Cairngorams National Park

Our next stop was Nethybridge. Eben's friend Ian connected us with his friends Eric and Carole. We were slightly nervous upon arrival since when Eben had communicated with them, he never mentioned that Mica would be with us. Then when we saw Ian on Monday, Eben asked if Eric and Carole had any pets. Ian said no and that they didn't like pets at all. That same day, Micah had told us that we were going to have his dog Moss with us on our trip. Needless to say, Eben and I got very nervous! We promptly emailed Eric and Carole to let them know that we would be traveling with another person and a dog and that we would happily camp outside, or elsewhere if they were uncomfortable with us having the dog. They replied and told us not to worry, that there was plenty of room for all of us. So off to the Cairngorms we went!

Our first day in the highlands we began with a hike in the Cairngorams National Park.

The rock face in the distance was our first destination.

Midway to the first peak.

Mica and me before the assent.

We reached the top of the first peak just as the clouds started to roll in.

It was extremely windy and cold once we reached the cliff face. Have a listen.


We crossed the sheer rock face on our way to the next peak.

We had two more peaks to climb. The last is the farthest with the little bumps on it (cairns).

My new FABULOUS Gregory backpack in action! (Eben got me my pack for my birthday.)

The third peak Cairn Gorm, after which the national park is named, is topped with one large and several small cairns so that in the event of a storm or heavy cloud cover people on the peak can find their way down.

I took this photo literally 3 minutes after the previous one and it became very clear why they would need the cairns! Clouds come in very quickly.

The four of us in the clouds after our long hike next to the largest cairn.

On our decent we had a view of some of the peaks we climbed. Going down the mountain was MUCH harder than going up. It may not look it, but it was very steep, and our legs were basically on fire.

To follow a 9 mile hike with a proper fish and chip dinner next to the loch was a great treat!

As we gobbled the delicious greasy goodness we were able look at the path we had taken over the course of the day.

This was my favorite road sign in Scotland! I picture trees lifting their skirts and tip-toeing across the street. (In actuality it refers to large equipment crossing and entering!??)

Our second day in the highlands Eben and I walked the Speyside Way a wooded, flat (my hamstrings thanked me) hiking trail from Boat of Garten to Nethybridge. That's where we saw lots of the creatures I previously blogged about. I wanted to share some more of the mushrooms we saw along the way.

These ones were hiding in the heather.

one more.

When we got back into Nethy we decided to walk along the river that passes through town.

This is a nettle. Nettles are horrible. The tiny little white flecks on the leaves are stingers that detach from the plant and get stuck in your skin, and in my case, break out in hives. In case you hadn't guessed, it isn't fun!

This is Castle Roy a fortress/castle built in the 1200s. You can't get closer than this though because it's not structurally sound. The wall at the doorway in the center is over a meter thick!

Eben and I had planned to take the bus and/or train to get to our next destination, which would have taken us pretty much the entire day due to the route we would have to take, but our good fortune came through again! Carole and Eric offered to drive us to the coastal town of Banff where we had our reservations at a small B&B.

They were such wonderful hosts! They were both welcoming and laid back, and they didn't have any issues with Moss. They gave us great breakfasts every morning with lots of yummy toasts, muesli, and yogurts (boysenberry, elderberry and rhubarb!). Carole made us two amazing three course dinners while we stayed with them, and we had the entire second floor of the house to ourselves. Our last night we taught them how to play spades. I think I had my best game ever! There wasn't a hand where I didn't get at least 5 tricks! Eric and I were the victors, but we all had a fun time.

We originally told them we'd be leaving on Monday, but made the reservations at the B&B for Tuesday (oops), so we stayed the extra day. I was worried that we were imposing, but in the end, Carole was really sad to see us to go. I think she really enjoyed being the hostess and she was a great one! We were so lucky!!!!