It was a quiet moment at the Pacific Ocean shoreline on the upper Big Sur coast. It would not last, of course, as the area is overrun by visitors during the warmer months. I go very early in the morning to beat the crowds, and I had a couple of good hours before the Monterey and Carmel tourists finished breakfast and drove down the coast. (If you want to see the Big Sur coast in relative solitude, try a winter weekday morning.)
Continue reading Shoreline Rocks, Offshore Islands
We had our first close-up view of the Cuillin Mountains when we arrived on the Isle of Skye. Driving onto the Isle from the east, the road loops southwest at Loch Slighachan, then heads north between the Red Cuillin Mountains, before turning back to the southwest to loop around these peaks. Of course, they are big enough to be visible from many places on and near to Skye, too.
Continue reading Approaching The Cuillin Mountains
For a hiker like me, with a lifetime of wilderness hiking and backpacking behind him, a “Cotswolds walk” is a new and different experience. I am used to single-person-width trails, usually rocky, and sometimes ascending to quite high elevations. On multi-day trips I have carried everything on my back. But here the trails are gentle, often passing between and through fields and pastures. And you carry only a few supplies for the day’s walk — you simply stop at a grocery or a pub in a small town at lunch time and buy something to eat.
Continue reading Cotswold Trail, Clouds
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but one thing that impresses about the mountains of Scotland is that they have the appearance alpine terrain in my California High Sierra. There are few or no trees, the only vegetation is the sort that lies under your feet if you walk through it. The peaks are sharp and rugged and rocky. The entire landscape — mountains, streams, valleys — is laid bare. In the Sierra I must go well above 10,000′ to see this. In Scotland it begins barely above sea level.
Continue reading Mountains, Clouds, and Shadows