Secret Scotland

10/11/2024

Climbed Ben Challum (Callum's Hill) this weekend. Probably the least enjoyable Munro climb to date. Boggy, Foggy and Chilly...

It's one of those Munroes that we've passed a hundred times when travelling on the A82 between Crianlarich and Tyndrum, but the summit is only briefly visible as you drive past.

Visibility was grim. About 40 - 50 feet at the summit. Then add to that feet soaked by navigating endless bogs and a wind chill factor that numbed our extremities. We were feeling mizzzzerable.

We did spot some wildlife. A Ptarmigan in winter plumage was about 30 feet from us but my hands were so numb that I couldn't get the camera out in time to photograph it. Aurelia had an even closer wild life encounter when a baby haggis hitched a lift on her hat.

The only thing that motivated us was the reward of dinner at our favourite country inn...
Kilchrenan Inn

08/11/2024

A random post for no reason other than the fact that I just found these pictures when sorting through some SD cards.

So, here's a salmon leaping up the Falls of Shin near Lairg.

The way things are going with climate change, salmon leaping up Scottish rivers may soon be something you only see in history books.

04/11/2024

I was recently asked to recommend a nice easy Munro climb for a novice hiker. I think the 3 Munros at Cairnwell are about as easy an introduction as you can get because the starting point is at 2199 feet, so there's not much elevation to be gained and after that, you undulate up and down quite gently across a high-level plateau between the summits of Cairnwell, Càrn Aosda and Càrn a'Ghèoidh.

It's not the most scenic group of Munros to "bag", but you can tick 3 off your list in around 4 hours.

You could even cheat and take the chairlift up from the Glenshee Ski Centre to within a few 100 feet of the summit of Cairnwell. but what's the point of doing it the easy way...?

02/11/2024

The seasons seem to change so fast, or is it a sign that I'm getting old

Instead of dwelling on the approach of winter, we're recalling summer with a few pics from our July trip to the Isle of Lismore.

27/10/2024

A wee sample of pics from our time on the Isle of Coll.

16/10/2024

I could have sworn I'd already posted these pictures of the B24 Liberator crash site, but looking back through our Facebook feed it seems I must have forgotten.

The crash site is at a place south of Gairloch that is now known as the "Fairy Pools", but like the "Fairy Pools" on Skye, this is a 20th century invention and there's no folklore of fairies related to these lochans.

At the pools, you can see the scattered remains of a crashed American Liberator bomber which was flying home to the USA with 15 passengers on board. It is thought that the bomber clipped the summit of the Slioch mountain at Loch Maree and then struggled on for another 5 miles before attempting an emergency landing.

Tragically, there were no survivors, and the site is officially designated as a war grave.

It's a moody place. A propeller blade emerges from the loch like Excalibur, and sections of the wings creak softly as they flex in the wind.

15/10/2024

A few pics this time from a hike we did on the Beinn Eighe ridge

14/10/2024

Another deep dive into the photo archives. This time a mix of pics from St Monans and Pittenweem in Fife. These photos were taken about 6 years apart so some of the houses change colours a wee bit.

The distinctive roof tiles originate from the days when these ports were trading actively with the low countries. Scotland exported wool, salted fish, and grain to the continent and the ships carried these tiles as ballast during the leg from the low countries to Scotland.

12/10/2024

R.I.P Alex...

09/10/2024

Digging deeper into the Secret Scotland archives, here are some pics we took of the Victoria Falls.

No, not the ones on the Zambezi River, the ones at Slattadale in Wester Ross. Queen Vic visited them in 1877, hence the name.

The waterfalls are on a river called the Abhainn Garbhaig, which I think means the "Wild River".

08/10/2024

Some more island pictures from the Secret Scotland archive.

This time from a very wet day on Scalpay, where we trekked across the peat bogs to the distinctive Eilean Glas lighthouse.

My main memory of this day is desperately wanting a mug of coffee to warm up.

07/10/2024

I'm filing pictures from our travels over the last year so over the next few weeks I'm going to post some random pictures for no other reason that I don't think we've put them on here before.

There are literally hundreds so this might go on for a bit...

First up, some pictures from Ulva.

04/10/2024

Visited these guys in July and met the Head Chef, William Rocks (cool name!).

These guys are a great example of what Scottish cuisine has to offer.

04/10/2024

A collection of remote and lonely telephone boxes around Scotland.

04/10/2024

28/09/2024