There has been walking…

But I have been very busy doing other stuff as well!

So here’s a quick round up.

David and I went for a quick stroll around Altyre.

Tried to show him a track I’ve used before, but not for some time. I lost it.

Ooops!

I went back again in the snow and did a different route.

Low sun

Blair’s Loch

Altyre church

I did NOT slip on the frozen snow, just before taking this photograph

Half frozen

Broken in the storms

Frozen Blair’s Loch

Frosty oak leaves

Frosty ferns

The little blog to the right of the tree trunk in the centre of the photograph is a red squirrel. Trust me.

The site of the old curling rink has been cleared, the folly on the right

A different view of the folly

Not sure…

…what I was interested by

The old and the new estate fencing

Ha! Yes, they were shooting, but luckily I’d change my mind about my route before I came across them, going the way I should have been coming!

And I used my micro spikes!

The pond, not frozen

The swans, ready to make their new home

Snowdrops

Nice tree

Really liked that tree

Light on a nice tree

A view (after I took the path I’d intended to take with David…)

Fab bark on a silver birch

Different lighting

Remaining autumn fruit

Dava Way, nearly at the Dallas Dhu distilliary

Looking up through the branches to the blue sky

I’ve also walked home from Forres a couple of times by my alternative route (instead of the cycle path all the way)

A pointless gate

The pointless gate fastened with barbed wire?!

Part of the Chapleton flood alleviation scheme

More of the flood alleviation scheme

And then the weather got horrible and the camera went away

I do not know…

…I found half a ski with a wooden block screwed onto it

Looking south along the Dava Way

Different lighting

Why??!!!

And there’s been walking with Laura!!

We did my Loch Romach circuit, with a bit of snow.

It was a grey day over the Moray Firth

Somewhere over there is Ben Wyvis

Slightly snowy track, but we didn’t resort to micro spikes

Laura catching me up

Some people really are that stupid

The frozen loch

Through the trees towards the other end of the loch

And then we returned to the Revack Estate for a short walk, coffee but no cake!

The view from the viewpoint

We found this unusual method of harvest…

…quite devastating

By these people

And that is about it really. Obviously, no complete write ups, but that’s because none of the walks were new.

Jane

I first met the inimitable Jane Egg in May 2010. She was on her first Challenge I believe, the year that David and I didn't get in.
She was standing by the bridge at Bridge of Oich and asked us for directions to Fort Augustus.
Later, when we were having fish suppers at the chippy, Jane arrived and went to the chippy to get a meal before going on to Blackburn bothy.

A year later, I met Jane again, this time at Shiel Bridge. I was panicking about a river crossing on the first day of my route and whilst we chatted, it tuned out Jane was going the same way, "Walk with me! I'll look after you." And she did.
We walked together for the first day, rescuing The Cowboy when he fell in a stream, crossing the river with no issues, sheltering behind some large boulders at the top of the bealach for lunch and frequently paddling through bog as we fell off the path constantly on our way to the Youth Hostel at Alltbeithe. We sheltered for a while in the porch, avoiding a prolonged shower, before making use of the facillites and then making our way along River Affric to find a camp spot. In the pouring rain. On boggy ground (that was to get much wetter) that was full of ticks.
It was a stormy night, during which time Jane's tent came unpegged. In the morning, poor Jane cried "Oh no! Even my spare pants are wet!" Oh dear.
I set off a few minutes after Jane, but caught up with her at Athnamullach, where she was having a crafty fag in the shelter of the buildings. She had a schedule to meet, so I happily sent her on her way so as not to slow her down. I caught up with her later in the day, just as she was leaving Cougie having dried out her smalls.

I met with Jane so many times over the rest of that first and my subsequent Challenges and she was always so friendly and full of life.
I have some lovely memories of Jane Egg.


The river


Our lunch stop


The wet

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Test

I have also been looking at apps. For all sorts of things!



And this one appears to work!

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Blink and you miss it!

That was another year gone by, and so fast! It was quite slow to start, quite average, but very pleasant nonetheless.

In January and as an RAF family with links to both the Nimrod and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme, we were invited to the naming of the last remaining (non-flying) Nimrod, Duke of Edinburgh, a very proud and moving day.

In February, we had some lovely visitors, and some nice walking was had in the Darnaway Forest, in good company.

Lunch stop

In March, there was more walking, this time with My Bestest Walking Buddy.

A pause…

…to admire the view

And then in April, er, a little more walking with Laura! We started our new occasional series, Trigpointing, with a little adventure up Carn na Loinne to find a rather well hidden trig.

Near Bridge of Brown

Carn na Loinne trigpoint

Áedán also started his rather successful (so far) Air Pistol career, with an incredibly close second in his first Scottish Championships. More of that later…

May was obviously a busy month, as this is the month of The Great Outdoors Challenge, and this year Laura and I Challenged together as a team in Ls Belles’ Tea Shop Tour of Scotland. Well, sort of tour. And not many tea shops as it goes. But lots of fun under unusually blue skies and bumping into a lot of friends, old and new along the way, including Steve Crofts. We first met him at Glenlicht House, where he took a guitar from the wall and started to play and sing the most beautiful music. It was stunning and marked the start of a great Challenge.

Shiel Bridge start

Toe-dipping

The waterfall we ‘slid’ down. It was fun!

Muckle Cairn, from Shielin’ of Mark, one of the best nights of the trip

Toe-dipping at the finish

Then there was June, which was quiet, except for DofE expeditions, which were fun. Followed by July, which is when things started to get busy and quite exciting.

Ciara and Rhiannon, with their beautiful long locks, before…

…and after they had it all cut off for charity, donating the hair to be made into wigs. Amazing!

We climbed to the top of the Knock of Braemoray, at last, a hill we’ve been passing by for years.

And then Ciara carried the Queen’s Commonwealth Baton!

In August, there was a little more walking.

Anagach Woods

Áedán represented Scotland in his first Junior International Competition at Bisley. He was sixth in the 10m final and gained a team Bronze. People started to notice him.

September saw the last but one DofE expedition and not a lot else.

October and we had a spectacular autumn, we took advantage of some glorious weather and did some navigation training with Conall at one of my favourite places, Altyre Estate.

Autumn leaves

Measuring 100m at Dallas Dhu

The Bin of Cullen (I think…) during the last expedition camp of the year

And of course, that was also the month of more excitement of Bisley, but that tale is still continuing, so you can wait!

November and there was a little more walking and trigpointing with Laura, we had lovely visitors again and I even did a little solo walking. We popped down to Fife to help David’s mum celebrate a special birthday too.

Pikey Hill

Towards the Cromdale Hills

A hut with a view

Escaping the farm yard on the way to Brodie

Along the beach to Burghead

Looking west

Silly selfie!

A Special Cake!

December has been much quieter. I have not walked as other business has been a little overwhelming. There have been the Blackpool Illuminations (here in the street, not in Lancashire). And then there was Christmas!

We had a good one, I hope you did too. The New Year is looking busy already, with lots going on and yet more exciting news on the horizon. And I wish you all the very best for 2015 too!

Sláinte mhath!!

It's Christmas!!

Well, the presents are opened, turkey is in the oven, the Queen's speech watched, Pictionary won and lost and aperitiffs are in hand.

Merry Christmas everyone!