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We stopped there for a couple of day on my birthday (on {{thisday|30|September|2012}}) on our way from [[Madrid]] to [[Munich]]). | We stopped there for a couple of day on my birthday (on {{thisday|30|September|2012}}) on our way from [[Madrid]] to [[Munich]]). | ||
| − | There is a sense of freedom in Scotland that you don't get elsewhere in occidental Europe. The scenery might not be as imposing as the Alps, but you don't feel | + | There is a sense of freedom in Scotland that you don't get elsewhere in occidental Europe. The scenery might not be as imposing as the Alps, but you don't feel in what became the rest of Europe, like in America, "trespassing" wherever you go, with all the signs and directives to keep you on the trail, where you'll typically cross with or follow along a queue of other "tourists". In Scotland, it feels like what it used to be, when law and society, private property and the words "forbidden" were not stamped all over the place. |
| − | More specifically on the area we visited, the Trossachs. We've been there because for lack of time, we couldn't go deeper into the Higlands, or to [[Iona]], although Oban was not much farther, but | + | More specifically on the area we visited, the Trossachs. We've been there because for lack of time, we couldn't go deeper into the Higlands, or to [[Iona]], although Oban was not much farther, but we'll go there when there'll be time enough even for Staffa. The Trossachs area is already captivating and is very close from both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Once inside, roads are few and narrow and every spot seems difficult to get to. On day 1, we followed the road that, from Callander, brings you to Inversnaid along the Lochs Ard and Chon, then Arklet. Inversnaid is essentially a single house. There we engaged into a trail that, however, quickly disappeared in the grass. We carried on towards the top of a hill, thinking that with great efforts we were climbing a Munro, but we remained always less than 520m, an culminated with the northernmost top of the Lochan Cruachan. It was very wet and the ascent was not completely trivial, but its improvised character made it a lot of fun, gaining a wider and broader view of Loch Lomond and discovering other Lochs and even the sea as we kept raising. We came back by the only other road existing, thus exhausting the local road network, that is, at Aberfoyle, we went towards Loch Achray and stopped by Loch Venachor. We were surprised to see that this secondary road was actually better and wider than the main one. Our hotel, the [http://www.kingshouse-inn.co.uk/ King's House Hotel] is hotly recommended if you are in the area, with friendly dogs all other the place and a genuine Scot as the landlord/barkeeper/breakfast waiter, well, it seems he was doing everything from before we wake up till much after we went to sleep. It's a desolate place on the road with a taste of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Inn_(novel) Jamaica Inn]. It's close to Balquhidder, and that's where we went on the second day, paying homage to Rob Roy, "Mc Gregor despite them", and exploring, again at random, points of interest. What is nice with the Lochs is that they come in all varieties, those between mountains, those standing in a valley, by the road, in the middle of a forest... They're lakes all right, but not too big to let you loose the big picture, and there is something definitely proper to them in the way they slosh their water. They are like little seas. They make you feel like a giant. We felt like such and went for another mountain again. When we stopped the car, I was carried away by the sight of waterfalls falling from the mountain in front of us, and started walking, fretting, while Elena was preparing the shoes, locking the car and distributing the weight to carry, I was like a terrier who smelled a rabbit, I couldn't wait to go. You see, it's not that it's just a waterfall, it was more, properly, like if a normal river that would want to go its normal way, would find the path so tough, it'd keep falling off course and "waterfall over itself". The whole mountain was literally riddled with torrents emerging from the moss, from the rocks, from the colours. I made a million pictures but in the mist, in the light, in my frenzy, none could capture this feeling that I'm trying to evoke now, rather lamely. So, in my haste, we went towards the general direction, and after a gratifying elevation that brought us an overall view of this paradisal panorama (of a misty paradise in Autumn), we kept on to find ourselves on a path in a forest. Apparently, they plant forests (we could guess from the pattern) of firs, with the result we lost the magnificent views of the Trossachs to get those of just anywhere. We decided to cut through to recover the naked hill and the sight of Scotland. Our first attempt did not get us anywhere, it was difficult to walk in the forest itself and there was no sign it would be ever finishing. A second attempt at a point where we could spot the end of the wood from the path was also challenging—it was wet, sloppy and unpracticable—but we finally pierced through. The slope was too steep for Elena so I carried alone for a while. The grass was so high and the inclination so close to vertical, I had my chest against the mountain, wet till the elbows as I was grabbing the floor, I should say the wall, by its tufts; it was climbing a mountain like one is climbing a tree. I could have gone till the end like this, it was actually very easy. But it was a bit far. Elena had shrunk to a point and looking at the top was still making my neck torn apart. After a twenty minutes of this shooting for the sky, I stopped, looked at the world, standing and lying at the same time. The point is marked as "On the flank of a hill in the Trossachs" in [[trips|our map of visited locations]]. It looks nothing as seen from a satellite, but it was feeling like a conquest. It was my birthday then, I don't think I had one so great before. |
== Loch Lomond == | == Loch Lomond == | ||
Revision as of 14:44, 20 October 2012
The Trossachs
The Trossachs is an area in Scotland, you could say this is where the Highlands begin. The most famous spot here is Loch Lomond.
We stopped there for a couple of day on my birthday (on 30 September (2012)) on our way from Madrid to Munich).
There is a sense of freedom in Scotland that you don't get elsewhere in occidental Europe. The scenery might not be as imposing as the Alps, but you don't feel in what became the rest of Europe, like in America, "trespassing" wherever you go, with all the signs and directives to keep you on the trail, where you'll typically cross with or follow along a queue of other "tourists". In Scotland, it feels like what it used to be, when law and society, private property and the words "forbidden" were not stamped all over the place.
More specifically on the area we visited, the Trossachs. We've been there because for lack of time, we couldn't go deeper into the Higlands, or to Iona, although Oban was not much farther, but we'll go there when there'll be time enough even for Staffa. The Trossachs area is already captivating and is very close from both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Once inside, roads are few and narrow and every spot seems difficult to get to. On day 1, we followed the road that, from Callander, brings you to Inversnaid along the Lochs Ard and Chon, then Arklet. Inversnaid is essentially a single house. There we engaged into a trail that, however, quickly disappeared in the grass. We carried on towards the top of a hill, thinking that with great efforts we were climbing a Munro, but we remained always less than 520m, an culminated with the northernmost top of the Lochan Cruachan. It was very wet and the ascent was not completely trivial, but its improvised character made it a lot of fun, gaining a wider and broader view of Loch Lomond and discovering other Lochs and even the sea as we kept raising. We came back by the only other road existing, thus exhausting the local road network, that is, at Aberfoyle, we went towards Loch Achray and stopped by Loch Venachor. We were surprised to see that this secondary road was actually better and wider than the main one. Our hotel, the King's House Hotel is hotly recommended if you are in the area, with friendly dogs all other the place and a genuine Scot as the landlord/barkeeper/breakfast waiter, well, it seems he was doing everything from before we wake up till much after we went to sleep. It's a desolate place on the road with a taste of Jamaica Inn. It's close to Balquhidder, and that's where we went on the second day, paying homage to Rob Roy, "Mc Gregor despite them", and exploring, again at random, points of interest. What is nice with the Lochs is that they come in all varieties, those between mountains, those standing in a valley, by the road, in the middle of a forest... They're lakes all right, but not too big to let you loose the big picture, and there is something definitely proper to them in the way they slosh their water. They are like little seas. They make you feel like a giant. We felt like such and went for another mountain again. When we stopped the car, I was carried away by the sight of waterfalls falling from the mountain in front of us, and started walking, fretting, while Elena was preparing the shoes, locking the car and distributing the weight to carry, I was like a terrier who smelled a rabbit, I couldn't wait to go. You see, it's not that it's just a waterfall, it was more, properly, like if a normal river that would want to go its normal way, would find the path so tough, it'd keep falling off course and "waterfall over itself". The whole mountain was literally riddled with torrents emerging from the moss, from the rocks, from the colours. I made a million pictures but in the mist, in the light, in my frenzy, none could capture this feeling that I'm trying to evoke now, rather lamely. So, in my haste, we went towards the general direction, and after a gratifying elevation that brought us an overall view of this paradisal panorama (of a misty paradise in Autumn), we kept on to find ourselves on a path in a forest. Apparently, they plant forests (we could guess from the pattern) of firs, with the result we lost the magnificent views of the Trossachs to get those of just anywhere. We decided to cut through to recover the naked hill and the sight of Scotland. Our first attempt did not get us anywhere, it was difficult to walk in the forest itself and there was no sign it would be ever finishing. A second attempt at a point where we could spot the end of the wood from the path was also challenging—it was wet, sloppy and unpracticable—but we finally pierced through. The slope was too steep for Elena so I carried alone for a while. The grass was so high and the inclination so close to vertical, I had my chest against the mountain, wet till the elbows as I was grabbing the floor, I should say the wall, by its tufts; it was climbing a mountain like one is climbing a tree. I could have gone till the end like this, it was actually very easy. But it was a bit far. Elena had shrunk to a point and looking at the top was still making my neck torn apart. After a twenty minutes of this shooting for the sky, I stopped, looked at the world, standing and lying at the same time. The point is marked as "On the flank of a hill in the Trossachs" in our map of visited locations. It looks nothing as seen from a satellite, but it was feeling like a conquest. It was my birthday then, I don't think I had one so great before.
Loch Lomond
Our first Loch, the Loch Lubnaig.
We went for the top of this hill, in front of Loch Lomond, between Inversnaid and Ben Lomond.
(That's the Loch Lomond by the way)
The texture of the mountain is fantastic.
The ever-changing light,
the shadows from clouds racing by...
the land
and the water...
it's a never-ending spectacle.
When you're high enough, new Lochs appear (here Arklet and Katrine)
Who tried to enclose these spaces?
That's the highest we've been. The Loch in first plan is Lomond, behind, it's actually the sea already.
It was raining and a splendid weather at the same time.
The reason why the scenery is so beautiful, a brisk wind has all these palettes to play with.
Walking through high grass...
and ferns burnt by Autumn
and leaving them all together by themselves.
Now on the bank of Loch Lomond.
A bit deeper into the forest.
Strange things happening at night.
Loch Voil
This is Scotland.
More specifically, Loch Voil.
A rally point of the McGregors.
Here's the grave of the most famous of them, Rob Roy.
This is a wet land,
where the boundary between land and water is better seen from above.
On the steps of the McGregors,
where a Loch hides behind the forest.
Loch Voil is literally by the road.
A nice retreat.
Behind Loch Doine, fantastic hills are to be found.
With rivers falling off them.
A close-up on one of them.
Elena with sheeps.
Rocks in the furnace of autumn that is a Schottish field.
Highland cattle have to be the cutest breed on earth.
Next to other adventures.
Our hotel had a feeling of Jamaica Inn.
