Monthly Archives: March 2017

Mar22

Christmas and New Years break, 2016 into 2017: Hiking Lochnagar

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Hiking the Munros of Scotland – Lochnagar!

Monday, 02-Jan-2017

The Lydecker’s like getting up early.

I am less enthusiastic about this… but somehow I make it out of bed at o’dark:30 with Sarah and Greta, and find myself sitting in the car, watching the sunrise over the munros… a significant time after leaving the house.

But it was worth it! We’re in Cairngorm national park by 8:00, with the pink sky lighting up the mountains, and a whole herd of red tailed deer (really the size of elk) wandering around in the pre-dawn light. It was amazing.

We started in at the car park near Loch Muick, having a short bit of an adventure with the parking machine not working, before Sarah remembered her training and literally kicked it back into functionality. Turns out, not all tropes are incorrect… sometimes the best way to fix electronics is just to smack them. With that settled, we headed up toward the summit of Lochnagar – a short hill compared to what we’ve got in Oregon, but a non-trivial ascent per Scotland’s standards.

We’d prepared as well as we could, bringing all sorts of winter gear, maps, GPS receivers, and extra layers. But we didn’t expect to use them… after all, this was a quick 3,500 ft hill walk, how bad could it be?

Well… it was bad.

It was bad, but we enjoyed every minute of it. Every boot planted in the river that we had to cross, soaking through our socks. Every parry during Sarah and my ice-jedi duel (we found some 2ft icicles, so… clearly fencing), and every dirty look from elderly Scotsmen who don’t take kindly to ice-jedi shenanigans on their mountains. But the weather kept getting worse, and the snow fall kept getting thicker around us.

The fun and games could only keep us going so long… once we rounded the south side of the mount, and started West, we felt the full fury of Scotland’s weather. It was cold. The wind was nearly enough to knock us over. Ice and snow and rain and pelting hail stung us. I mean… this was a serious, right out of a movie, full on Scottish storm. Or, as the older gentleman who passed us would probably say, a Monday in Cairngorm.

We went as far as we could, making to a large trail cairn before we really couldn’t make it any further. We placed our stones on top of the trail marker, and started our way back down. Our second river crossing wasn’t any easier than our first, but thankfully no boots got any more wet than they already were… and we didn’t have to walk very far anyways, because our short term target was right past the river…

A small pumphouse, nestled in the forest above the mansion that we’d passed earlier. A perfect spot to stop and have a sandwich, some water, and a granola bar. Also, a perfect spot to just appreciate the storm front that was coming in… from here, we could see the entire top of the Munro covered in a snowstorm, and could even see how quickly that storm was coming toward us.

We walked out a bit quicker than we’d walked in, enjoying the sparse deep forest, the picturesque mansion (seemingly straight out of Game of Thrones), and the moors that we had to cross. Then, instead of turning directly toward the car, we took advantage of the slowing storm and walked up to the edge of Loch Muick, the beautiful lake right nearby.

Here, I got my perfect view of Scotland: Small rivers running through a peat bog, with cliffs and a storm in the background, silhouetting the mountains slowly being covered in snow. Ohh my lord it was gorgeous!

And a bonus? We’d gotten up so early, that there was still light left in the day! We got to get some coffee, some scotch, and even pick up a new pair of boots for Sarah, and a super nice rain jacket for myself in the town of Ballater before heading back into Aberdeen proper for dinner with everyone else.

Malmaison was the dinner of the evening, and since we’d earned a few extra calories, Sarah and I both got the venison dish. It was amazing, but I’ll admit that Henry’s prime rib kind of out did it… though I did kind of prefer the sauce that came with the venison over the seared flavor of the prime.

Mar21

Christmas and New Years break, 2016 into 2017: Dunnotter Castle

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Christmas and New Years break, 2016 into 2017: Dunnotter Castle

Starting 2017 off historically – by exploring Dunnotter Castle!

Sunday, 01-Jan-2017

Dunnotter Castle. We’d learned about it back at Edinburgh Castle, since Dunnotter had protected the Scottish crown jewels against a siege by the English. And I’d seen it before as well, from Henry’s rather epic pictures that he’d taken before Sarah and I had arrived.

But getting to see it in person… This castle is straight out of Game of Thrones. It sits perched on a cliff, right up against the North Sea. The only approach is a thin causeway of dirt, leading up to a sheer fortified wall in the rock.

Unfortunately, it was fortified against us too. New Years Day isn’t a day to go sightseeing, we learned, since most locations are closed for the day. And if the castle could hold out against an entire English siege, it sure could hold out against our merry little band.

So we explored around the castle. We didn’t really have any rush for the day… everyone had slept in, thanks to the revels of the previous night, and no one was feeling particularly energetic. We’d made plans for an adventure the next day, of course, so New Years Day was our day to relax and enjoy ourselves.

So we explored. Dipped our toes in the North Sea. Scrambled around the cliffs, and slipped and slid on the mud and grass. I even got a short geology lesson from Sarah and Greta, learning about the rocks around the coast, and some of the geologic history of the area. Interspersed with finding really cool stones on the beach, of course.

The rest of the day kept to the tradition – relaxing and low key. Us kids made a gingerbread house, we had an excellent dinner, and we watched a traditional Scottish movie (Brave… probably not so traditional in all honesty).

Mar20

Christmas and New Years break, 2016 into 2017: Stonehaven Fireballs

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Christmas and New Years break, 2016 into 2017: Stonehaven Fireballs

New Years Eve, 2016 into 2017. The Stonehaven Fireballs!

Saturday and Sunday, 31-Dec-2016 & 01-Jan-2017
New Years Eve! Ringing in 2017 with adventure and happiness. Or, in this case, fire.

Intentional fire, though! Don’t worry, we didn’t set the house alight, or anything crazy like that. Instead, we watched other people light everything on fire.

Every town in Scotland seems to have a story. Something that makes it special and unique; either an event, or some interesting tradition that’s unique to that town. In the case of the town of Stonehaven, it’s their New Years eve (Hogsmanay, in Scotland) event that sets them apart. It’s the Stonehaven Fireballs, and what they do is they take all the old fishing nets, covered in tar and pitch, and wrap them up in chicken wire. Then, light them on fire and spin them around their heads until their about to go out… at which point the fireballs are chucked into the ocean.

Yup. Medieval fire spinning, except with giant Poi that get chucked in the ocean.

It was exactly as ridiculous and amazing as one would expect, from that description. Bagpipe bands kept us occupied until midnight, and some Stovies (a Scottish dish made of beef and potatoes, of course) kept us warm. Cocoa, mead, and coffee definitely helped, too.

Once Midnight hit, and the fires were lit, we got to watch the spinners parade for nearly 20min, up and down the little 200 yard long corridor that was set up for them. It was amazing, seeing how many people did this year after year… Men and Women, young and old… everything, just tough Scots playing with fire.

The rest of New Years eve was our own tradition – popping champagne, and hanging out around the kitchen table. Bill and Greta went to bed earlier than the rest of us, but Sarah, Henry, Leah and myself all stayed up and chatted; talking about life in the States, life in Australia, and basically everything we could think of about the previous year, and what we’re up to in this coming year. We finally headed to bed around 3:00, well drank and excited for the year to come!