A Sore Backside and Sore Heart

My time in Scotland is drawing to a close, but I still have time to get in a few more adventures. Just recently, my friend Joe and I took a spontaneous bike ride through the countryside and stopped at a few destinations along the way. It wasn’t too much biking; we only went a completely effortless and measly 40 miles (did you catch the sarcasm?). Regardless of the physical efforts involved, it was a fun trip. The next day, I hiked one last time up Dumyat and took an evening stroll around the campus I have come to know well over the past four months.

Joe and I started out from Stirling at eight o’clock in the morning. The first leg of our journey followed a straight, flat road, but we soon took a left turn uphill to quieter roads. Both the weather and the views were gorgeous the whole way through.

We battled the terrain as we rode up more and more elevation. Once we hit a certain point, things started to go downhill. See what I did there? We came across very few cars at this point, and the scenery continued to be an awe-inspiring presence.

Three hours and twenty-seven miles later, we reached the Glengoyne Distillery. Joe and I had booked our tours online the day before, and we arrived with just five minutes to spare. The tour was pleasant and interesting. The whisky was good too! After our tour, we went a mile up the road and ate at a local pub called the Beech Tree Inn. The inn was right next to the West Highland Way, so we weren’t the only sweaty people eating!

A quick side note: I said in one of my previous posts that I would be walking the West Highland Way. After some more research and thinking, I decided that I wasn’t quite up to 96 miles of walking just yet.

After a much-needed meal, Joe and I continued three miles to the north towards a destination that I was ecstatic about…

Finnich Glen! This is a 100-foot-deep gorge with moss covered, red stone and blood-red water. This landmark was one of the first pictures I saw of anything in Scotland, and it is largely responsible for my longtime interest in wanting to come here. It was an accomplished feeling to visit the place I had seen so many times in images since early high school.

As you can see, the most unique feature of Finnich Glen is its strikingly red water. Joe and I pondered the cause of this phenomenon and came to the conclusion that it is probably due to a combination of the red stone and a large quantity of iron in the soil.

Further up the glen, there are these small, stacked waterfalls. I’m curious as to how deep and how thin the gorge gets further upstream.

The only way for us to get to the waterfalls was by taking off our shoes, rolling up our pants, and wading through the red water. Might I also add that it was freezing. However, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities such as this warrant such behavior.

The rock formation on the right with the flat top is the namesake of Finnich Glen’s second alias: The Devil’s Pulpit. The flat top on the rock bears a similar resemblance to a church pulpit, and I imagine the deep red color of the water gave it such a Satanic name.

We soon left behind the Devil’s Pulpit and started south towards the town of Milngavie (pronounced “mill-guy) just north of Glasgow. From there we would catch a train back to Stirling.

After seven miles, we came to an overlook above Mugdock Reservoir. The city you see here is Glasgow. We cycled downhill, boarded a train, and arrived in Stirling just in time for dinner feeling both tired and accomplished.

The next day, I decided to hike one final time up Dumyat. The grass along the way is almost all green now, and the trees finally have their leaves. It was a very pleasant walk.

There are about five different ways to get up Dumyat, but my favorite (and also the hardest) way is around the face of the hill adjacent to it, Castle Law. The views make it easy to see why it is my preferred route.

The sun shining through the clouds back toward Stirling made the atmosphere ethereal and tranquil. I’m going to miss these views.

I soon reached the summit of Dumyat. The views from the top are all too familiar with me having been up there eight times now, but they have yet to lose their grandeur and breathtaking beauty.

The patches of green grass made the landscape jump out that much more. Up until a few weeks ago, it was all brown.

I descended down back to campus through Yellowcraig Woods. I had never been through these woods at sunset before. The sun shining through the trees and the glimmer of the green grass made the scene look like something out of The Lord of the Rings.

I further took advantage of the pleasant evening to have one last walk around campus. I stopped to look back toward the Ochil Hills. The gorse is in full bloom. You can see its yellow flowers at the base of the hills.

The path around the campus is a nice way to round off any day, be it after a long study session or on a Saturday evening. I took this opportunity to really appreciate the landscape that I have been surrounded by all this time.

I got to the point where the path rounds around the loch close to the student union building, and I went off the path up a small hill, sat down, and listened and observed. Swans and ducks swam up and down the loch, couples walked together with their dogs, groups of students talked and laughed, and the birds chirped all around me.

I soon had made a full circle around the campus, so I returned to my flat.

I can’t be more thankful for the opportunity I had to come and spend four months in Scotland. Come Saturday, I’ll be heading back home to Kentucky. I still have one more adventure planned, however; tomorrow, I’m heading down to the lower east coast to hike a section of the John Muir Way. I’ll end up in the town of Dunbar, the birthplace of conservationist John Muir. Until next time,

~ Dillon