Aonach Eagach Ridge

We headed to Glencoe for the solstice weekend and couldn't resist another tromp along the Aonoach Eagach Ridge (we hiked back in 2007 as well).

J's finger pointing out the ridge.

Looking north

Tom and James took in an extra 'summit'. If you look closely you can spot them.

Carex nigra

Looking down at Glencoe.

The ridge proper. Spot the James.

I think we spent almost as much time chilling out in the sun as we did hiking.

James looking suave while trying to protect himself from the hot Scottish sun.

Goats!

Chilled out billy goat.

Rocky, muddy, shallow lochen.

Hiking down with the sea in the background.

Foxgloves

Deer fern (Blechnum spicant)

Bracken

Back to Glen Etive for some camping.

We thought we had a big tent until Andy and Harry showed up with the tipi with stove.

Camping in style.

Dinner in style.

Lichens, Mosses and Stumps.

Pixie cup lichens (Cladonias) growing out of a pine cone.

I am currently living in a quiet corner of Scottish woodlands at the foot of the Cairngorm Mountains. I've been spending my days looking at mosses and lichens growing on stumps as part of my project for my MSc.

One of my stumps.

A particularly licheny stump.

Fly on a sitka spruce shoot.

Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)

Chickweed-wintergreen: neither a chickweed, nor a wintergreen - which is why Latin names come in handy: Trientalis europaea.

Cool beetle crusing around the forest floor.

And I am officially updated on my blogging! Phew!

Orkney

We headed way up north to Orkney for a weekend with friends.

Ferry coming into Stromness.

Stromness

The island and cottage that we rented for the weekend.

Rod Stewart showed up.

Stone wall

Looking across at Hoy.

Standing stones of Stenness.

The Ring of Brodgar

Thought to be between 4000 and 4500 years old. Originally there were about 60 stones, and 27 are still standing today.

The Old Man of Hoy, taken from the ferry on our way home. He looks a lot like a standing stone.

Laggan Wolftrax

We finally made it out to Laggan for some mountain biking. Last time we tried to get there our car died. It was good fun and we especially liked the steep smooth rocky bit (as opposed to the steep stair-like rocky bit).

Nobody likes a flat.

Helmet head.

Edinburgh Half-Marathon

Running is a great way to procrastinate doing homework and studying for exams. Given all the homework and exams of late, I suddenly was in good enough shape to sign up for the Edinburgh half.

At the start, with a lot of other folks.

Half way!

The run was rather fun and I completed it in 1:50:56, which I was rather happy with. It also made me realize how completely MAD my friends signed up for Ironmans are. Mad.

Germany

Gutentag and welcome to Germany!

From Paris we caught a train to Strasbourg and then started cycling down the Rhine to go visit the German side of my family.

Wild camping was a little more challenging (and wet) in Germany, but we managed.

Mmm beer.

The woods behind the city of Karlsruhe.

Cycling through fields on backroads was delightful.

The rapeseed was blooming and had a distinctive cheezy smell. Apparently a lot of it gets used for biofuels.

A Twike

Odenheim - my home in Germany.

Uncle Seppel looking like my Dad in so many ways.

A whole bunch of Blasies.

Heildelberg.

View of Heidelberg from the castle.

My aunt and uncle were kind enough to take us to the Maulbronn Monestery - a UNESCO world heritage site. Rather impressive in the sheer amount of detail everywhere you looked.

St. Goar

At some point we had to pull ourselves away from the good food and beer that my relatives were very generously offering us and head off on our bikes again. We caught a train back to the Rhine and kept cycling towards the airport.

One of the many barges and castles on the Rhine.

This section of the river is flanked by steep slopes and cliffs on both sides. In addition to the endless barges going up and down the river, there is also a railway and a highway on each side of the river. All this traffic bouncing between the steep sides of the valley made this a very, very loud place. As pretty as it was, I was happy to cycle out into the quiet of the forests and fields above it.

Yet another castle.

And then we flew back to Edinburgh and discovered that the canal bike path takes us from within 2 km of the airport to 500m from our doorstep. Sweet.

James with his Remoulade in a tube - his German souvenir. I got horseradish in a tube.