Day 3: Saturday, May 11
Scenic Transport to Aigas House, Inverness-shire
We awoke on our first full day in Scotland to what passed for a sunny day here. This is the view from our fourth floor hotel room and looking towards the city of Glasgow.
We had some time to kill before breakfast so I turned on the telly.
Ah, interesting! A British game show where they dress up as Star Gate characters.
And I thought American game shows were weird!
Next up - the weather report...
Oh, lovely!
Do you see that big blob to the west of Glasgow?
It's heading our direction.
Sorry about that!
But, not to worry - there's more raining coming in after that. Hey! this is Scotland!
Finally, it was breakfast time! Blood pudding, haggis, giant slices of bacon - a vegetarians delight!
Let's eat!
The haggis is the crumbly brown stuff on the left. I found it a bit strong for my taste. But it was interesting to try it. The hotel manager said that had it mixed up following their specified recipe. So, like blood pudding, not all haggis is created equal.
The British version of shredded wheat. They had a separate buffet set up with grains, fruit, yogurt, etc.
Our room at the airport Holiday Inn. Does this look like a $300 room? No? Well, it is!
To add insult to injury the place charge 3 bucks an hour for internet access. No thanks...
After breakfast and hauling our luggage down to the lobby we boarded out bus which would take us to Aigas. Our route would take us north though Dunbarton, Luss,Tarbet and along Loch Lamond (fresh water) and the National Park. Then onto Crianarich, Tyndrum, Rannoch Moor and to Glencoe.
From there it west to Lock Linnhe (saltwater), Loch Lochy, Fort William, Ben Nevis and then up the length of the Great Glen. (100k)
Then it was to Spean Bridge, Glen Gary and the famous Lock Ness - home to Nessie World.
At Drumnadrochit we jogged left to Beauly and soon after arrived at Aigas House.
Although I took notes and have the notes from Duncan, our guide, I remain foggy on putting place names with my photos. There may be some errors and blanks.
This is our first stop Luss and Loch Lammond.
There was a youth group there joyfully paddling through the pouring rain.
Loch Lamond is 23 miles long 5 miles wide at it's widest. It is the largest loch in the UK.
The depth at the southern end is about 70' but near the Boundary Fault it drops to about 600'.
As one might expect most every plant I see is new to me. Here is the newly expanded leaf of the Sycamore tree.
Scotland mild climate makes it a gardeners paradise. This is Pieris which was planted in the landscape of one of the nearby buildings.
Asplenium trichomanes? Probably. At least it looks exactly like out Maidenhair Spleenwort in the US. It was common many of the rock walls we saw.
The eye popping color of this rhododendron befuddled my light meter - and me!
Stunning.
Meet Rangers George and Duncan. Duncan was in the jump seat in front and conveyed an incredible amount of information to us as we drove along. He was kind enough to make me a copy of his notes which I hope to post at a later time.
George is still in training and "shadowing" Duncan. He took copious notes for when will be in the jump seat.
Our next stop was at the "Green Welly" in Tyndrum. Tyndrum has the unique distinction of being the smallest town in the UK which is served by two railway stations and lines.
Here there were restroom and shops to browse. I skipped the shops and explored a local creek which ran through town.
This was in the "car park" at the Green Welly.
Scotland has many, many miles of trails. Anyone had the legal right to cross anyone's property as long as the crossing is non-motorized and steers clear of any residences. A hikers heaven!
The amount and coverage of moss on this tree will give you a good ideas of the climate. At times I felt I have been transported to the Hoh River Rain forest.
Beautiful buds, but I have not the knowledge to determine the species.
I scrambled down the steep and muddy bank and took a short creek walk. The water, being recently snow melt, was a bit chilly.
Disappointingly, this year spring is arriving a month late in Scotland. So, much of what I had hoped to see such as many species of ferns are still dormant or in the early stages of emergence.
This may be a species of Blechnum.
Near the waters edge the steep bank were plastered with all manner of interesting plants.
This one reminded me of a miniature Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris).
There were fiddle heads galore! Maybe a species of Dryopteris?
This big hummock of last years ferns give a preview to the lush fronds which will soon emerge.
A rock medley along the creek. But, there is more than rocks.
There is gold!. This fellow was panning and having a bit of luck.
He estimated this was worth about 20p. I think thats around 60 cents. Obviously he is not doing this for the money.
I'm rich!
Earlier Duncan had mentioned this was the former site of several gold mines and that the mines might start up again. These fellow told me that was not going to happen now as a major backer had pulled out.
Since the area is in boundaries of a National Park all the ore was going to have to be trucked out to be processes elsewhere. Quite an expensive proposition.
This nearby cottage looked typically British/Scottish to me.
An advert over the urinal in the men's loo. Adell, one of our group had mentioned Oban scotch as one of her favorites.
I am foggy as to where I took this photo. I think it was somewhere in the Rannoch Moor. I took the shot from a connector path which went down to the West Highland Way - a 96 mile long trail which sees 85,000 visitors a year.
Betsy was enjoying the weather and the scenery!
Duncan had a name for the summits here. This is one off camera to the left.
South of Glencoe we stopped the National Trust for Scotland Visitors center. Rather than visit I found a path which went up the hill and decided to follow it.
In the foreground are newly emerging equisetums and more of the ubiquitous moss clad trees.
Yes, it is wet here.
The view from up above the visitor's center. The brown stuff along the edge is laster years fronds of the Bracken Fern. Some humans consider it a pest.
Another look back down the road we came.
We saw lots of the lovely primroses.
It seemed like every place we stopped there were small runs of crystal clear water.
What a beautiful sight.
A closer look at the primrose.
We saw many paths and I found one here as well. This shows a marked intersection.
Most of the conifers we saw were American species planted for the industrial timber trade. I think these were Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis).
An old friend! The Polypody Fern.
This shows the spore bearing structures on the back of the frond.
As I wandered back down toward the visitors center this little fellow hopped along in front of me. It is one of the species of Siskins found here.
Thousands of acres of Larch have been planted as well. This is one if the cones from this interesting deciduous conifer.
I found these droppings while wandering around in the woods. The are from the Red Deer. Obviously the Red is a larger critter than our White-tail.
This is the bridge at Spean Bridge. Tough to get a shot of.
The bridge was build in 1819.
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I was leaning against this fencepost and saw this little garden within
I nice medley of mosses and lichens.
Once again, a good indication of the wet climate here.
A look at the bridge from a different perspective. Built to last.
I wonder if anyone has ever been clipped walking across this bridge. Heads up!
Here it is! The famous Loch Ness.
Apparently the rumor of the "Monster" was started by a local hotel which was failing. They released a doctored photo of "Nessie" to the press and it worked it's magic. Thousands of people a year come here in the hope of getting a glimpses of the giant serpent like creature which sometimes haunts the shorelines.
The yellow flowering plant is Gorse. We saw so much of it I figgered it had to be invasive. But, it is not.
Green and lush were the pastures and hay fields along the roadway.
Here we are at Aigas House. We got there just in time for afternoon tea and cake. The hand drawn wall map shows Aigas Field House and the surrounding grounds. Great for getting oriented.
The Baronial Hall where we will take most of our meals.
The dinner menus are posted daily in the common room.
And, dinner is served!
This is pea soup and mint soup which had a nice caraway flavor to it.
The main course: Salmon from Shetland cooked with white wine and lemon and served with Hollandaise sauce, potatoes, green peas and onions. Tasty! Warricke, Sir Johns and general manager said the only complaints they have about the food is there is too much. He is right. Starting today we will ask for half portions.
This Steve's dinner. He is a vegetarian. They were "pancakes" stuffed with spinach. They looked like crepes to me. Steve is from Texas and in our group.
This is a desert of gooseberries and elder flowers. Quite interesting.
Quite the gang of happy explorers.
After dinner we went for a stroll up the hill and to the loch.
I call this a "ghost spruce". The white is lichen. Amazing...
Soon, our first day in Scotland will draw to a close.
The last shot of the day at the lock "dipping platform". Although a bit chilly for a skinny-dip it may warm up yet.
By now it was nearly 9:30 and we headed back to our cabin.
Good night!
Stay tuned....