Scottish Highlands

After picking up some groceries at the Co-Op in Inveraray, we headed to the Distillery Cottage, our Airbnb for the next two nights.  We ascended the gently winding road to the Scottish Highlands with the late evening sun in our eyes.

Breathtaking is overused when describing scenery but truly the vistas were that and more.

Although our itinerary included a hike up the Devil's Staircase, I didn't appreciate just how far we had yet to drive.  No matter, I thought, as long as we arrived before the 10 p.m. sunset.

We made it.  Barely.  Aside from driving a balky manual transmission, often on single-track mountain roads with plenty of hairpin curves, finding our Airbnbs proved to be the biggest stressor of the trip.  Initially, we went to the WRONG Distillery Cottage (my bad) and were a little surprised to find this odd contraption as the sole source of heat downstairs in the right one.  By the time we left, however I had fallen in love with the practical utility of our always-on Aga cooker.  In addition to gathering everybody in the cozy kitchen, it brewed tea when we lifted the silver lid on the left AND dried our underwear and socks on both lids!

Travel adrenaline and 4:30 a.m. daylight awakened me prior to the rooster crows.

This peacock rushed me for food.

A horse and flock of sheep came running in the evening, too.  Much livelier than the dead rabbit that greeted us at the wrong Distillery Cottage where we think the owner may have called the police about a possible home invasion.

Only this fellow saw me leave for a solo walk.

A couple of layers and a cashmere watch cap protected me from the morning chill.  That's a red deer.

Snow still hadn't melted near the top of the Cairngorms mountains.

How old must these stone fences be?  Land ownership is a hot topic in Scotland where enormous estates dominate private holdings. 

Our hosts were nowhere to be found.  Fortunately, Andy and Sandra, the property's friendly, part-time caretakers, had plenty of recommendations about how to spend our somewhat gloomy Sunday.  First stop:  The Honesty Spot.  Andy declared you couldn't find a better--or cheaper--cake in the UK.  Thom went back a second time for Monday's breakfast, en route to the Road to the Isles.

Rumor has it that Queen Victoria rode sidesaddle to the Falls of Pattak for a swim.  We visited the lower falls.

Google couldn't confirm a royal dip.  But after touring Balmoral, the "summer place" Prince Albert bought for her, I can confirm that Cairngorms National Park is wilder and prettier. And completely free!

Too bad none of us fishes.

Here's what peat looks like before it decomposes.

It would take another week of travel before we could distinguish between the broom and the gorse that paints much of Scotland's landscape a brilliant yellow from April through June.

We used the car to explore a reservoir created by the River Spey.  Andy told us we'd see herds of deer.

We didn't learn until dinner at a local restaurant later in the evening that we'd seen a venison farm.  Duh.  It should have been obvious from the fencing for anyone other than city boys.