The drive up winding, twisted climbing roads gave Allen some real challenges with his driving, but it also gave us a pace to see things in the misty weather we wouldn't otherwise have noticed.
There was a logging hill that went on for a couple of miles, for instance. Turns out the Scotch pine tree have been harvested in preparation for building 1300+ upscale pine chalets around the world as ordered. The trees will be replaced by birches, which provide a good habitat for certain hunting birds, thus making local lodge owners happy.
Although we've seen a million sheep already, this was the start of our trip where we see them either right along the road or perhaps right IN the road.
Pheasants, pheasants, bunnies, bunnies
Took awhile to determine which place at the end of which track was our B&B. No signs, no nothing.
Finally asked a couple walking along, turns out they were the only other ones staying and said they'd see a sign stuck on a fencepost saying the owner would be back by 4:30. It was now after 5:00. Finally Ian shows, and immediately tells us his partner/wife? June has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, he's come from the hospital, if he's a bit scatterbrained, that's why, but come on in, what will you have for supper?
Of course we offered to leave and he wouldn't hear of it. So we settled in for the evening in a beautiful, large manse, made friends with the other couple (from the Netherlands, in Scotland to attend the International Brass Band Championship in Inverness, their son played percussion for the NL's winning team), and enjoyed a lamb chop dinner thanks to Ian's cooking and his flock. Although June usually did the cooking, he had written instructions from her, as well as (some) help from Katie, an Austrian intern who'd been there exactly two days.
Looking out our bedroom window on Friday....
...and on Saturday morning.
The House of Mark is located adjacent to the Dalhousie Estate (yes, the whisky), a long-time favorite spot for Royals to hunt. Allen and I headed out for an "easy" walk of 2+ miles to Queen's Well, the site where Victoria and Albert stopped to water themselves and horses in summer 1861 between Balmoral and Glenesk.
Bunny warren, as we set out....
Thanks, Deb, for advising us to bring along waterproof boots....
On one side of the track the heather is untouched.
On the other it's been burned. "Muirburn" is a healthy rotation conducted by landowners and farmers all over Scotland's highlands (resulting in the mosaic look to countless hills and mountains) that allows new heather sprouts to grow (food for upland birds), controls heather height (so birds can still pop up to look around), keeps the land okay for sheep grazing, and keeps the moors from growing back into woodland.
It was interesting to realize that the rough track at the beginning of our walk turned into good roadbed halfway through, right at a bridge to private property. Turns out the Dalhousie estate is a favorite of the royals, and they come over from Balmoral to stay/hunt there, and vice versa, hence the good road.
Lord Dalhousie built the well monument to resemble a crown.
"Her Majesty Queen Victor and his Royal Highness the Prince Consort visited this well and drank of its refreshing waters on the 20th September, 1861, the year of Her Majesty's great sorrow" (Albert died in December).
On the hike back, the clouds lifted some so we could finally see the fine glacial valley we were in!
And we were lucky enough to spot a small herd of deer along one mountaintop, our first of the trip!
Our reward at the end of the hike - a clear afternoon!
The evening brought Ian back from the hospital (in Dundee, more than an hour away), who cooked a fine local salmon supper for us and the evening's other guests, a Scottish couple from Arbroath (famous for its smoked fish). She was a charity race runner, and had run a spring 10k at Balmoral earlier in the day, he a retired policeman. Both were chatty and made our drinking skills look amateurish. We also met Lola, a lovely rescue dog who lives at the manse, and who is now my Facebook friend...really!
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