The Highlands

So after a long pause, a somewhat extended update:

I camped over in the village of Saint Augustine located at the south end of Loch Ness. The village of Saint Augustine was a bit of a bore. They play up the whole lake monster thing with iconic street signs, business names, and jewelery design, but there was nothing really worth seeing on the history or details of the legend, or the early and very serious attempts to find and catch Nessy. I feel they are missing the boat on this one, and I would've liked to see more. There are cute little shopping areas, and a series of ship locks they termed “Neptune's Ladder” as they lead to the canal way and rest of the Lochs.

After talking to some people about road and traffic conditions on my route options, I did decide to take local highway A82 north (there were few options), seeing the west side of Loch Ness and Urquhart castle along the way. Urquhart castle was a longtime Scottish fort, castle, and stronghold. It has a very long and proud history fending off the Vikings, English, and other raiders before it was eventually being scuttled rather then surrendering to the English. It held a strategic location on the Loch, with some good views to match.

These roads of A82 were some of the most beautiful I've done, but also represented a conflict as traffic was dense on a twisting lakeside road. There were frequent blind turns, no shoulder, and 60mph posted limit. Cars, campers, tour buses, and trucks frequent this road, and along with experienced tourist traffic. I can say this was the most dangerous riding I've ever done traffic wise. Vehicles often passed very close, or made unsafe passes which could have caused head on collisions. People are very impatient, and I partly felt guilty for being there. Though the castle was good to see, I regret taking this route, and would not recommend it to anyone. Interestingly, a few days later I saw a front page newspaper article on the same issue on this same stretch of road. A large bike ride is scheduled to take place during separately scheduled festival, and city officials are concerned of the unsafe situation. After riding the road myself, I understand their concern.

I turned off A82 as soon as I could and took a route proposed by one of the friendly Urquhart guides who was a bicyclist herself. This brought me into the real highlands, and some of the steepest climbing I've ever done, so much so that my front wheel started lifting off the ground. This was steeper then the terrain I found in the Alps. The GPS took to the hostel in Inverness, where I had microwave dinners with German girls I met in the kitchen, but was otherwise uneventful.

The next day I followed bike route 1 north again, which included a short ferry ride, and an operator who yacked my ear off about gun control and healthcare as soon as he found out I was from the US. I should also mention the “YES” promotion going on for Scottish independence, which vote will come up in about 2 weeks. Blue and while posters, bumper stickers, and everything else are a very frequent sight. I think it stands a good chance of happening.

My route took me past Glenmorangie distillery, so I stopped for a sampling. These distilleries all smell so good with grain, wood, and liqurlike sweetness in the air. Upon learning about my trip, the people at the welcome center kindly provided me with two small complementary jars of single malt whiskey for the beaches of John O' Groats. I tucked them away in my bags for later.

Scotland has different camping rules then the UK, and provide a much more relaxed stance of “open access” of unprotected areas, save no large fires or trash is left behind. Knowing this, I followed a path off into the woods and crash camped for a night. It was free, but there was no shower and I just got by with the water I had for dinner and breakfast. It was also very cold, even my new fleece sleeping bag liner. Although such camping is allowed, finding a good spot and a nice night have been difficult.

The next morning was foggy but cleared by mid morning, and a decent tail wind picked up blowing me northward. The northern regions of Scotland are vast and open, with grass giving way to green and purple scrub that mixes in different combinations on the hillsides. Aside from this, much of the environment is devoid of other features, giving the whole area a somewhat lunar feel. There is little trace of civilization for miles. In hind site, I'm glad I made it through in one day as cover was sparse and my food supply was running low. The area was pretty, but also dull as cresting each hill brought much of the same views. Some nice bodies of water were at the end of the day.

I found a nice hostel in Tongue that was converted from an old hunting lodge. The next morning had wind and rain, but I headed out toward John O'Groats, the end of the famous LEJOG journey. An unfortunate headwinds prevailed, and a constant 10 mph headwind made a 15 mph effort more like a 6-8mph speed, and after much struggling over the rolling hills, I quit after about 40 miles at hostel in Thurso. The hostel was above a pizza place... what could be more? Aside from the hard work and frustration of the wind, there really were some spectacular views of the mountains and ocean from the north shore road. I didn't stop to see much as I was goal driven, and knew I was coming back the same way. New food finds keep me fueled up!

I went food shopping and made a big stew in the hostel kitchen that I shared with other hostelers. I've been trying to eat out less for financial reasons, and for better nutrition overall.

From Thurso, I left early the next day and rode the last 20 miles to John O'Groats, then caught the 10:30 ferry to the Orkney Islands. There were a bunch of historic sites listed here, so I thought I'd spend a day and check them out. Much to my surprise, the historic sites were way historic, like as in the stone age. Over the next two days I went to the Tomb of the Eagles, The Maeshove tomb, Standing Stones and the Ring of Brodgar, as well as Skara Brae, a well preserved stone age village that was only unearthed in the early 1900's. Many of these sites dated from around 3000 B.C... as in 5000 years ago, which put they way before Stonehenge, the pyramids, the great wall of china, or pretty my any other memory. The archeological finds were on display (as well as recreations), and I was impressed by the craftsmanship such as making polished buttons, with holes, out of stone. The Skara village had furnished apartments including stone shelving, beds, pots and tools. When touring the tombs, one of the guides made a comment in how time seems to stand still when you are inside, and I think that best describes the calm stillnes like I haven’t experienced before. Sometimes it was a little bit spooky grabbing a “torch” from the box and crawling into the tomb on your own, and I was hesitant to take pictures. I'm not one for the supernatural, but I'm not about to crack open a 5000 year old tomb on my own, and the large circles of standing stone make you wonder what they were used for. It was a very curious and fascinating experience that made me think about time and evolution. Some of the tombs had inscriptions from earlier explorers, and when translated read “ 'so and so' is the prettiest girl in town” and other such nonsense things that reminded me of writings of a bathroom stall. Good to see some things don't change. 

 

 

I saw the Churchill barriers, which were important naval blockades built during WW1 and WW2 when the islands were used as a navel base. I rested a day in Kirkwall and went to the former castles and cathedral there as well. I also went to the brewery for lunch, because that's how I roll. I did not get to see any Puffins, which I was hoping for, but was a few weeks too late for their migration. The rest of the island I thought was well described by the script below.

After hosteling it again in Stromness, I took the 6:30 am ferry to the mainland and returned to the same hostel in Tongue. Here the winds changed on me, and I was once again fighting my way upwind. I was really getting annoyed with the headwind and this unfortunately soured the day. Fortunately, I did take a side trip to a local beach that turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been with a long white crescent beach and waves breaking on tall grassy cliffs on either side. I took quite a bit of time there, had lunch, took pictures, and was on the road again.

I have been trying to camp to save some money, but the wind and cold have really warn me down. Some of the cold harsh climate is much like I experienced in Austria. The rolling hillsides are also challenging, especially into the wind. The services have also been sparse making it somewhat of an adventure riding up here.

One thing I am getting better at is listening to my gut. There are many decisions to be made with incomplete information (and spotty cell phone signal), and I find that going with instinct, although unusual for me to listen to it, has been valuable in several occasions. This is a somewhat new practice with erriely good results. Things seem to fall into place better when go with my instincts.

Tomorrow I head west, then south along the cost towards Ireland.