Easter Sunday ... and a slither of a weather window opened between a Saturday of heavy rain and a Monday with more yellow snow warnings.
I made the most of the sunny..calm ..but bitter cold day by taking my small F-Rib and 6HP outboard to Loch Leven.
These two videos tell my tale ..and what a stunning day it was ...
This is a rough route Map
And this is the data from my on board black box
I used 6 litres of fuel and 1 litre of hot coffee from a flask .. to travel the 33 miles
This is the third and final part of my Grey Man adventure reminiscing my younger days wandering the Galloway Hills. It was a beautiful couple of days in one of my favourite wildernesses in Scotland ... and its in Southern Scotland..not the distant North.
Here are a few photos from my walk round The Merrick. Its always a tough hike in that area as paths are few..the ground is boggy.. and grass grows into tough tufts nicknamed "Dougals" (after the hairy dog Dougal from the" Magic Roundabout" TV series for kids of my generation)
The Merrick from the summit of Benyellery
The summit cairn of The Merrick
Last of the winter's snow for this year ... on The Merrick (I hope?)
The islands of Loch Enoch..with its "Loch within a Loch" (The small loch on the island)
And the star of my story "The Grey Man" of the Merrick himself
Finally .. here is the video .. hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed getting the footage and telling the tale.
Below is part two of my weekend visit to Glen Trool. It give a brief introduction why I enjoy living out my car when I can during the summer.
There are clips of a large raptor included in the video..and I'm not sure if it was an eagle or big buzzard ?
The tail looks too fan shaped for a Golden Eagle ..and the wings not wide enough for a Sea Eagle ..but I'm also reasonably certain it was too big for a buzzard but size can be deceptive at height.
It had something in its beak and I notice it drops a part of whatever its scoffing (You can perhaps see it in HD too) Anyhoo..if anyone more familiar with birds with bent beaks could ID it for me ..it would be appreciated
As well as starting my boating season early this year ... I also intend following my "gypsy life" of living out my car ..early this year too.
This is part one of my first foray way in the car. I always forget stuff so it was only a short break ..to the Galloway Hills .. a place that is very close to my heart ..having visited it many times as a younger man.
I was looking forward to seeing sights from my past.. and I was not disappointed .. but some recent changes were hard to accept. The clearing of the forests I played in as a youngster inspired the story to this part of my adventure.
Hope you enjoy the video ..it illustrates things better than I can with words alone
I had another great day on the water in my little F-Rib. This time I visited Loch Fyne ..and ..boy ..was it cold first thing in the morning.. as you will see from the video.. but as time wore on.. temperatures rose to freezing point and it felt a bit warmer. In fact ..when stopped and sitting in the sun.. it was positively balmy :-D
Here is a small map of my route
And this is the data from the box of tricks I carry on my boating adventures
But this is the best part .. my movie of the day "Breaking Ice on Loch Fyne"
My thanks to Kaman and Sea pup Fang for their company on the day.
Those who know me from old will know its been an early start for my boating season. Its because my health has improved this year after my liver treatment.
So ... I'm also starting my gypsy life of roaming the country and living out my car early too.. well..at least for this weekend.
I'm heading for the hills to visit an old man I know ..who lives alone ..miles from anywhere. I like to visit him around this time of year. You will have to wait for my return and the movie to find out where I'm going though.
Poor weather was giving me "cabin fever" and keeping me indoors.
Eventually the snow and rain stopped for a few hours so I went for a short walk to see "The Spout of Craighorn" ..sometimes called Glenwhinnel Falls as its on the Glenwhinnel Burn in the Ochil Hills.
Its the highest fall that I have found in the Ochoils and I have seen almost every square yard of the hills as they are only a mile or so from my house.
This is a photo I took of the falls in a summer visit ..it is worth the walk..but its a steep slope to access them so care is required
It was not a summers day in this video..it was a bitter cold March day ..but it was still worth the visit
I have also include a walk along the "Miners Path" to access Ben Cleuch. I posted it on my You tube channel a couple of weeks ago but I forgot to add it to my blog..so here is that video for those that missed it.
Following on from my Loch Goil adventure in part one.. here is part two of my cold day afloat. I slept like a log when I got home too. Its put me in the notion for more boat trips..but I will have to wait until the winds drop again.
