firbush weekend part 2
The second day at Firbush started early – 8:30 which is earlier than I usually get up for classes. The University of Edinburgh, thankfully, has no concept of lectures at 7:30. We ate breakfast, another meager meal on account of my dietary restrictions, but I wasn’t complaining. We then had a bit of a briefing for the day’s hike, a route that, on account of the absolutely horrible weather, was restricted to lower altitudes, and was, as we were told, suitable for ten year olds. We checked out a ton of gear for the walk. We had rain gear, boots, gaiters, the works. By the end of the hike, however, given the snow on the ground, and the rain in the air, everyone was glad to have the equipment.
I don’t know how far the hike actually was. It wasn’t a death march, by any means, but the inclement weather made it seem fairly long. I heard the distance of eight or nine miles thrown about in conversations later during the weekend. It was a long meandering walk which started on the paved road to the center, switched to muddy logging roads, even muddier trails, and then back to the logging roads. Throughout the entire hike, there was a steady amount of rain fall, leaving the outside of my jacket soaked.
The landscape of Scotland is pretty interesting. For the most part, it’s rocky as hell, and absolutely stunning. In the morning’s mist, as I looked out my window, I saw the imposing rocky hills rising above the shores of the loch. As we hiked, we got a closer view of the foothills and forests. Scotland is by no means known for its foliage. Indeed, most of what we saw were trees planted for logging. As we were told by one of the guides, hard woods are not very popular to grow because they take too long. Instead, mainly conifers are grown, and after a relatively short 30 years, they are chopped down and their pulp used for paper products. In addition to the lesson on logging, the guides, and one elderly guide in particular, made frequent notes about various native plant life and geology. Interestingly enough, we hiked mainly through logging roads on private property as the idea of a developed trail system, like many in the US is a bit unknown in the UK. However, at least in the country, there are no tresspassing laws, so as long as there is no damage, one is able to trek through the country as one sees fit.
By lunch time, it was raining even harder, and we had to sit on the wet rocks to eat. I was starving, and because of the physical exertion, my mustard, lettuce, and cucumber sandwich never tasted so good. I felt a bit awkward once again, as the group had seemingly split into the social groups which, presumably, had been formed the previous night while I was reading in my room. So, I just snapped some pictures of the mountains, and a nearby stream whose waters, recently augmented by the deluge, poured magnificently down the rocky river bed.
After lunch, we walked a bit before the group split in two – those who wanted to take a faster route back to the lodge, and those who wanted a bit more of a hike. I opted for the longer route, and about a dozen of us proceeded further up the hill with Dennis, our guide. As we got past the logging roads and a dam and water pipeline, we came upon some sheep grazing. Dennis told us that they were “cast ewes”, ewes that had not borne lambs during the last year, and were therefor put up in higher grounds to basically fend for themselves. The realities of sheep farming in Scotland, we were told, were quite grim. Many farmers find it hard to make any kind of money raising sheep, and some can’t even give their flocks away. It was pretty sad to see the poor sheep, their coats a sorry combination of spray paint (used to identify one farmers flock from another) and mud. We began to cut back down the hill, this time through a series of sheep pastures. This, we were told, was more like normal Scottish hiking, no trails, or paths, just cutting one’s way through the countryside. It was really cool, albeit precariously slippery at times. We had to jump a few streams, but we also got to see more sheep, and some other cool sights. We were shown the remnants of a “black house”, so called because of the color of the thatched roof that would turn dark from the smoke of a wood fire. These primitive houses were used by sheep farmers when they were away tending their sheep. Sometimes the houses would be divided into two, one half for sheep and the other for humans. Needless to say, it didn’t seem like a very pleasant existence, but seeing the old stone structures was very cool. We hiked some more, crossing more deep streams, and climbing over more fences. Eventually, sopping wet, but happy about our days accomplishment, we made it back to the lodge, only a few minutes behind the other group.
We had enough time to ditch our wet clothing and shower, before the Burns supper. The showers were multi-person and it was a bit of a throwback to high school gym class. Not a big deal, but a bit weird. Especially when some girl inadvertently walked into the men’s changing room while I was in the shower. Eep!