The spring and summer months are so full around our house that sometimes I move from one event to the next without fully processing the first one.

That is a little bit how it was to go from the Speyside Way in the middle of May to the Camino at the beginning of June.

But both of these walks were really special.

The walks themselves were gorgeous. And the places we stayed were beautiful. And we ate wonderful food and had delectable drinks (Malt Whisky on the Speyside, Sangria and Spanish wine on the Camino).

But really what makes these walks so precious is the people.

And honestly, that has been true of all the walks I’ve done since I moved here two years ago.

I have been overwhelmed to the point of tears by the willingness of folks to make the journey over to walk with me.

Every single time, it is a huge gift.

Traveling with friends is so different from the every-once-in-a-while lunch date. Or the quick catch up in the carpool line.

Those moments are precious too, but this is different.

This is all day visiting on the trail.

Proper catching up, as well as space to talk about things that might never come up over lunch.

It’s climbing to the top of a hill together.

And laughing when it starts raining again for the seventh time.

So before I leave blogging about The Speyside Way and turn my attention to the Camino, I wanted to share these darling snapshots of my #SpeysideSistas.

In winter, when life is not quite as full and the walks (and the days) are shorter, I will come back to these photos and smile.

I’ll be all awash with fun memories and newly thankful for this journey.

Thank you for making it with me girls!

Thanks for the stories and for trusting me on the trail!

And thank you for making me laugh hard!

So much love!

XO

Alison

Our Speyside Way walk was made possible in part by the good folks at Macs Adventure, who should in no way be held responsible for my tendency to get lost or our ridiculous YouTube videos.

The post Snapshots of the Speyside Sistas appeared first on Alison Chino.

I knew I was in trouble by the tone of his voice, but I was buying time.

Um, no, actually, I don’t think so.

I answered meekly.

He came back with,

What are you doing, exactly?

Me: Well, we’re just walking down this road. (stating the obvious)

And, um we well, we were going to have a look at the castle.

Him: Excuse me, what did that sign say?

He said this while pointing back down the road towards a gate we had shimmied over. You could not actually see the gate from where we were standing though, because it was a mile and a half down the road. That’s how far we had been walking down a lane to have a gander at a castle.

Let me back up.

Before we met the self-appointed protector of the castle, who incidentally reminded me of Ricky Gervais in Night of the Museum, we had been walking.

Carol and Rhonda, my #SpeysideSistas, and I had set out from the small village of Tomintoul early that morning.

And even though we knew that Ballindalloch Castle was going to take us off course a bit, we were looking forward to making the detour for a couple of reasons.

Carol and Rhonda had yet to visit a proper Scottish castle on a grand old estate. We’d been to the castle ruin of Dunnottar the previous weekend, and it is gorgeous. But Ballindalloch is a castle that is still in tact, with furnishings and paintings and all the fixings. At least I think it is. I cannot say for certain since I have still never been inside of it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Secondly, we were looking forward to making it to Ballindalloch Castle because I had inquired ahead of time about their cafe hours and offerings. The castles around Scotland usually have tearooms that serve cakes and baked goods, also known as “fine pieces” in these parts. Ballindalloch even has one or two gluten free offerings in their cafe every day, a significant detail for one of our party.

So we had our sights set on reaching Ballindalloch Castle before closing time.

As we marched over hill and dale and came through several rainstorms, we were dreaming of a cuppa and a gluten free fine piece.

When we finally reached a sign for the castle that indicated that it was a mile further down the road (in the opposite direction from our night’s lodging), closing time was looming.

I remembered how many times I have taken someone to a castle just before closing time and been turned away because of forgetting an annoying little footnote at the bottom of many signs that reads:

“Last entry is one hour before closing.”

I warned the gals that we might not be able to tour the castle even if we arrived before the closing time. But we could still take pictures from the outside and have a piece of cake in the cafe.

So, on we walked.

Eventually, we came to the turn off of the main road for the castle.

Oops. Also, I forgot that often a castle’s driveway is about five miles long. So even though the sign read that the castle was just a mile away, well, that sign is for cars. And when you’re in a car, you don’t notice how long a driveway is like you do when you are on foot.

So we turned left onto the lane and pretty soon we came to a gate.

According to my watch, the castle was not yet actually closed. But apparently this place was a little hardcore on their “last entry” policy and had already closed the gate.

However, we were invested.

There was too much castle anticipation to turn around.

At this point, we just needed to see it.

So, we got ourselves around this little gate and headed on down the road.

The long road.

And like I said, we were about a mile and a half down this road before we were stopped by this guy:

Him: Excuse me, WHAT DID THAT SIGN SAY?

Me: What sign?

Him: THE SIGN ON THE GATE???

Me: Oh, that sign. Oh right. Um, I think it said that the castle was closed. (I’m really clever on the spot.)

Him: And what did it say underneath that?

Me: Ummmm…

Him: It said NO ACCESS. That gate is there for a reason. We have to be really careful about security.

Me: Security?

I should mention at this point that this man had stopped all three of us, but Carol and Rhonda had been slowly backing away from the conversation and were now standing a good ten feet away from me, not saying a word. In retrospect I am wondering if somehow they thought they could disassociate themselves from me if I were to be collected for castle trespassing.

Me: I’m sorry sir, we have been walking all day and we knew we were too late to actually tour the castle, but we were just hoping to… 

Him: (interrupting) We have to be really careful about security! People cannot just walk down this road. 

Me: (confused, picking up where I left off) …so we’re walking the Speyside Way this week and we are staying in the little town down the road tonight…

Him: (interrupting again) Where are you staying?

Me: (starting to dig in my backpack for my booking reference): Um, just a minute.

Him: Auch, it doesn’t matter. We just have to be really careful of security. (I swear he kept saying this over and over again.)

Me: Right, well, we are about to walk to the place where we are staying tonight and honestly, we were just hoping to have a quick look at the castle beforehand. 

Him: (eyes rolling) Well, if you just continue a little of the way down this road, I suppose you may have a quick look at the castle. But we have to be really careful about security, so if anyone stops you, you may tell them that I approved of it. Then you really need to be on your way. 

Me: Oh, thank you so much. We’ll go very quickly, I promise.

Then he got in his car and drove away. We managed to contain our fits of giggles until he was out of sight.

Then we continued down to the castle.

We were so nervous by this point that we were practically whispering as we walked around the castle.

We found a bench to sit down on and I pulled out a thermos of tea and some biscuits, making good on my promise that we would have tea at the castle.

Well, girls, Welcome to Scotland.

After a while, in spite of blue skies, it started to rain, so we pulled ourselves up and headed back up the lane.

We walked for several more miles and through a terrible hailstorm before we came to the end of our day.

Thank goodness that Helen met us at the door or we might not have gotten over our encounter with Mr. Gervais.

Our Speyside Way walk was made possible in part by the good folks at Macs Adventure, who should in no way be held responsible for my gate-crashing or for my ridiculous YouTube videos.

The post Speyside Way Stories: Castle Closed appeared first on Alison Chino.

We had expected to be at the end of the day’s walk by 5pm.

We got an early start on our fifteen mile day, heading out under blue skies that promised to turn rainy later in the afternoon.

We reached our highest point before lunch.

All downhill from here, I thought.

Piece of cake.

I forgot how moorlands can stretch on forever.

And how the rain can blow in without warning.

I don’t always remember how the rain thrashes you around a bit when the wind blows.

And then little bits of hail can hit hit your face so hard that you aren’t sure if you are going to laugh or cry.

Oh, and then sometimes a small detour can quickly turn fifteen miles into twenty.

All these details are deep in my subconscious somewhere after years of walking unfamiliar trails in unpredictable weather.

So often I don’t properly prepare my companions for the twists and turns that a day of walking in Scotland can take.

All of the above circumstances combined to leave the Speyside Sistas (as we called our party of three gals walking The Speyside Way) literally crawling up the driveway of our evening’s lodging, well past the usual hour for the evening meal.

The Cragganmore House was a welcome sight for sore eyes (and blistered feet).

Helen welcomed us in just the way I like, like soldiers home from war.

I must admit that I enjoy being coddled a bit after a long walk. And whether I have come five miles or fifty, I will not refuse a hostess’s offer of tea and biscuits nor her laments about the weather if its been raining.

We settled quickly into our rooms and while Rhonda and Carol showered, I consulted with Helen about what would be a rather late dinner. Her husband, the resident chef at Cragganmore, had given us more choices than I would have done for a party of just three gals at dinner, especially considering that in our famished states, we would have been happy with bowls of broth and crusts of bread.

As I checked off our choices, Helen warned me that the following day would probably hold a few more miles than we had counted on due to some re-routing of the trail around some farmland.

“Oh dear,” I quipped, “Better not tell the other girls just yet.”

“Oh yes. Wait until they’ve had some wine,” she whispered back.

I went upstairs and had my tea in the turret before taking a long bath. A hot soak does wash away all that tensing up in the cold weather. I closed my eyes for just a minute, enjoying the slow thaw of each muscle.

An hour later, completely relaxed, we all descended for dinner with only the slightest of limps. A fire was waiting for us in the dining room.

Bliss! We oohed and awed our gratefulness at such a treat.

The first of May might have seemed too late for a fire for most folk, and Helen told us that they had indeed already swept the chimneys for the season. But then, as it can do in Scotland, a freeze had returned and they lit the fires again.

She reminded us to turn on the heaters in our rooms to prepare for a cold night.

Dinner was exquisite. We tried to be ladylike and not scarf it down like animals, to be worthy of the gorgeous table and regal room.

I think my hunger got the better of me though, and I just barely refrained from licking the caramel sauce from the dish that was poured out over my apple crumble.

We laughed as the sun came out. May days are long in the Highlands and we even caught a glimpse of a rainbow through the dining room window.

When our tummies were full we talked with Helen about how she and her family had moved up to this part of Scotland years ago to lovingly restore this house that was once a part of the neighboring distillery’s estate.

Rhonda, Carol and Helen discovered they all had a mutual love of Boxers. When the gals found out that there were two Boxer puppies in the house, they would not rest until they got to meet them in person. This was to be the beginning of Rhonda and Carol’s stopping to pet every dog we passed on the Speyside Way, a sign, I suppose, that they were missing their own canines back home. Being the sort of person who does not really do animals, I was surprised every time they accosted another stranger with a dog. I could not deny them the opportunities that gave them so much joy, but I did keep my distance.

And just look how happy they are.

Of course, this was before I told them that we had a few extra miles to walk the next day.

But first, we would sleep.

The next morning we had a gorgeous breakfast in the dining room before going next door to visit the small distillery.

Cragganmore is one of several small distilleries in Scotland that you can tour and once you have paid the small (five pounds) fee to tour one, you can join and tour the rest of them for free. I tend to really enjoy these smaller tours because they are so intimate. On the morning of our visit, we were the only three people on the tour. 

After the tour, we got to taste the special Distiller’s Edition of the Cragganmore Whisky which we all enjoyed so much that we purchased several bottles to take home.

We had left our luggage next door at The Cragganmore House, so we thought we would just run back over and pop it in our bags before they were picked up. Then we would head on down the trail.

Of course, when we got back to the house, our luggage had already gone.

“No matter.” Helen said, as she took our bags and bottles of whisky from us.

She was sure the driver could stop back by the next day and bring them with our bags to Aviemore where we would be ending our walk.

I told her that I would phone when we reached our destination for the day and see if there was anything I needed to do from my end.

And then we were on our way, walking this deserted railway line through spring green forests.

Because the path was so straight, I neglected to notice for several miles that I was without my trekking poles.

I was heading up a hill when I reached for them and remembered that I had leaned them on the outside wall of the distillery before our tour. Oops.

I resolved not to think about it until later, and so off we went through forests and farms. In and out of rain showers. Over the Spey River and on to the next town.

Again, our morning of whisky touring and tasting pushed our arrival into the next town past the dinner hour. We found a pub across from our B&B that served dinner. Rhonda said that she was about to discover a new meaning for the term pub crawl. We stayed at our table long after our food was finished because we were loathe to stand up and walk another step.

Laughing we hobbled across the street and up the stairs before I remembered to phone Helen about the trekking poles and whisky delivery. She wasn’t in but her daughter assured me everything had already been arranged.

We started calling Helen our “Trail Mum” after that.

The next day when we arrived at the end of our walk in Aviemore, all of our things were waiting for us. We cheered when we saw it all, probably at the combination of finishing our walk and seeing that Helen had taken care of us.

Two days later, we were back at home unpacking and I decided that I must have left my yoga pants in an apartment in Edinburgh, which we had visited after our walk.

A little later, Carol was taking her whisky out of the plastic bags to wrap it for the journey back to the US, and she found my yoga pants folded in next to her bottles.

Apparently I’d left them behind at Cragganmore. And of course, Helen made sure that they found their way back to me.

Thanks, Trail Mum!

I have been delighted with the lovely accommodations that Macs Adventure seeks out for us on our walking holidays, and The Cagganmore House was certainly one of those very special places along the way. I think that Helen and Sheila (from our lovely first night’s stay on St Cuthbert’s Way) could be sisters.

Our Speyside Way walk was made possible in part by the good folks at Macs Adventure, who should in no way be held responsible for my tendency to get lost or our ridiculous YouTube videos.

The post Speyside Way Stories: Trail Mum appeared first on Alison Chino.

You might remember that my May challenge was a three day walk: The Speyside Way.

The Speyside Way is actually a 5-8 day walk (depending on if you add a couple of spurs) through Speyside, an area of Scotland that is famous for single malt whisky production.

This area is close enough to where we live that I thought it would be fun to try to complete the walk in smaller portions. Or Microadventures.

I’m looking forward to sharing stories from my first microadventure on the Speyside Way, which I did with Rhonda and Carol, my #SpeysideSistas.

But as a bit of a teaser, here are five photos from the walk.

Each one of these images has a story behind why it is a favorite.

Always look for the thistle, the marker for the Speyside Way.

It would be hard to say if we had more rain or more sunshine, but since my camera stays in my bag during the rain, the photos tell the story of a sun-drenched walk.

After a long, hard day of walking, you really want to land somewhere lovely, and The Cragganmore House was the loveliest.

I always love to find the perfect place for a picnic and Nethy Bridge was special not just for its beauty but because a certain Chino will be working near here in the autumn.

If you ever come to Scotland, you should take note that most castles have a last entry time of about 3:30pm. I’m just saying. It’s worth writing down if you plan to visit a lot of castles.

Over the next few weeks, I’m planning to tell the stories behind these photos, so stay tuned! (Maybe even subscribe?)

Our Speyside Way walk was made possible in part by the good folks at Macs Adventure, who were wonderful to work with and who should in no way be held responsible for my tendency to get lost or our ridiculous YouTube videos.

The post Chasing Daylight in May: Snapshots of Speyside appeared first on Alison Chino.

While I was on The Speyside Way a couple of weeks ago with my #SpeysideSistas, we had lots of fun making videos. I shared little 30 second clips of our walk on Facebook throughout the week, so I thought it would be fun to make a highlight reel with bits and pieces.

Hope you enjoy!!

The post The Speyside Way: YouTube Edition appeared first on Alison Chino.