I'm just trying to walk myself home.
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It’s been exactly 10 years since I first visited the Scottish Isle of Skye. We took the kids camping there for an autumn school holiday (also known as Tattie Holidays). It was the last year we still had four kids under our roof and I was determined to make the most of every family holiday …
Kinlochleven to Fort William 15 miles 1388 feet of elevation We woke up early and SO well rested at the West Highland Lodge. And it was cold outside! Our first truly cold day! Honestly, today we had the Scottish weather I had prepared us for! We made coffee and tea in the kitchen and took …
Glencoe Mountain Resort to Kinlochleven 10 miles 1624 ft Did I say yesterday that we’d perhaps begun to get a little overconfident about finishing our last couple of days on the West Highland Way? Maybe it was that I thought we’d mostly faced the variety of challenges that might arise on our hike that I …
Bridge of Orchy to Glencoe Mountain Resort 12 miles 1700 feet of elevation Any day that starts with coffee in a comfy bed staring out the window at the mountains is a dream day in my book. Then later in the dining room at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel, the host gave us a table …
Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy 7 miles 383 ft of elevation I was determined to stay in these little Hobbit huts on this trip as they are adorable and cozy. And I would 100% stay in them again. (We are staying in something similar again in a couple of nights.) But it is noteworthy that …
Inverarnan to Tyndrum 12 miles 2313 feet Today was one of those days that could convert even the most confirmed city girl into a lover of hiking. The sun came out and stayed out. The paths were smooth. The views of the surrounding hills were gorgeous. It was an absolutely perfect day! Of course I …
Rowardennan to Inverarnan 14.5 miles 1430 feet of elevation Day 3 started with a line for toast and coffee, a trip to the shed outside to put our bags for the transfer service and the most unreal blue sky over our heads. Really. I haven’t seen a sky that clear in the UK in a …
Drymen to Rowardennan 15 miles 2204 ft of elevation Breakfast started at 8am in The Drymen Inn, which we did good to make, even though we’d been drinking coffee in our room since 6:30am. It was just that we found it difficult to move from our beds. But it wasn’t raining when we woke up …
Milngavie to Drymen 12 miles Elevation: 1358 ft I fell asleep to the sound of rain coming down hard on the pavement. When I woke up it was still steadily coming down. I swirled a little instant coffee into some hot water and crawled back into bed with my mug. I studied the maps and …
I didn’t originally plan to hike the 95 mile long West Highland Way this year. It’s one of those trips that evolved out of email exchanges and fellow hikers’ hopes and dreams. When a friend told me last Christmas that they wanted to do a through-hike in Scotland this year, I remembered that when I …
When you have lived somewhere for three years and you invite your friends along on what is to be your Final Walk In Scotland, apparently people feel obligated to come. Or maybe they just don’t want to miss a final opportunity to climb a munro with you. Or maybe lots of folks want to make …
We’ll have to get up early. We’ll need to leave by 6am, but I’m pretty sure we can do it all in one day. It will take us over three hours to drive there, somewhere between 5 and 7 hours to climb it, and then three hours to drive back home. Plus I think we should …
Bow Fiddle Rock, Cullen, Scotland On my first Sunday in church in Scotland, a gal introduced herself to me and gave me her number. She said I could call her for coffee sometime. But I didn’t call her. For all kinds of reasons. I was in a state of total overwhelm. I thought she was just being …
Persley Walled Garden + River Don = 87.5% of My Aberdeen Life Near daily I have walked along the River Don. It is the path to school. The path to town. The path to Tesco. On long summer evenings I walk it after dinner and watch the sky change colors. I know I will breathe …
A Walk from Aboyne, Scotland A light drizzle was falling on us as we made the drive to Aboyne, Scotland. It was a Saturday morning in March. Nearly Easter. We were headed to meet our friends Patrick and Nicola for a walk with our kids and theirs. Soon we were standing around in the car …
Coastal Trails Near Aberdeen What follows is a photo series of the coastal cliff walking we’ve done while we’ve been in Aberdeen for the last three years. Coastal cliff scenery is other worldly to me. Partly because I did not grow up near the sea and partly because, similar to the sand dunes in Scotland, …
Castles near Aberdeen and Beyond Oh Scotland, Land of Castles. Castles that are old estate homes. And castle ruins by the sea. Today I’m sharing a collection of photos of castles in Scotland. Like Dunnottar in Stonehaven, there are a few castles we return to with friends again and again because of their proximity to …
An Ode To Aberdeen Beach Oh, Aberdeen Beach. You are sometimes called “Fun Beach,” which makes us smile. You are the first place we visited when we came to Aberdeen. And you are the first place we bring our visitors. Usually as soon as they arrive. It’s the North Sea! I say to my family …
Sand Dunes in Scotland I took this picture of Mary Polly in September 2013, less than a month after we moved here, and it pretty much captures how I feel about the Sand Dunes in Scotland. The wind is always blowing the grasses that grow on the sand dunes so that you feel like you’re …
My Favorite Red Phone Booths in Scotland The bright red phone booths across the UK are always catching my eye! I have about a gazillion photos of these booths from hikes and walks and travels in the last three years. This one is from the Coast to Coast walk in Grasmere with Diane. But there …