Becca vs. Wild a la Scotland

Saturday morning I woke up, ate a crumpet, grabbed an apple, and hit the wad. That's when I realized I was in paradise. Everyone was running! One of my favorite aspects of Scotland was how active the people were. Walking, cycling, running, hiking-such an active place!

Anyway, I found the bus station and was off to Pitlochry.Scotland is lush with color and rich in architecture. Upon arriving at my destination, I went straight to the information center and asked for directions to Ben Vrackie and then I was off. Over the river, and through the woods, to the Scottish wilderness you go!

Hiking alone was quite an adventure. My mother would kill me if I tried to hike Pusch Ridge alone (that is if the snakes didn't get me first) and there I was alone in Scotland of all places. It was stunning. The woods came and went, and then there were rolling hills with sheep bleating in the distance. I found a loch (a Scottish lake), but no monster, and had a great time gawking at how beautiful it was.

To be honest, it was not green. And while I normally would have been terribly disappointed, this was just perfect for my soul. It was brown. And home is VERY brown. So, while it was in actuality an entirely different landscape, I felt more at home than I have in months.

The lady at the information place said that I needed to go past the loch and then I started actually climbing up...naturally, to climb a mountain, you have to go up. "Up" turned out to be a giant rock staircase of switchbacks! There's nothing like having your age brought out by nature...Phew! I took plenty of "photo breaks" to take it all in (and of course to catch my breath). I made it all the way to the top of the Corbett (class of a Scottish hill) and sat down to journal a bit and eat a snack. It was breath-taking. The sun poked around the clouds every once in a while and then it hailed...a rather odd mix, but hey, it's Scotland! I took my time hiking down and decided that since I still had about 4 hours before my bus, I would hike around the loch in search of a monster...

And I'm exhausted, so I'll "edit" this post another time...I'll be helping out at the school again tomorrow! So I better catch a bit of "beauty rest."