Hey friends! How was your weekend? Mine was spectacular. I
mean it. A picture perfect weekend. Literally. It started with a gloriously
sunny Saturday morning, when Jonathan and I decided to take Bailey for a hike.
Since the days are super long this time of year, we decided to venture a bit
farther than our usual hikes around Aberdeen. Instead, we drove about 1.5 hours
south to the Angus area to explore what the Cairngorm National Park had to
offer us in those parts. I’d been eyeing the walks there for a while, wanting
to get my hands on some of the beautiful mountain and valley scenery dotting
the area.
We were slightly wary at the directions leading us to the Invermark
car park, since none of the last 4 roads we drove on had names. Instead, google
maps told us vaguely: after 3.7 miles turn left, after .3 miles slight left,
after 2.1 miles turn right, etc. We were mighty relieved when we made our final
turn and we saw signs for parking ahead. We always kind of sigh when we finally
see confirmation that we are not hopelessly turned around in the Scottish
wilderness.
Once we were parked, we followed the walking directions towards our
Queen’s Well Hike.
It wasn’t long before we passed through some farmland and
grazing fields and had a wide open view towards Mount Keen, the most Easternly
‘Munro’ (Scottish term for ‘mountain’).
The heather was in full bloom, covering
the mountains in vibrant shades of purple. The sky was magnificently blue. The
grass, vividly green.
It was a truly spectacular day; quite possibly the most
beautiful day in Scottish history. We were so glad that we decided to take
advantage of the great weather by exploring some of the most beautiful scenery
we’ve ever seen.
The hike to Queen’s Well was simple and flat, and a round trip
from the car park would be about a 5 mile total walking distance. If you are
more adventurous, you could continue up the path to the Mount Keen summit.
We
decided to take a rest at the Queen’s Well, which was such a photogenic granite
monument against the purple hills and blue sky.
Once we had some water and PB&J, I decided that while I might not
have the stamina to make it to the Mt. Keen summit, I surely had enough energy
to explore the riverside, where our hiking directions told us there was a cave
on the other side of the river.
I didn’t want to wade the river to go
spelunking, so instead, we decided to try and make it high enough up the
mountain to take a few photos looking back over gorgeous Glen Esk.
Mission
accomplished.
After this detour, we headed back down toward the Queen’s Well
and finally the car park. On our way back, we saw the most elusive of Scottish
wildlife: a snake! He was sunning himself right on the trail, and we’ve become
so accustomed to not looking for them, that Jonathan walked right past him
without even noticing.
I spotted him, and wanted to get a picture, but I was
too focused on distracting Bailey from noticing that the snake ended up
scooting away before I could get a shot. He was pretty docile though, because
Bailey obliviously walked right over him and he calmly slithered into the grass
unnoticed by our ‘hunting’ dog.
The presence of the snake just proves how warm
it’s been this summer. I’ve been hiking all over this country for the past year
and I’ve never seen a single reptile. Part
of what I love so much about hiking here is that I don’t have to worry about
snakes, whereas in the southern US, it’s my biggest concern, especially with
Bailey off lead.
I’m still not too concerned, because even though there are a
few snakes in Scotland, there aren’t any fatal ones to worry about. We carried
on with our return trek without too much excitement.
I’m so glad we decided to
explore this walk. It was possibly my most favorite hike since coming to
Scotland. I’m sure the weather and the seasonal heather had something to do
with the favorable experience, but I’d still recommend it to anyone wanting an
easy hike in a mountainous atmosphere.
And there is always Mount Keen for those
of you who want more of a challenge. And talk about picturesque!
I was an
Instagram junkie all afternoon. I kinda
regretted not taking our fancy Nikon along for the trek, but since I’m currently
carrying an extra 20 pounds or so in my middle section, I have to cut weight
where I can. Jonathan’s fancy iPhone 5 did the trick well enough.
Sunday was
the polar opposite of Saturday, but still perfect in it’s own way. We woke up
to chilly air and stormy skies. The rain was coming down in buckets, giving us the
perfect excuse to laze the morning away by reading in bed.
When that got old,
Jonathan offered to make me a special breakfast of pancakes and bacon. Yum! Such
a great diversion from my usual morning oatmeal and banana. He was really cute
about the whole thing and commented, “If I was a blogger, I would probably blog
about my husband cooking me breakfast.” So here you go, Jonathan. I’m bragging
about you in the blogosphere. Too bad I
forgot to snap a picture.
The rest of the day was spent lazing around, watching
Big Brother, running to B&Q for painting supplies (more on my painting
projects to come…), going to the gym and eating leftovers for dinner. It was the perfect
lazy Sunday, which is just what this preggo lady needed after that 7 mile hike
on Saturday.
I hope your weekend was just as memorable and blessed!
