3rd Day - Wednesday - Sma Wee Glen
For today I planned a trip into the Highlands. But first a look at the weather. Drifting clouds and sunshine but no rain and maximum 12°C - brrr, cold - was what I thought. After breakfast (this time only fruit salad and rice Crispiest) I started. First the City Bypass, then onto the A/M9 to the Forth Bridge. The bridge is a real challenge for me. High enough that seagoing vessels can pass under it and a pendant bridge. It is also possible to go over the bridge as pedestrian (not that I want to). At the edge of the lane are metal bar which are going up in a 45° ankle a proximal to a height of 2 feet to a kind of ramp. The space between the single is 1 inch - so it is very easy to look through the bar to the Firth of Forth 50 m deeper - really nice! After I managed the bridge I drove on to Perth. At Perth I left the Motorway and took the A9 towards Inverness (only a short length and then to Methven A85. After a while I had to turn right on the A822 and into the mountains (the road goes uphill before but from here onwards you are really in the hills). And then stop at Newton Bridge. Who is expecting a village or town here will be disappointed. Newton Bridge is a parking area close to a river (Almond River) which flows into the River Tay. On the other site of the bridge is a farmhouse and here begins the walking track to Loch Tay. Brave walkers can walk the whole way - it is more than 14 miles (21 km) to Loch Tay, one way! I followed the track, of course not the complete way. The walking track turned out to be a nice to walk farm track. On the track were some houses. But you have to manage cattle bars because the sheep are running free. The Farmer asked the people to keep their dogs on the leash, because it was lambing season and every upset would not do any good. To be honest, I would have kept my dog on a leash anyway. The land belongs to the sheep, walkers and their dogs are only guest and have to behave well.
The entire way the track followed the river, sometimes closer, sometime a bit further away but always at the bottom of the glen. Sometime the path went lightly uphill but only to be plain immediately afterwards. Sma Wee Glen is Scottish and means Narrow Little Valley. And it is really narrow, on the right and the left the hills went straight up, on that day still without snow and more than 600 m (close to 2000 ft). While I went down the path to elder men came towards me making a good pace, they greeted me (totally normal in Scotland, here walkers always greet each other) and one asked if I am doing the whole distance. I laughed when I said no, I had no one to pick me up at the other end :-).
After one and a half hour I had enough of walking and had a pause. The blanket I had with me I put down at the edge of the track, direct at a small "cliff" so I had a natural seat. Then I read enjoying the sun. After a while the sun disappeared, it became cold and the clouds look very much like rain. so I decided it was time to walk back. But after a short while the sun was back again. And then I discovered something real nice. While I was on the walk two little lambs had been born right next to the track. Both were still a bit wobbly on the legs and I could still see the umbilical cord. And the mum was quite fit and looks angry at me when I took a photo of the lambs. Then I reached my car again. Without real training my feet were a bit sore now. But driving went well still. Now back to Perth - was not the distance longer when I came here? And then further to Edinburgh, crossing the bridge again and into the "home time traffic jam". But it was not that bad. Looked like they were finishing earlier in Scotland. It was nearly 6 o'clock now.
Here now the photos:
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