I’m on top of the world, looking down on creation

It was Bank Holiday today, but the children were at school so David and I took the opportunity to go for a walk.

We started here

And we went up

And we went across snow 

And we walked some more that was less up and more along 

We were heading for this 

The beginning of the view to the east 

View to the west 

Look at me!

What am I doing up there?

 

I had to sneak up on the edge so it didn’t move when I peeked over, ahem. 

Loch Einich 

T’ other end 

Braeriach

 

David was there too

The views go on

…and on

 

…and on

…and on

…and on

…and on!

I LOVED IT! This is my kind of hill. We walked up Carn Ban Mor, 1052m, and onto Sgor Gaoith, 1118m, my first munro.

And don’t I look happy?!

The weather was pretty good too.

Fancy birthday pants!

Today IS my birthday. And it's a happy one!

The fancy pants I got for my birthday from David are my new Marmot Scree Pants, which had their first outing on Monday up the hill near Glenmore. They are great. David thinks so too.

I got a watch from my mum, but not just any old watch, oh no,(I've got at least three of those!) this is a special watch. It has a pedometer thingy and a distance thingy and a heart rate thingy. And a light button, which is always handy in a tent. (Or the bedroom if, like me, you are ABAAB and the clock is on the other side of the bed...) And it's black, so it matches all my other kit! I think it will be useful when I've mastered which button to press in which order to do each trick. Clever mum. Do you think she had any help?!

And the children got me the new Sherlock Holmes DVD. The question is, do I watch it with the family, or would it be more discreet at my new age to drool in private?!

Oh, and thank you Weekend Dude, very kind.

There's going to be cake. A big one. A chocolate one. With candles! (In tens and units, so as not to singe the frosting too much...)

I love birthdays!

Tuesday, 25th May

Today is the day before my birthday.

I recently confessed to my sister that, as a child, I had thought my birthday was today, simply because the 25th was the same date as Christmas Day and was therefore easy for me to remember. Still, that mistake made it easier to remember the real date when I found out.

So, today is not my birthday. Tomorrow is the 26th May and that will be my birthday.

I like birthdays.

Mine especially.

A nice day out

Me, David, Ciara and the boys went for a little stroll. We arrived at Glenmore at midday, a little later than intended, and set off towards Badaguish and on through the woods to the path to climb Craiggowrie. We stopped just after getting out into the open to have a sandwich before we plodded on up the hill.

The picture before this was from behind, me riffling in my pack. Lovely. Thought this was less offensive!

Shortly after the lunch stop, Aedan said something that is becoming quite common in our family.

“Mum, is that an eagle?”

“You tell me.”

(From behind the binoculars) “It’s really big and the wings are long and fingered. His head is shiny.”

“Yes son, you’ve spotted and eagle.”

Excellent stuff! Just soaring off the end of the rocks above us.

It took a while to reach the 687m summit, Ciara plods at my pace, or a little slower even, but plods on bless her.

We then headed east(ish) along the ridge over Creagan Gorm. 732m, towards Meall a Bhuachaille, but didn’t summit that today, we took the path back down to Glenmore.

Towards the Cairngorms

With Meall a Bhuachaille in over Ciara’s shoulder.

We saw this little chap, a roe deer buck, on the way back. He was looking straight at us and the wind was blowing straight at him, but he was only a few metres away and he just wasn’t bothered.

I was using my new-to-me Golite Jam pack that I won from Martin, just to see how I got on with it and I rather liked it, which is good! It held everything I wanted to carry with ease and was very comfortable to boot. I was also wearing a new pair of Marmot Scree Pants, which I like very much. They were wind and rain resistant and extremely comfy to wear. My new best friends, in fact!

The hills/ridge didn’t bother me at all, but then it was only a little hill and David’s usual comment, “You could play a game of football up there!” was probably quite true on this occasion.

A really nice day out.

Promises, promises

My mother always told me never to make rash promises. So, explain to me how I managed to promise the boys we’d go to Landmark for a joint birthday treat? Mad woman.

The children had a few in-service days, giving us a long weekend to entertain them and it was decided we should do the deed. Off we went to Carrbridge for the day.

It was a perfect day for it, as it turned out. Dull, but warm and dry, not too many people, even considering the bus load of school children. We didn’t queue for any of the rides, which is unheard of. The best thing is probably that the children are old and big enough to wander off together as a group without a pair of middle aged fuddy duddies following on behind.

So, explain to me how I found myself wearing a harness, clipped on to the safety wires for the Tarzan Trail, (a high wire challenge for those who do not meet the height requirement for RopeworX, (and for those who are more comfortable slightly nearer to the ground!).) I think it’s about 8’ off the ground, with my 5’ 5’’, that’s quite high.

I did it! Made my hands sore, my arms and legs were like jelly, but I did it.

I had to go for a little sit down for a while, then a bit of a walk, then I was persuaded to have another shot, build myself up for RopeworX. I did say that would never happen, but I did make it round the Tarzan Trail again, a little speedier this time.

Then, it happened. I found myself harnessed and clipped onto RopeworX. It did briefly cross my mind that I’d made a dreadful mistake, but I couldn’t bear the idea of being rescued and lowered down a rope from a really high platform, so, I did it!

I actually found I could trust and rely on the harness and rope without too much concern. Odd really.

No idea how came to be climbing up a 30’ pole to do a sky dive. That was madness. Complete surprise to me, but I knew if I stopped climbing, I’d be stuck. I knew I didn’t want to be rescued (although Rob, the American Tarzan attendant was obviously desperate for a good laugh!) I had to do it. I got to the platform, did quite a lot of heavy breathing and…

Stepped off!

And screeeaaaaammmmmmed all the way to the bottom where my legs were too jelly to land anyway other than on my back.

“That was dramatic!” said Rob.

Er, yeah!

But that was it, my adventures for the day over. And what did it achieve? What did I prove? Not sure. I did it. Despite the paralysing fear, my mind took control and I did it.

I don’t know if this will be a small (rather unusual!) step towards getting control of my vertigo, but it does seem madness that I could do all that, but I don’t like standing on my own two feet on top of a big hill.

Oh, and the children had a fantastic day out, by the way.