An excellent day for a walk

It was cloudy to start, with a bit of chill in the air, but eventually the sun emerged making yesterday a very fine day for a long walk. The walking group headed over to East Linton for a walk to Hailes Castle and Traprain Law.

We started off walking along the River Tyne, making our way to Hailes Castle. The birds were singing madly, and the wild garlic and few-flowered leeks were rampant, scenting the air with the smell the garlic. The gorse was also in full vibrant yellow bloom, giving off its coconut fragrance as we walked past.





At Hailes Castle, we stopped for a wee break. The castle overlooks the River Tyne. As with most castles left in Scotland, it's a bit of a fixer-upper. Presumably it was in a better shape when Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed there with her kidnapper/soon-to-be-husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell.

Leaving Hailes Castle, we made our way via country roads to Traprain Law, where we stopped for lunch. Afterward, about 1/2 the group decided to climb to the top. It's not a big hill as far as hills go, but it looked intimidating from a distance. I was mentally dithering about whether to climb up, but finally just told myself to stuff it, and went. It got my heart rate up, that's for sure, but I only had to stop once or twice for a quick breather. And the views, of course, were spectacular. By now the sun decided to join the party, and we could see the coast and Bass Rock and North Berwick Law, which I'd climbed with Little Sis last summer. (And I just now realized that I'd brought my binoculars and forgot to use them. Drat.)



The climb down is always much quicker than going up, and before long we were on our way back to East Linton via country roads and the path along the Tyne River. Our last stop was the beer garden at The Crown.



A terrific walk with great company made for an excellent, excellent day.

Walkabout Scotland: Kirkcaldy to Aberdour

As previously mentioned, on Saturday I conquered went for a really long walk up in Fife. With a bunch of strangers. Fife is fairly close to Edinburgh, being just across the Firth of Forth to the north. The 9-mile walk was part of the Fife Outdoor Access Festival and led by some folks from the Kirkcaldy Ramblers.

It was a very enjoyable day, and I had a fun time chatting and meeting the people on the walk. I have to say, though, going on these walks is not necessarily the way to meet guys my age, if that were my goal (which it is not). I was easily the youngest person on this walk by 15 20 years.

Anywho. The walk started at Seafield near Kirkcaldy (Kur-caw-dee) and ended in Aberdour (Abber-dower). The beginning and end of the walk was spent along the Fife Coastal Path. For the middle bit, we detoured inland at Kinghorn to the Fife Ecology Center, where we stopped for lunch, and then onto Binn Hill above Burntisland for some terrific views.

If you like maps and/or care where I actually walked, here's the approximate route. If you're only here for the pictures, skip below. It was a beautiful day, and there was some beautiful scenery to view along the way.

View out over the Firth of Forth near the start of the walk. Far, far in the distance on the very left you can see Berwick Law.

Seafield Tower, dating from the early 16th century.

Seals! No really, there are seals out on the rocks! Click the picture to make it bigger.

Thistles gone to seed. I really like thistles, especially when they are all fluffy and soft like this. I think the ones that are gone to seed but not yet fluffed out look like they could be used as paintbrushes.

Daisies. Yes, I like flowers. You will just have to put up with it, just like the other folks on the walk did.

I think this is a cormorant out on the rock. I'm also thinking I need a pair of binoculars.

Cool tree!

Just a picture from along the Fife Coastal Path. Far in the distance you can see the Pentland Hills. And on the very far left, you can see Arthur's Seat (the saddle-shaped hill).

Pretty, pretty flowers. Anyone know what kind they are? I think this is my favorite picture of the day.

Boats along the beach in Kinghorn.

View from the beach in Kinghorn.

Kinghorn Loch.

Lunchtime view at the Ecology Center.

Thistles on the hill.

View from Binn Hill.

View from Binn Hill, looking south toward Edinburgh and Arthur's Seat.

Looking east towards the Forth Rail Bridge.

Looking back toward Binn Hill.

An unexpected waterfall along the Fife Coastal path, heading toward Aberdour.

The end of the walk for me, Aberdour Station, the absolute cutest, railway station I've ever encountered, almost crossing the border into twee. It apparently has won awards.

Next post: Aberdour Castle and Modern Scottish Wedding Attire!

I conquered Fife!

Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration. Unless you define conquer as walking 9 miles from Kirkcaldy (pronounced Kur-caw-dee) to Aberdour (pronounced Abber-dower). And because my legs hadn't yet fallen off, I decided to spend another hour or so rambling around Aberdour and Aberdour Castle. Because who knows when I'll get back to Aberdour.

For the record, my legs do now feel like they could fall off.

Aberdour Castle was fairly small, and the price to get in seemed a bit steep for what you get. But what made it worthwhile was the wedding they were having there! The wedding was in pre-reception mode, a.k.a. drinks out on the terraced gardens. So I entertained myself mocking in my head the hats some of the ladies were wearing. (Oh to have had my little sis there to mock the hats with!) And taking stealth pictures from inside the castle ruins of the crazy hats and the men-in-kilts. Heh, heh, heh.

Pictures to come of both the walk and the crazy hats!

Williamcraigs Wander

On Sunday, I went on a walking club walk starting from the nearby town of Linlithgow. The walk was a really nice one, perfect for a Sunday afternoon. The weather even decided to cooperate. And I got to pet a few dogs who were along for the walk!

Linlithgow, by the way, was the location of the first petrol pump in Scotland.


The walk started and ended along the Union Canal towpath.


Yes, this is the same Union Canal that runs about 5 minutes walk from my flat. In theory, if I wanted to go for a reeeaally long walk, I could walk all the way to Linlithgow along the canal towpath.

After a mile or two, we ventured off the towpath to loop up along some country lanes. I saw a bunny as well as some not-so-wild life.

This guy was the most curious cow that I've ever met. Not that I've met that many, but still. He was very intrigued by us, or maybe it was the dogs. Once we passed him, he ran up ahead along the fence until he could see us again. He did this three times, until he couldn't follow us any farther!

There were also some very pretty views of the Ochil Hills to the north.

After a while, we met back up with the towpath and made our way back to Linlithgow, stopping in a small park for a nice view over the town. The building in this picture with the pointy-roof tower is Linlithgow Palace.


Back in Linlithgow, we passed an old doocot, known as a dovecote in places other than Scotland. This one is from the 16th century, and yes it was once used to raise pigeons and doves. You know, for food.


I've been wanting to go to Linlithgow for a while, and this walk gave only the smallest taste. Definitely must make plans to go back and explore the rest of the town. I have my eye on a 10k race there toward the end of September as well. We shall see.

Walkabout Scotland: East Linton to Dunbar

I knew that there were various places to go walking around Edinburgh, but I had no idea how many trails and how much walking out and about was possible until I started looking. It all started when I stumbled across the East Lothian Walking Festival when I was investigating places to ramble about for when my little sister comes to visit in July.

Once I discovered the East Lothian Walking Festival, it wasn't too long before discovered there were walking and rambling clubs right here in Edinburgh. And pretty much anywhere you'd want to go in Scotland, there are walks you can go on. And there are other walking festivals throughout the year all over Scotland. Walking festivals! Who knew?

This walking thing. This is something I would actually get out of my flat and DO (as opposed to sitting in my flat and staring at the walls, which I have a distressing tendency to). Plus, since it's not exactly safe for me to go off walking about on my own, the idea of a walking festival or a walking club is great!

And this weekend, I did! Get out and about walking that is. Which makes this my inaugural Walkabout Scotland post. Let there be many more!

Edinburgh is in Midlothian so East Lothian is like the next county over. Practically my back yard!

Well, ok, not quite. I started my morning by catching a 7am bus, and it was a good hour+ bus ride to get to Haddington, where we were to meet the walk leader and sign the "in case of tragically falling off a cliff" form. I was early for a change, which gave me a good half hour to wander around the little town and discover that, although the butcher was open, heck if I could find a place to sell me a cup of tea. They were also setting up for a little farmer's market, and if I wasn't going to be walking for four hours, I would have been tempted.

Shortly after 9am, Dave, our walk leader, led his bunch of walkers (including me) to the bus, which took us over to East Linton and Preston Mill, our starting point. For the next four hours, we meandered our way through farmland following the River Tyne, along the estuary of the River Tyne to the coast, through John Muir Country Park, and finally along the coast to Dunbar. The path we followed was an 8-miles stretch of the John Muir Way.



Below are some pictures of the scenery along the way. It was a beautiful day! Dry, which is the most important thing, although the blue skies were muted by the mist, which didn't burn all the way off until mid-afternoon.

The start of our walk.

Preston Mill

In the distance is the village of East Linton and even farther away to the left is Traprain Law. People walk up there too. Maybe some other day.

Bridge we crossed over the River Tyne.

It looks like a nice innocent river now, but looks can be deceiving.

Just a pretty picture of the River Tyne.

Field we walked along.

And another.

And another.

Why look, another field.

Along the John Muir Way, nearing the estuary for the River Tyne.

Estuary of the River Tyne

Tank traps left from WWII.

John Muir Way along the River Tyne estuary.

Estuary of the River Tyne. You can see the river flowing through the salt marsh. This area is flooded during high tide.

Looking out over the estuary toward the sea.

Path along the estuary.

You can see the high-water mark left from high tide.

Nearing John Muir Country Park.

Unfurling ferns.

More tank traps!

Just a pretty picture with more unfurling ferns.

Through the woods in John Muir Park.

John Muir Park near Belhaven Bay.

Spike Island looking back over salt marsh.

Spike Island looking out over Belhaven Bay.

Belhaven Bay towards Dunbar.

Looking back over the salt marsh at Balhaven Bay.

John Muir Way nearing Dunbar.

Coast near Dunbar.

Cliffs near Dunbar.

And of course I can can never resist taking pictures of flowers.









And trees.





And what's a walk through the country without seeing some of the local fauna.

Sheep, of course.

Llama...soon to be a mamma llama?

A rare breed of water animal rarely seen in these parts.

I think I'll just stand here for a while.

Swans in Belhaven Bay

Kittiwakes...look closely

Pigeon in Dunbar

Yes, I was the annoying one on the walk, always stopping to take pictures of this or that, and then scrambling to catch up.

In case you can't tell, it was a fantastic day! About 1/2 way through when we were walking through the woods that are part of John Muir Park, I realized how badly I needed this break and to get out and see and explore. Trees especially seem to feed something essential in my soul.

Once in Dunbar, the bus was waiting to take the group back to Haddington. At this point, I broke off from the group. It was quicker for me to take the train from Dunbar straight back to Edinburgh. I had time to eat a tasty lunch in a cute cafe, and to walk down to see the small harbor, before catching the train.

Shop where I had lunch, a grilled veggie and hummus chiabatta with a slice of Victoria sponge cake for dessert. Yummm.

Dunbar Harbor with ruins of Dunbar Castle in the background.

As satisfying as the day was, my legs were very happy to be back home.

Trivia: So this John Muir guy who they named this trail after was born in Dunbar, but his family moved to the US when he was a kid. He grew up to found the Sierra Club, and helped to establish Yosemite National Park. Oh and Muir Woods near San Francisco -- named after John Muir. His birthplace in Dunbar is now a museum.