Photography

The Speyside Way – day one

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A Curling Club in summer

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Don’t miss this turning on the right (below) at NGR NJ 06982 28725 – I did – it is the path down to the disused railway track that makes up the path as it passes Cromdale. If you walk over the bridge over the old line you have gone to far. Watch out for the bridge sign on the right – the path markers are not very prominent,

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Lunch, tuna with BBQ sauce and tea with some cashew nuts and banana chips. I found a convenient, and comfortable pile of logs, in a sunny clearing.

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I was charged by a deer (above) – which leapt the fence on the right to avoid me.

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I got caught in a shower during the afternoon but it had stopped by the time I reached the campsite at Cragganmore and I got the tent up in the dry – and got a chance to dry out my rain jacket. The site is free and has a toilet, a stand pipe for water, a bin and a couple of picnic tables which made unpacking (and packing) the rucksack very easy, as well as having somewhere to cook and eat in comfort.

One other thing the site had was midges – lots and lots of midges.

Having got my tent up, I was just sorting out the brewkit for a mug of tea when I was joined at the site by another lone backpacker, Emily. So whilst she put her tent up I made us both some tea. We then spent a very enjoyable couple of hours chatting, and sharing bits of our evening meal – her contribution was chilli flavoured olives and some milk sachets from the B&B she stayed in last night, mine was fruit and spice oat cakes and introducing Emily to whiskey in her tea! (She also let me use her midge spray – she borrowed my compeed stick.)

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Great Glen Way

Having dropped Jeremy and his friend off in Inverness, so they can spend some money, I am doing a few fast miles along the River Ness using some of the Great Glen Way path.

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River Ness, Inverness

Before setting off I quickly checked out the two largest outdoor stores in the city centre. I still need a waterproof case for my iPhone, transparent on. both sides so I can use the camera – I could have got an Aquapac,but as the previous PVC free model I got has deteriorated, so much I cannot read the screen of my iPhone through it anymore I did not want to waste my money. So it looks like for my overnight backpack trip tomorrow I will be using a zip lock food bag to protect the iPhone from the rain whilst taking photos.

I would have bought a new pack for tomorrows trip – but I have my heart set on a Golite Jam and I could not find one. There were several rucksack special offers that almost tempted me but I had to keep reminding myself that the Jam weighs less than 900g!

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More Photos of Dunbar

The Camping and Caravan Club site just outside Dunbar is in an excellent location over looking the Forth of Firth, Dunbar and Bass Rock. It is near the A1 so occasionally you can here the traffic but more likely you can hear the surf on the beach, a few hundred meters away. It can be very windy here in bad weather but on an afternoon like this with the sun and a slight breeze it is great. Tea just outside our tent with the view below.

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