Mountain biking Glen Trool Blue route and Bennan

The summit of wind swept Bennan in the Galloway Hills.


Jennifer with Bennan disappearing into the mist.

We have recently visited the Glen Trool Blue route a couple of times to increase our cardiovascular fitness and stamina to cope with winter paddling conditions in Scotland. The Blue route has some fantastic berms on its final decent and is certainly not blue at the speed we go down it. However, it is only 8km long, so on our first visit we went round it twice.

Today we decided to tack the gruelling ascent of Bennan (562m) on to make it a little longer.


Mike, Jennifer, Tony and Bob on the way up. The way back down to the blue route passed in a blur.


We rejoined the blue route for its final decent.


Glen Trool is down there in the mist.


One fantastic berm after another leads to...


...a final blast through a larch plantation.


19 km and 688m of ascent.

We deserved a pint of Guinness in the Black Bull (est 1766), Straiton on the way home. In case you think we have undone all the goodness of the exercise, here is a fascinating scientific fact which I gleaned from television last night. Imagine four pint glasses on a bar. The first is filled with milk, the second with freshly squeezed orange juice, the third with lager and the last with Guinness. Which one has fewest calories?

Well it's the Guinness of course. It's a health drink!

25/11/2007
04/11/2007

Getting old

Turnberry lighthouse is surrounded by a seething sea kicked up by a force seven sou'westerly.


Yesterday we had no wind and full sunshine, I was looking forward to a calm paddle in crisp winter sunshine today.


It would have been good for windsurfing but it was only 7 degrees. I must be getting old, I went for a quiet walk round Culzean instead.

24/11/2007

Five little fishies

Leaving Eilean Annraidh, we crossed the Sound of Iona and made our way east along the north coast of the Ross of Mull. We paused off the headland of Rubha nan Cearc while Mike got his trusty rod out. He quickly caught five fat mackerel and we looked for somewhere to land....

19/07/2007

Eilean Annraidh, Iona

This view from Eilean Annraidh, which lies to the north of Iona, has inspired artists for at least 200 years. In the distance lies Ulva and the Wilderness of Mull.


We landed here for a rest after making our way up the west coast of Iona.

Bay at the Back of the Ocean, Iona

This incredible cove is at the north end of Camas Cuil an t-Saimh (Bay at the Back of the Ocean) on the west coast of Iona. It is near to Port Bhan. This view is more reminiscent of the Outer Hebrides than the Inner Hebrides. The rock here is ancient grey gneiss unlike the relatively young, red granite of the Ross of Mull which is only a few kilometres away.

19/07/2007

Spouting cave, Iona

We circumnavigated Iona in an anticlockwise direction. We rounded its south west headland to discover a wonderland of stacks, islands, tidal channels hidden bays and caves.


This cave was deep and had amazing colours in the walls. There was white shell sand below its turquoise water...


...and a little sandy beach right at the back of the cave.


The next cave is called "spouting cave". In the gentle swell it was more like a kettle than a cave but you can imagine what it would be like in an Atlantic storm.

19/07/2007

Japanese whale killers

It is with horror that, in this morning's Independent, I read of the Japanese whaling fleet setting sail to kill humpback whales. These magnificent wild creatures are some of the largest organisms ever to have lived on Earth.


Bottlenose dolphins playing free in the Sound of Gigha.

I have been blessed by frequent sitings of cetaceans off Scotland's west coast. Bottlenose dolphins have come to us and displayed highly inquisitive and recreational behavior. Off Gigha three of them brought rocks up from the bottom on their beaks, tossed them in the air and then whacked them for six with their tails. I have also witnessed minke whales breaching off the west of Harris and narrowly missed seeing the humpback whale off Arisaig a few years ago.

In Scotland we used to kill whales. I am glad to say we no longer do so. Where would you rather see a whale, in the sea or on a plate? Despite writing this on a Japanese computer, I have decided not to buy Japanese goods this Christmas.

27/08/2005