Pugsworth in Scotland - The experience

Scotland has been noticeably colder, windier and more hilly but I've actually done more cycling than in England because the distances are more manageable and I've become fitter, finding 50 miles (80kms) in a day quite manageable where before I'd been sticking to 20-30 miles. On the up side the people are friendlier and the architecture and scenery are more interesting, the former having a distinct European influence, French and Dutch mostly. The warm clothes I've brought are finally getting some use, though I've still only had two full (non-bike) days in long pants. Continuing the snack food exploration, the best thing here has been Scottish Scones, sort of a cross between a savoury and really thick pita bread. They pack great, taste good by them selves but like bread go with just about anything so are a great snack in themselves or quite a good side dish to a meal. A few highlights: The first is a great ride I had from Edinburgh to Falkirk along the Union Canal, apparently the most famous canal in Scotland and I can see why. It stretches about 30 miles but is completely flat and without lochs all the way to Falkirk. So that and a tail wind made for great riding but what made it so special was that it runs through the hills so there is a great view on one side and water on the other the whole way. On top of that it includes a 100m high aqueduct and a 600m long tunnel which was really cool. That the main bike route only uses a small section of the canal and that I discovered it by accident made it all the more special. It is one of the best rides I've done all trip, definitely the most scenic and only rivalled by my Sherwood forest ride which is the most adventurous I've done. The second is just a little moment from Sunday 31st of August. I'd spent the night before in an independent hostel in Caputh playing Family Fortune with a bunch from Edinburgh and chatted till 1am with a guy whose family were deported from Nauru in the 80s for inciting civil unrest! I woke refreshed at 8:15 (I normally need much more sleep especially after riding 45 miles the day before) and was the road by 9:30. This is the earliest I've been on the road by choice, and it seemed ridiculous for a Sunday morning but it was a beautiful morning, the sun shining and I was riding along the beautiful river Tay. I was feeling so good I composed a short poem: O Joy, O Ecstacy! This is heaven Heaven is where I am, I must be God The idea being that heaven is not a place in the sky, it wasn't the place I was in that was like heaven but just the mood I was in and the time I was having, and it just follows me where ever I go! The next highlight was walking along the river North Esk near Edzell in Angusshire. A short ride from where I was staying I came to a bridge across the river and just stopped right there to admire this rushing water cascading down a rocky gorge. I love moving water and I love rocks but the two together is just awesome. Turns out this is where I'd been directed to for a walk 'through the blue door'. I turned a 1 hour walk into a 3 hour one, having so much fun climbing over the rocks keeping as close to the water as possible. The river had such diverse scenery, rapids, water falls, deep narrow channels, wide calm pools and everything in between. It was so beautiful and to think I was all the way up here in Scotland enjoying this river just made me laugh with ecstasy. I really wanted to canoe down the river and stuck around an extra day to so I could get some but to no avail. I'm now trying to plan ahead a bit to make sure I get to canoe a river somewhere in Scotland but the water levels have been low everywhere, I guess that's because I've lucky with the rain, only getting wet on three days this whole trip so far (all in Scotland though). Probably my best day so far though was walking in the Cairngorms, Scotland highest mountain range. I was lucky enough to run into a couple of people doing an adventure training course (to become qualified leaders) who were staying at the hostel I was at. They lent me a backpack, map and compass for the day and gave me some tips on places to visit (and others to avoid). At first I though the compass was a bit more than I needed but then I remembered that here in Scotland you can often go all day without seeing the sun and it was easy to lose your bearings. By the end of the day I realised that I'd never done such a long walk in such a big mountain range, and was glad I'd been reasonably well equipped (no first aid gear though I realised the following day). I got to the base of the mountains about midday, left my bike in a carpark about halfway up the road to the chair lift and set out on foot with a vague idea about where I was going (sort of sums up my whole trip really but is best way to have an adventure) but as it turned out I was going away from the chair lift towards a large rocky gorge called Lairig Ghru. Just as I reached it though I noticed another huge gorge further into the mountain and decided to take a short detour for more of look. The land was deceptively undulating though and it took me about twice as long as I expected, I was also bush bashing and discovering how moist the ground could be in parts and the amazing diversity of plant life here, really quite incredible. My favourite plants were the bright coloured mosses in every colour on the spectrum between green and red. Having seen a bit of the other gorge I headed back to Lairig but instead of descending back towards it's entrance I decided to scramble gradually down a rockslide into the gully. The whole area is filled with various rockslides, some older and more stable than others, so it was mostly safe but very steep in parts an I had a couple of anxious moments when I heard rocks falling in other parts of the gorge. Eventually I made it to the bottom and continued through this huge gorge with amazingly steep slopes on both sides and a creek running through the bottom. It went on for much longer than I expected and was beginning to wonder if was going to be able to meet up with another path and loop back to the car park within the day. By this point (about 3pm) I also hadn't seen anyone for a couple of hours but eventually met two others, both on their own, and carrying full hiking gear so they could camp anywhere the wanted to. they did confirm though that I should be able to make it around, though I had a long way to go. Eventually I came to a place where I could take a short cut up one a creek burn on one side of the gorge to meet the track coming back along the ridge. This was great fun in itself. I basically climbed up the middle of a creek with it running down on both sides of me. Then all of a sudden it disappeared, from rushing creek to dry ground, although I could still hear it flowing? - underground. Due to the nature of the ground (another old rockslide) the creek flowed entirely underground at various points down the hill. It was amazing to hear but not see all this rushing water. The top of gorge was a rocky moon scape, where no sooner had I found the path than it disappeared again amidst all the rocks. On coming around the summit though I came to a large sheet of ice, still sitting on the side of the mountain. I'd seen an even larger one of these earlier, the tail of a glacier still siting above the glacial valley it had carved out - amazing to see this relationship so close at hand. I found out later that this larger ice sheet is the one the use to measure global warming in Scotland. I also found out later that by taking the short cut up the creek I'd avoided/missed climbing Scotland second highest peak, Ben Macdui, and bagging a Munro (peak over 3000 ft). The hill I had climbed was of munro height but is too close to a taller munro (the one I skipped) to be considered a munro itself. I then began the long descent along the rocky ridge and back down the chair lift route. It was now about 8pm though so all the tourists had gone and the place was pretty much deserted. I'd had a great day though. When I arrived in the morning the mist still covered the tops of the mountains but my mid afternoon the cloud had lifted and the sun came out at times to brighten up the scenery but didn't stay out which was good as it meant I didn't get too hot. By evening the clouds were again gathering but it didn't rain on me at all. I'd even seen some grouse and a couple of miniature frogs. I got back to my bike about 9:45 and rode the 10 miles back to the hostel, luckily mostly downhill. I was a great adventure of a day and I must do some multi-day walks in mountains sometime, maybe cradle mountain in Tasmania.