August 11, 2015 - Last day in Edinburgh

Tattoo report as dictated by Peg.

We joined 8,500 people for a beautiful evening. We watched the sunset (surprise it wasn't raining). Hooray! The Master of Cermonies called for applause as he named countries. The largest responses were from the United States and Scotland, another surprise. The Tattoo celebrated several themes this year; the friendship between countries from East and West, anniversaries of WWI and the Battle of Britian. The program began with a C-130 flyover.

The first to emerge from the Edinburgh Castle into the stadium were bagpipers and drummers of eight different military organizations, flashing their kilts of different colors, but all in full regalia. They had the crowd eating out of their hands. You would have thought it was a soccer match and everyone's home team was winning.

Interspersed with bag pipe music were military bands that included precision drum and rifle corps. China's was represented for the first time at the Tattoo with a military band that was mostly brass and drums. As they exited they were clever enough to play "Scotland, the Brave"! Later in the program Chinese performers danced a story that featured beautifully colored costumes and several paper dragons.

The Shetland Fiddlers played Irish and Scottish standards while a huge number of Scottish dancers had the stadium bursting with energy.

The Country of India sent dancers and musicians who performed a Balliwood style love story with both the man in a kilt and the woman in a sari. Again it was very well received. We were thrilled that we brought binoculars so that Peg was able to see the details.

Next were celebrated the landmark events of WWI and WWII music from those periods and a fantastic fireworks display. Nearing the end of the two hour performance all of bands and performers assembled  and led the stadium in singing the Scottish National Anthem, God Save the Queen, and Auld Lang Syne. More fireworks as the bands and performers exited the stadium. All of this to backdrop of beautiful lighting displays on the walls of the Edinburgh Castle. Included are some pictures but they don't due the beauty of it all much justice.

    We are ready for the show

    The crowd filling in the stands

    First performers

    Tattoo performers

Today we had breakfast at the hotel and then when went on a guided walk called the Potter Trail. Virtually all of the Harry Potter books were written in Edinburgh and we visited several places that were used as themes in the series. We also visited the Coffee House where J. K. Rowling did a lot of her writing. The tour was very informative and very worthwhile. 

We then had lunch and again visited the National Museum of Scotland. We could spend several days there.

We took a very different route back to the hotel so we could see more of the city. We are packed up and are ready to head home.

The Beav and Sweathog had an unbelievable five week journey.

    The Potter trail guide

    The Elephant House

    Amethyst geode at the museum

    Quad racing bike at the museum

    Edinburgh Castle

 

August 10, 2015 -Edinburgh

We slept in a little this morning and and as Peg was still lounging in bed I went to Starbucks for a dark roast coffee which I bought back to the room and then made Peg her mocha. We took our time getting ready for the day and went to a local restaurant for breakfast where we both had pancakes with sliced bananas and strawberries. This was a welcome break from the traditional Irish/Scottish breakfast which consists of all or part of the following: sausage, bacon, white and black blood pudding, tomato, mushrooms, baked beans, potato scones, white or brown toast and eggs. 

Our first planned stop of the day was to be a photography exhibit of past Tattoos at the National Library of Scotland located on King George Bridge. After viewing the exhibit and spending a little time in the library we continued on the bridge and stumbled upon The Elephant House Coffee House where J. K. Rowling wrote much of the Harry Potter series. We also found that there is a Tour of the Potter Trail which we plan to do tomorrow. 

Continuing on the bridge we came in front of a pastry shop and judging by what was displayed in the window we could not resist going in. I had a glorious piece of cheesecake and Peg had a very good piece of carrot cake. 

A little further on we spotted the National Museum of Scotland and went in to take a look. It is a gigantic building and we spent 90 minutes on one of the seven floors before we needed to head out for a one woman show on Nellie Bly which started at 2:30. We will be back at the museum tomorrow.

The show was very interesting. We are now back in the room until we head out to dinner and our night at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The show starts at 9:00 and I'll report on it tomorrow.

Mostly partly cloudy skies today with only a touch of rain. We just need decent weather tonight.

    Self explanatory 

    Pastry shop

    The animal exhibit in the museum

    Nellie Bly

August 9, 2015 - Edinburgh

Our second day without rain!

We had a very full day in Edinburgh at the festival. It is really quite amazing. Neither of us had any idea what a production this is. There are hundreds of street performers, there are 535 free shows at dozens of venues around town and well over 1,000 performances of one sort or another that require payment. There are also hundreds of vendors. All of these are within walking distance of our hotel.

After breakfast we started walking the streets watching the various street performers. Most are musical in nature with mimes, magic, gymnastics, etc. thrown in. We saw several mimes the were unbelievable and several musicians that we really liked. We purchased a CD from Tom Ward, a truly talented guitarist. 

We stopped by what is billed as the worlds largest Scotch Whiskey retailer. There were bottles of scotch selling for several thousand dollars. It was easy not to buy anything as neither of us cares for scotch whiskey.

We were near the Edinburgh Castle so we decided to check out the stadium where the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is being held. We were able to find our seats and we will have a very good view of the show.

We purchased tickets this morning for Celtic Kirtan featuring Macushla and Friends which was held in St. John's Episcopal Church. The stained glass in the church was a real treat and the acoustics were great. 

We came back to the hotel for an afternoon rest before heading out to dinner at an Italian restaurant and the a free magic show by a woman and man team that go by the name of Aaabeduation. It was very good and we are now back in the room ready to call it a night.

    My favorite mime

    £4,300 bottle of scotch. Over $6,000.

    Tom Ward. Check out the well used guitar.

    St. John's Episcopal Church

    Church ceiling

August 8, 2015 - Inverness to Edinburgh

Happy Birthday Andrew M.

Today's stats: 0 miles and a little rain

Apparently we left our least favorite B&B for the end. I am sure that there was sewer gas leaking into the bathroom as it was really rank. We had to leave the bathroom door closed so it didn't permeate into the bedroom. We had an OK breakfast and caught a cab to the train station.

As with all our other train trips I had purchased the tickets in advance for the 3 1/2 hour trip to Edinburgh. The train was on schedule and the ride was smooth and without incident. The train was completely full with almost everyone headed to the Edinburgh Festival.

When I booked our hotel several months ago I knew it was close to the train station and it sure was a pleasant surprise that as we exited the station it was right across the street. We checked in and headed for the Starbucks where I had my first good cup of coffee in a month. We then called Peggy, Claire and Andy. It was great to talk to them and briefly share some of our experiences of the last month.

After a little rest we walked around to see some of the Festival. There are many, many street performers known as the Festival Fringe. There are also acts in some of the indoor venues; some for free and some for various charges. Many streets were closed and full of people. We stopped at a number of acts. 

We had dinner of a pizza and a bottle of wine and then caught a ride on the Ferris wheel overlooking the city. Of all of the cities I have been to I think this is my favorite. We have vowed to sleep in tomorrow morning. We shall see.

    View from our hotel window

    Street performer

    Street performer

    Busy Festival street

    The Edinburgh Castle from the Ferris wheel

    Trying to look happy on the Ferris wheel.

August 7, 2015 - Drumnadrochit to Inverness

Happy Birthday Dara and Alan

Today's stats: 14.6 miles, 374' elevation gain, 1,161' elevation loss

We made it again! Peg said of today's hike "There's no such thing as an easy 14.6 miles but if there was today was the day. It is a good thing as yesterday's hike beat her up a little and she was concerned about the distance today. In looking at the elevation profile it looked to be a good day if the trails were good. The trails in fact were excellent and we made great time arriving here a little after 3:00. 

About 25% of the hike today was on roads which is always hard on the knees but there was very little up or down hill. Much of the hike was in a heavily wooded area on old cattle drove trails from the 1700s. When we first caught sight of Inverness we still had 4 1/2 miles to go to the Inverness Castle which is the official end point of The Great Way.

All we could talk about for the last couple of miles was how we were looking forward to a very long, very hot shower. When we arrived at the Craigside Lodge B&B no one was home so we went to a nearby pub for a celebratory glass of wine and beer. We were back at the B&B just before 4:00 and still no one home. About 4:10 our hostess arrived and explained that checkin time was 4:00. Our literature made no mention of time and the latest published checkin time we had seen was 3:00. Oh well. We are now happily showered and will be having our celebration dinner at 6:30 just across the street.

Two things you all should know...it rained again today so we have had one rain free day since July 10 and that Peg KICKED ASS!!!!

Tomorrow we take a train to Edinburgh where we will be enjoying the celebration of Festival Days and we will be attending the Edinburgh Military Tattoo on Monday night.

    Peg on the cattle drove

    Our first sighting of Inverness

    Does the tall one sit in the middle?

    River Ness

    Happy hikers at the finish

    Inverness Castle

August 6, 2015 - Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit

Today's stats: 15.3 miles, 2,436' elevation gain, 2,446' elevation loss

A long, very difficult, great hike. As is the normal routine it rained most of the night but let up and stopped during breakfast. We left the B&B at 8:50 and immediately started on a long steep climb (Peg's  favorite thing first thing in the morning...NOT). Today also offered a high route and a low route and after about a mile we reached the junction and since the weather seemed like it might cooperate we took the high route. We did get about 5 minutes of rain shower but that was it for the day.

It was a long and circuitous route with many steep ascents and descents and by the time we caught sight of Loch Ness again we were almost 1,600' above it. In the meantime we were in a very remote area with no signs of any habitation, not even sheep. It has amazed us that a country this small would have so much remoteness. A very pleasant surprise indeed.

After the summit it was a steep and then gradual descent to the very small Village of Grotaig. We stopped there near the road in a windy place that kept the midgies at bay while we ate. We then had 3 miles of road walking before descending on a trail into Drumnadrochit.

Our B&B this evening is this Glenkirk B&B which is in a converted church. We are about 1/2 mile out of town. We ate dinner in town and I was able to really enjoy my first good beer of the trip. Loch Ness Brewing is a local microbrewery and their IPA and Stout were very good. Peg even enjoyed about 1/4 pint of the stout.

As we head towards sleepy time the sun is still shining.

    From the high route trail looking southwest

    Your guess is as good as mine. On the high route.

    Troll bridge

    Rest stop and wind break at the high point

    Loch Ness

    Getting close to Drumnadrochit 

    Glenkirk B&B

August 5, 2015, Fort Augustus to Invermoriston (high route)

Today's stats: 9.6 miles, 1,618' elevation gain, 1,620' elevation loss

It rained for most of the night and the forecast was for rain all day. As we sat down to breakfast it was coming down quite hard so we decided on full rain gear. By the time we were ready to leave the rain had stopped and the sky's had lightened up a little so we started out sans the rain gear.

We had two trail options this morning. The low route is about 1 1/2 miles shorter and flatter. It follows Loch Ness in the trees close to the shore and very close to the road. The guide book said that the views were very limited. The high route ascends to a little over 1,000' above the lake and is above the tree line and completely exposed. Our host at the B&B said it was a very good track and encouraged us to do it. We decided to gamble on the weather (even though we knew better) and took the high route. A gamble that paid off! 

For the entire hike we only experienced a 10 minute shower and even saw our shadow a couple of times. The trail was fantastic as were the views. About halfway a French family (wife, husband and two boys) passed us. We had met them two days ago and she was suffering from new boots and blisters so we stopped to talk for a minute. Her feet were much better and we walked with them for a while.

We met them again when we got to town and they invited us to join them for dinner. We will see them again at 6:30.

It sure was a nice change to remain dry for most of the day. A long day tomorrow.

    Think it will rain?

    A great track

    A bench and wind break.

    Happy hikers. No rain gear.

    Our French friends

    Entering Invermoriston

August 4, 2015 - Laggan Locks to Fort Augustus

Happy Birthday Donna Horner, Annie Wuelfing and Kevin Wuelfing 

Today's stats: 11.7 miles, 430' elevation gain, 390' elevation loss

A couple of firsts today...it was raining when we started, it rained for the entire 11.7 miles and we did not stop until we got the Fort Augustus. The good news...the very strong wind was at our backs.

The B&B gave us a ride back to the trail this morning so we were able to avoid the heavily trafficked road. We walked along the Caledonia Canal for about a mile before heading inland a little for,several miles along an abandoned railroad right of way. All of the ties and tracks had been removed and crushed gravel had been laid done and compressed. It was great walking. After that we went back to canal side and a gravel track which was not as easy as the rail track but still quite good. We followed the canal into Fort Augustus. It poured rain and was very windy for the last 3-4 miles. We passed many people headed in the opposite direction (into the wind) and they all looked and sounded miserable.

We arrived in town 90 minutes before we could check in at the B&B so we went into one of the restaurants for a hot lunch and to begin to dry off. I carried a change of shirts for Peg so she was able to change tops and socks in the restroom.

We are now at the southern end of Loch Ness so before checking into the B&B we purchased tickets for an hour boat ride touring the southern end of the lake. We got our room and both took very long hot showers. The boat tour was a nice ending to a good but soggy day.

    Canal cruise ship

    The rail trail

    Moss covered rocks

    Entering Fort Augustus

    Looking north into Lock Ness

    Peg's caption. The Loch Ness Monster

August 3, 2015 - Gairlochy to just past Laggan Locks

Happy Birthday Pat

Stats for the day: 14.25 miles, 896' elevation gain, 856' elevation loss

It didn't come as a shock to us so it shouldn't come as a shock to you...it rained on us today and sometimes quite hard although we did have some periods of sun.

As last nights B&B is about 4 road miles from the Great Glen Way they took us back to where we left the trail yesterday. The were six of in the car so it was quite tight. It had rained during breakfast but had stopped by the time we got back to the trail; however, that was short lived. 

The route today took us mainly along the west shore of Loch Lochy. At times due to very low cloud cover, wind and rain we could barely see the lake. The track today was some trail through extremely lush forest, blacktop and Scotland Forest roads which are mainly dirt and gravel. All in all they were all in very good condition and Peg was able to hike without having to watch every step.

We crossed the lock at Laggan Locks and proceeded about another mile on the Way before we had to head back in the direction we came from for about 1/3 mile on a very busy road with almost no shoulder and very heavy traffic. We were very happy to catch site of Forest Lodge B&B, our home for the evening. 

The closest restaurant is about a two mile hike down the highway but fortunately the B&B will drive us there and the restaurant will bring us back.

We are having a grand time!

    A walk through the woods.

    Storm headed our way.

    Tree with almost purple leaves. We are not sure what it is.

    Check out the growth ring spacing. Nothing like this at home.

    Lush forest floor

    The north end of Loch Lochy