Weekend Extravaganza

As I compose this newest post, it has occurred to me that this past weekend's adventures eclipsed anything I might have had in mind. Let me start at the beginning :).

Saturday morning dawned with the sunshine I had been hoping for, after the rain of the past week, and Lisa and I decided that it was a perfect day for a hike. We had been looking forward to exploring a nearby hill called "Dumyat" which is a popular walking/hiking area for tourists in Stirling. It was only when 4:00 p.m. rolled around though, that the four of us (Lisa, Justine, Alicia, and myself) were actually ready to leave. We set off, dressed for the mud we were sure we would encounter......it's only now looking at the pants I wore that I'm thankful for that forethought.

Like many of my adventures in Scotland so far, finding a suitable path to climb up Dumyat (pronounced like "dumb-aye-et") required lots of walking. We found ourselves at a crossroads at the start of the walk--should we head uphill towards what we could already see of the hill or go downhill to the road and find a path from there? We were sure we could find an easier path going downhill and so proceeded in that direction. Thus, began the walking and the walking. The road stretched before us, Dumyat still beyond our reach, and the cars speeding alongside the road--far too close for comfort. There is something definitely to be said about the driving on the left side of the road here; that is, one really wishes the sidewalks were wider.

Anyhow, after turning up a couple of roads and turning around again once we reached dead ends (AKA people's fences we didn't want to climb over, in case they might see us) we eventually found a parking area with a trail that appeared to lead up to the hill. Finally! We followed along it, climbing a bit now and then, but nothing too strenuous. Yet Dumyat still towered alongside us and we were anxious to actually get up the hill. As we wound along the path, we came to the point where we decided to just start climbing the hill itself--no actual path had been noticed. So we climbed and climbed and climbed. Avoiding the numerous rabbit holes, sheep droppings, and curious, somewhat threatening stares of the surrounding sheep proved mildly hazardous. We were determined, though and climbed until we reached a crest in the hill. The view took my breath away. The sun was beginning to set, creating shadows of orange, pink, and purple upon the horizon. The William Wallace Monument sat like a silent sentinel miles away, and windmills sat turning far off in the distance. It was as if someone had tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me where I was again. As I reached for my camera to TRY and capture the moment, I realized that I hadn't put my memory card back in--which meant no pictures for Tiffany. Luckily, Alicia, Lisa, and Justine all took photos and I was able to retrieve some from them. The photo I've posted here is from Alicia and gives a good idea of what the view felt like. Just add some gusting wind and you've got it. Even with the photo, though, it's still hard to properly describe the amount of awe I felt.

After taking in as much of the sight as we could, we decided we had better get a move on getting back, because we were losing daylight fast and still had a ways to go. None of us had thought ahead and imagined that we'd be out for so long. We'd originally believed our walk would take about an hour to an hour and a half. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, it turned out be to a lot longer then that :) We continued in the direction we were heading, following a path that had been created by tire tracks--we were hoping it would lead us back around Dumyat to the Uni. We were lucky enough to run into another hiker and her daughter and they told us that if we kept following the trail, it would take us back. Her directions also included crossing a fence, small stream, and finally going through the forest. At the time, we didn't stop to think how each of these MIGHT be a problem. Especially in the dark, with no flashlights to speak of.

Our pace certainly picked up as the air got colder. It was getting harder to see and still we climbed up and down the path, certain that sooner or later we'd see the Uni. We finally came to the fence and small trickle of a stream. On the other side of the fence it looked quite marshy, but cross it we did. I decided to just charge through it--there was no way of getting around it. All went fine (sinking only a little in the shoes) until I reached a spot that my foot sunk through clear up to my ankle. Screaming and laughing, I pulled myself free and met Justine on the other side. I only wish all of us had been as lucky. Alicia was the last to cross what he had termed as the "Swamp" and we yelled encouragement at her. She also ran across it, but went a way that the rest of us hadn't. This became apparent when all of a sudden, Alicia jumped into a spot where she proceeded to sink knee-deep in the mud. To top it off, she then pitched forward (stuck as she was), getting mud on her upper half as well. I'm sorry to say (well, not that sorry :) that Justine, Lisa, and I stood there for a moment before breaking down laughing, holding our stomachs so we wouldn't wet our pants. It was ironic that Alicia was the one to fall because she'd been the most miserable of all of us on the climb. I think the mud-bath helped to cheer her up a bit in the end :) She wasn't the last one to fall, though, and after helping Justine up from one of her tumbles (more of a slip-and-slide) all of us were covered from head to toe in mud. Some more than others.

The forest ended up being our last obstacle. It occurred to me once we started trekking through it that it was a good thing there are no bears or large carnivorous cats here--because we would have been in deep doo-doo. Only Justine had brought her mobile phone which luckily had a light on it (thank goodness!!) and that ended up being the only thing that prevented us from tripping on tree roots and climbing down slippery rocks. We wandered through the woods for a bit, with Lisa leading (and sounding ever so confident that we were going the right way; which was a good thing because it kept us from panicking) and even though we were starting to get nervous, no one broke down in hysterics. Although, there did come a point where I told Alicia that if she kept saying this was like "The Blair Witch Project" that we were going to have a problem.

We hit a few dead ends when we got down to the stream that ran through the forest, which was when my nervousness started to escalate. Thank the Goddess that Justine made the decision to cross the stream and see where it led. Once we crossed it, we found the road we'd been searching for. We wasted no time running down it and wonder of wonders, we found ourselves EXACTLY where we had started earlier in the day. The moment called for a group hug and cheers of "Now, let's go to the pub and recover!!!"

After spending the rest of Saturday night at Number 2 Baker Street--a local pub in Stirling--with the girls and Sam and Stuart, Sunday was a nice day of rest. It also happened to be Thanksgiving in Canada on Monday, so we celebrated Sunday night with a dinner prepared by Lisa and myself. It was a great end to a somewhat action-packed weekend and I couldn't have asked for better people to share it with. This next weekend will probably see us taking a day-trip down to Glasgow, so we'll see what happens there. Until then, here's three cheers to not being eaten by mountain lions in the forest!! Some people might not understand that, but what the heck, go ahead and cheer anyway :)

P.S. New pictures have been posted in the link on the right hand side