What a marvelous day we had today in Kingussie! We started with a fabulous breakfast, of course, complete with a starter bowl of porridge. This place makes some of the best that we've ever tasted!
We are staying at the Arden Guest House which is located just at the base of Creag Bheag.
We had decided that we would venture out to walk the trail named after the small mountain. We were told that there could be some rather slippery spots, as well as some challenging slopes, but we figured that we were up to the challenge. After all, the walk was rated only a "2 booter." That sounded innocent enough, don't you think?
Before we left, I mentioned to Norrie, the proprietor, that I wasn't too thrilled to see that his rain gauge was falling right in the middle of RAIN. He insisted that the proper way to read that meter was to look at the opposite end of the arrow. And it was pointing past FAIR, so the day would be perfect.
Did I mention that Norrie has quite the sense of humor?
There were dark grey skies looming in the distance, we headed out anyway, hoping for the best.
The trail might be easy to find.......if someone knows where to look for it. We did finally locate the entrance to the trail, but only after stopping to ask a local along the way. He said that we wouldn't be able to miss it.
We did find the directive pole,
but the real clue was this green sign, pointing to the summit. Note that the sign states that the summit is 3/4 of a mile.
Let me just say that this just might be the LONGEST 3/4 of a mile that I've ever walked!
It began simple enough.
Fern and flowers along the way.
with a crumbling stone wall that added to the aura.
Of course, we had to stop after a bit and take a photo featuring the beautiful landscape.
Then we spotted this sign, pretty much in the middle of nowhere on this mountain, directing us to the left in order to get to the top. And, to be quite frank, I do not recall any sign of a trail leading to the right.
It was at about this point that I asked my husband what the reference range was regarding the boots in respect to the difficulty of the trail. Was it 1 to 5? 1 to 10? 1 of 3? That's when he informed me that it was the last option. Not that I wouldn't have presumed that I could handle it, but I will admit that there were some challenges that did make the hike a bit tricky.
Nowhere had the paperwork mentioned that the trail would actually involve little waterfalls along the way. And I don't mean waterfalls for viewing. I mean that the trail was actually under water! We were equipped with boots, but the walking was muddy, wet, and slippery at parts, as you can well imagine.
But the views along the way to the top were breathtaking.
Here you can see the village of Kingussie from whence we began.
The Summit was adorned with triangular rock piles,
and there was a real relief when we finally reached the top.
This was a circular route, and we had some magnificent views to view while making the decent down the other side.
Once we were nearly at the bottom, we spotted another sign, which kind of reminded me of the scarecrow in the wizard of oz, as two of the pointers actually had the same route, but they were pointing in different directions.
We opted to follow along the loch and through the woods.
These trees at the bottom looked far different from the ones at the top as they had some sort of light green growth on them, adding a very eerie essence.
We walked past this old crumbled stone house, and found ourselves on the local golf course, with a sign reminding us to be wary of golf balls.
Which we immediately heeded when a group of golfers suddenly appeared within a few feet of us.
Just for the record, they didn't seem the least bit inquisitive as to why we were hiking through the course, so it must be a common occurrence as it is supposedly part of the path.
I'll admit that by this time, I was pretty tired. Who knew that rock climbing could be so exhausting! But we finally ended up on a road, that led us by this amazing waterfall.
After a short rest at our B&B, we headed out to enjoy to a local shop for something to revitalize us. I ordered a Highland Fog, which was an Earl Grey Latte, and a Victorian Sponge cupcake. Both were absolutely out of this world!
Afterwards, we walked briefly around town, enjoying the sunshine that had briefly popped through.
And here you can see the top of the front of the mountain that we had climbed earlier in the day.
Pretty impressive, don't you think?
Around 3:30, we headed just a few miles north, to see the working dogs at a nearby farm. The location offered quite a spectacular view with the sun shining on that mountain.
The "working dogs" are border collies, and the shepherd who owns them is really quite famous in this area for putting on a demonstration showing them herding the sheep.
Just a few calls and whistles, and the shepherd had those dogs bringing in the sheep from quite a distance, with them all ending up in a puddle not far from where we stood.
This puppy caught my attention
and it was fun watching him concentrate on the shepherds calls
Hunkering down, wanting to be part of the fun.
The shepherd then grabbed one of the rams, and began to show us how he can clip the wool off of the sheep in such a way that it comes off in entirely one piece.
which he then rolled into a ball.
He said that the wool is sold all over the world, mentioning more countries than I can remember.
Honestly, if you are ever in this area, it is well worth checking out this place. This man is extremely entertaining and the dogs are a delight to watch with the exuberance and willingness to follow his instructions.
At this point, we headed back to Kingussie, but stopped briefly at the Ruthven Barracks.
This stone barracks was where the Jacobites retreated after their horrendous lost at Culloden. It stands on a high mound, and dominates the landscape.
We were very fortunate to have skirted the raindrops, but the weather became extremely windy and cold and we were glad that we all opted to bundle up prior to checking the place out.
Dinner was once again, only a few blocks from our B&B, at Norrie's suggestion. Amy and I both opted for the Aberdeenshire Angus steak, which was amazing. And, after today's hiking, how could we resist sharing this chocolate tart?
In case you are wondering.....it was delectable!
Well....tomorrow we say good bye to Kingussie, but you can be guaranteed that another adventure awaits us!
I'll keep you posted!
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