Drumlanrig: Mountain Biking, Castle and Wackiness

We headed out to Drumlanrig a few weekends back to check out the kilometers of mountain biking trails, as well as the castle (you know you're in Scotland when...). Unlike the rest of the mountain biking we've seen here so far, the trails at Drumlanrig are not built up. They are rooty, rocky and natural. It was so refreshing and loads of fun.

There is also a bike museum and a bike shop in the courtyard of the castle. The bike shop is run by Rik, who is friendly, wacky and so enthusiastic. He's also the mastermind behind all the trails. He definitely adds to the overall awesomeness of Drumlanrig. He even let us have a go on his very cool "Buddy Bike".

Escape from the Gardens

A bunch of botany students managed to leave the gardens, herbarium and their computers and escape to the Scottish Higlands for a weekend.

And here's what happens when you go hiking with botanists... they stop at every bit of rock to look at mosses and lichens. Sheesh, bunch of nerds.

First lunch spot.

A bit of human curling.

Perched rock

Badger takes flight.

Looking up to Cruach Ardrain.

James and the Scottish Highlands.

Team Botany on top of Cruach Ardrain (plus one snow nerd).

Fry up: mushrooms, baked beans, tomatoes, black pudding...

...sausages, bacon and...

...eggs!

Silliness on top of Benmore.

Looking across to Stob Coire an Lochain.

Tom and Lizzie above the clouds.

Skiing down Benmore and back into the clouds.

A rather large avalanche that went to ground.

And finally, you know you've adapted to student life when you need a bungy to keep your car in 5th gear.

Snow Drops and Green Things

A sunny day in Edinburgh today, and a great day to be a student at the Royal Botanic Gardens. Here are a few shots from a lunch time stroll.

Snow drop

Lichen junction

The orchids are in full bloom in the glass houses. I like the tongue on this one.

Tree fern leaf

Fuzzy aster leaf

Tendril

Fiddle head

Snow hits Scotland

After smugly convincing myself that spring had arrived out here, I woke up to some of the white stuff in Edinburgh last week. It was mostly gone by evening, but James got buried in it up in Braemar where he is working. Here are a few of his shots.

Until this year I was convinced that the Scots were exaggerating when they talked about how many deer there were. All I saw was sheep. And then it snowed and all the sheep disappeared and suddenly all these deer arrived...

Huddling like penguins.

I wonder if they take turns breaking trail?

Not too surprisingly, the storm brought a few avalanches with it. It's hard to see in the above shot, but most of this valley ripped out. You can see the crown line where the arrow is and the debris flow at the base. A wee bit bigger than your usual Scottish avalanche.

Hangfire

Deep pit.