Midgies

This is the definition of a Highland Midge (known as midgies in Scotland) from wikipedia- a species of small flying insect, found in upland and lowland areas especially in the north west of Scotland from late spring to late summer. Female Highland midges are well known for gathering in clouds and biting humans, and are the smallest flies in Scotland to do so. They are generally regarded as pests.


In other words, take a mosquito, make it much smaller (so that it can get through mosquito netting) and impervious to insect repellent and you have a midgie. They can take an amazing weekend for camping and turn it in to a battle for blood, literally. 


We'd heard about these nasty bugs and knew to be on the lookout for them. Our first camping adventure (as you saw from our previous post) was a rousing success. Over the course of the two nights we saw a few midgies and had a couple of bites but were never really disturbed. 

It made for a miserable day

But then we decided to camp for a second time. As Erin's parents were in town we decided to visit the Isle of Mull. Erin's parents stayed in a bed and breakfast so we decided to rough it for one night, how hard could that be? Unfortunately we didn't know then what we know now, how to protect yourself from these cursed insects. Rule number one - midgies can't survive more than a 6 mph wind. Rule number two - avoid standing water. Rule number three - don't stay near trees which provide protection for them. So, where did we decide to pitch our tent? In a parking area surrounded by trees where no wind could reach us and there were puddles of standing water all around. As we were setting up the tent and getting ready for bed we noticed a few bugs but nothing overwhelming. However, by morning, all four corners of the tent had thousands of midgies collected inside and out. As we noticed all the bites we had received during the night we decided to hurry and break camp. Making things worse, as we started folding the tent all six million midgies in the area decided to attack in unison. We spent half an hour going back and forth between folding a few feet of the tent and running away from the black swarm. We were covered with midgie bites and by the time we had everything in the car, including ourselves, we found many had followed us in. We spent another 15 minutes driving as fast as we could with all the windows open trying to drive them out. 

I highly recommend Coleman tents.

Fortunately this experience taught us the three rules regarding midgies so this past weekend as we went camping again we were able to make sound decisions on where to set up camp. I found a lovely place on top of a mountain in the Cairngorm National Park that was perfect. Although, sometime around 3am it became a little too perfect. I'll let the picture speak for itself on what the wind was doing to our tent. Needless to say the winds were just a tad over 6 mph. My fear of midgies caused me to slightly overshoot the needed windspeed. 
The next night we were able to find a calmer area that had no standing water and wasn't too close to trees. The mix of rain and manure all around us did make for an interesting morning though. 


I guess having one bad night out of four is ok and all in all, we've had fantastic and very memorable camping experience in Scotland. It was a bit sad to pack the tent and sleeping bags up for the final time before they make their return to Texas in a couple weeks when my family takes them home for us. 

A Wonderful, Warm, Wild Camping Weekend

It looks peaceful, but in the morning
we were overrun with cattle.

Very rarely is sunshine in the forecast for a day here let alone an entire weekend. With the sun set to prevail for the full weekend, Erin and I embarked on an adventure planned since moving to Scotland, wild camping in the highlands. A little bit of background on wild camping: in Scotland you are allowed to camp any place where there's not a fence. This means you can pitch your tent anywhere you'd like. We just so happened to choose this spot for our first night.

 In preparation for this camping adventure, Erin and I had already brought over our tent and purchased the necessary sleeping bags and backpacks. (We're suckers for camping gear and great deals, there's a store here called Mountain Warehouse that's like a wholesale REI, we couldn't be happier).

We rented a car and headed north. Our first stop was to explore the central highlands, specifically the Glencoe region. We climbed the devil's staircase which wasn't so devilish, although my legs felt otherwise afterwards. The highlight of the day had to be, as we were climbing, four different Royal Air Force jets screamed past us through the valley. Quite the exciting moment for me.

Then we headed to the north to visit the Isle of Skye. We'll be heading back their later so we decided to just explore the southern area. Erin had found directions to a small cave on the southern shore so we attempted to locate it. We found the opening but discovered that either the cave was filled in or we were just in the wrong spot. Erin was not thrilled that I scaled the cliff wall to find the entrance, but I had a blast.

After Skye we continued north along the west coast exploring the mountains and small villages. They say that the northern highlands are some of the most beautiful bits of Scotland and we would have to agree. We then made our way east to the Black Isle, seeing some amazing scenery along the way including a breathtaking waterfall. Upon reaching the Black Isle, we headed out to a spot that is known for it's dolphin viewing where we were not disappointed. It was spectacular to watch dolphins about 50 feet away jumping through the water. After seeing the dolphins we headed to the Black Isle brewery to sample their completely organic ales. It has become one of our favorite breweries around. To end the trip Erin endured as I got to visit Fort George and the Culloden Battlefields. The Battle of Culloden was fought in 1746 between the British government and a faction known as the Jacobites. It was the last battle to take place on British soil. The battle lasted less than an hour and more than 1500 Jacobites lost their lives. In response to the uprising, the government built Fort George, a massive fort that is still used by the military today.

After a fantastic weekend, we headed home passing through the Cairngorms National Park to see more great scenery. As we neared Edinburgh the clouds began to appear and drops of rain started to fall. The timing could not have been more perfect. In Erin's words, "This was the best vaca ever!" While I could never label a trip best ever, it certainly was a great chance to get out and enjoy God's beautiful creation.