seems close, right? It's not!

We drove on to Inverness in the afternoon, had a wee look around before turning in. All this sun today was really exhausting!

Over the next three days we explored this city, the capital of the Highlands and, of course, Loch Ness. And to kill the suspension right at the start: we did not see Nessie nor did we look for him/her/it. Her they speak of the monster as a "her", I wonder why that is...

The city itself is nice, but not overly exciting, I'm afraid to say. Although it is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe, so who knows how it will be a few years from now. It sure as hell isn't going to be a culinary hot spot anytime soon, though.

We had a look at the small botanical garden, the city museum, the Ness Islands and -by far the highlight- a wonderful second hand book shop. 

Inverness across the River Ness

"Inver" and "Aber", as in Inverness and Aberdeen, actually mean "mouth of the river" 

One of a number of bridges to the Ness Islands

Just to proof my point about roadkill I made in a previous post

Leakey's Book Shop, or as my human calls it: Heaven

On we went to the Loch. This is the largest body of fresh water in Great Britain, although Loch Lommond is larger and Loch Morar is deeper. You could fill 3 Billion Olympic size swimming pools with it. If that helps your imagination.

There it is!

SEe the plane? Look for the shadow on the water!

Highland scenery

A fantastic nights rest here in the middle of the forest

Where the river Ness meets the loch Ness

Urquhart Castle (ruins, they don't say that in the brochure)

My human explored the loch any way possible, by hiking part of the 360° trail, riding the bike on another part, taking a boat trip on it, swimming in it; balmy 13 degrees this time of the year in the shallows.

And for the first time since we are here, the weather gods were with us as well. We had three days of mostly sunny T-Shirt weather and little wind. What a difference that makes! We even started to get a bit of a tan going! Although mine might just be dirt.