Hiking the East Highland Way

Observant readers of this blog will notice a new box on the margins. I'm currently writing a series for Gadling on hiking the East Highland Way, a 76-mile route through some amazing scenery. Check out the link for stories about my visits to Pictish forts, medieval castles, and beautiful countryside, along with my blunt opinion of haggis!

Last year I hiked the Hadrian's Wall Path. While that was a lot of fun the East Highland Way was more challenging. I'm not sure what my long-distance hike will be next year, but I'm sure it will be in Scotland! The far north near Cape Wrath, which is even more remote than the area I went to, looking very promising.

Horror photography!

I just got back from hiking the East Highland Way in Scotland. While I was up there I discovered a new setting on my camera. In the "text" option for taking photos of print, there are four settings. One looks indistinguishable from a regular portrait setting, one is black and white, one is negative black and white, and then there's this one, a reversed color image. Looks like a cover for some Gothic horror novel! This is the cathedral at Durham in northern England.
Another view of the same cathedral. Not sure why the sky changed color.
Julián, my four-year-old son, took this one of Papa emerging from the grave.
This decayed tomb is carved in the image of a knight. What horrors lurk beneath?

Next time: more mucking about with the camera!

Vacationing in Extreme Weather

Now here's a tourism agency with balls.

The Isle of Harris, in the Outer Hebrides northwest of Scotland, is trying to get people to visit in the wintertime. That's right, visit an island that has nothing between it and the North Pole except a few hundred miles of windy North Atlantic. Where this week's weather forecast calls for fog giving way to three days of rain. Where the high this month was nine degrees.

So why winter in Harris? Well, besides cozy pubs, a unique island culture, and local crafts such as the famous Harris tweed, there is the stunning landscape, made lush by rain and rugged by scouring winds. The topography is so unusual that Stanley Kubrick used it to portray the surface of Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Bird watchers and wildlife enthusiasts will have plenty to see, such as rare golden eagles, otters, and whales in the unspoilt seas and countryside. Hikers can challenge themselves on the windswept peaks, and history buffs can explore the region's past, which has included Vikings, monks, and hardy crofters. Folklore is alive and well in the Hebrides, replete with Celtic music and traditional tales of ghosts, kelpie, and heroes. The island's very remoteness means that its culture has not been overly affected by tourism.

But why winter? Wouldn't it be better to go in summer and have a chance to actually see the sun? The Winter Harris website disagrees. There are more rooms available in winter, you see, and the rough weather can be an attraction in and of itself. With all the emphasis on extreme travel these days, braving the Arctic winds seems like it fits right in.

Like the website says, "What's the worst case scenario? Listening to an Atlantic storm in front of an open fire." I'd add a pint or two of heather ale or a glass of scotch.

This Week's Madrid Travel Tips

Check out my page on PlanetEye for my latest travel tips. This week I give you a tour of some of the strange shops of Madrid (in case you need to look like a bullfighter or Dracula this holiday season) and I review an intimate café and a smoky rock bar.

Visiting Historic Britain

If you like visiting castles, haunted manors, stone circles, and other historic sites, then check out TimeTravel-Britain, run by friend and fellow writer Moira Allen. There's an ad for it on the sidebar. Yes, I know the link isn't actually attached to the image, I'm still figuring out how to do that. I'm new at this!

Anyway, it's a fun site and I've contributed several articles to it. Check out my articles on the Ely Cathedral and Stained Glass Museum, Southwark Cathedral, the Ashmolean Museum, the London of Samuel Johnson, and much more. There are plenty of great articles by other contributors too.

Island Man

Now here's a trip worth taking. Andy Strangeway and his faithful teddy bear Clyde have slept on all 162 Scottish islands over 40 hectares. The Island Man decided to do this a few years ago when he heard no one had ever even been to them all. A hundred of them are uninhabited.

The best part of this is that he's older than I am. Yes, the adventure doesn't have to stop after thirty! Or after marriage, for that matter. Sounds like his wife is as patient and supportive as mine.

Check out his website for his story and some great pictures.

What about the islands under 40 hectares? Some are mere rocks, so it would be difficult to land, let alone spend the night, and they may not even all be mapped, so I think Andy has truly earned the title "Island Man"!