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.