Maggie's Farm

Scotland is a nifty, rugged place to visit if you don't need luxury hotels, if you like cool rainy weather, and if fine dining is not important to you (generally-speaking, always order the fish). People like to visit the Highlands, though, and it is inexpensive travel.

It's July in Scotland, and people wear fleece, down jackets, Barbour-type jackets, wool hats, etc. just to walk around town.

We flew into Inverness via Amsterdam, and had a day or so, on both ends of our Hebrides trip, in Inverness. It's the commercial center of the Highlands with a population around 50,000. It is slightly touristy - really more of a take-off point for the hinterlands - and pleasant, but there really isn't much there for a tourist.

The River Ness runs through it, from Loch Ness to the North Sea. Salmon and Sea Trout in that river.

More Inverness below the fold - 

On Wednesdays we usually focus on general conditioning (fitness for life) and rarely on training for specific athletic endeavors. That's for a reason.

However, tough hiking is just an extreme variant of walking. A question might be "If you had three months to prep for a ten-day backpacking hike in Denali, or the Bob Marshall, or the White Mountains, or, like us, mountains in the Highlands, what would you do?"

I should modify that a bit. "What would you do, assuming you had a day job and little free time on weekends?" 

I asked an exercise expert friend, a competitive athlete who can do several reps of 300-lb deads, that question. She said, given just an hour daily, the emphasis should be on lower body endurance and intense cardio. She said she would do two days/week of the usual powerlifts, but replace her other exercise routines with an hour of stairmaster with a 20-lb weight vest, and an hour of calisthenics with a 5-10-lb weight vest. She correctly observed that hill/mountain hiking is not mostly about strength but is about stamina, agility, and endurance. A person can be very strong without good endurance (and vice-versa). She said an hour of intervals on the bike would be fine, but an hour walking on treadmill with a 20-30 -lb weight vest at a high incline would be better for the purpose.

She also said that, from her experience, daily 7-hour mountain hiking with packs over 10 days can not really be duplicated in normal life. Best approach, when actually doing the trip, would be two to three days on, alternating with one lighter day for recovery. In fact, that is roughly what our guide had planned for our mixed group - two days hard, then one day lighter, and so on. By day 6, I felt eager to tackle anything. Pumped up and ready to go. Too soon, it was time to go home.

Pic above is one of our hikes in heavy rain through the higher terrain of Scalpay along the Hebrides Way.

-  I'll post a few more photos when I get my over-200 photos organized and edited (mostly taken with Gwynnie's waterproof Olympus pocket camera - man, that was necessary), but a few introductory comments with some photos - below the fold -

I have skied Mount Mansfield countless times (at the Stowe ski area) but I have never hiked it. Hiking to the top in summertime would be quite the challenge for me but I'd love to give it a shot. Or maybe not. Mansfield is the tallest peak in Vermont. New Hampshire has higher peaks.

In winter, you can get up there on skis, cruise along the ridge, and go down Madonna Mountain into the Smuggler's Notch ski area. That's really a better ski area -  fewer people.

Ace posted this painting of  a guy taking a leak picnic party atop Mt. Mansfield, by Jerome Thompson (1858). I wonder how they got up there with their dresses and picnic baskets but in that era nature hiking was all the rage for the gentry.

Here's Mount Mansfield, from Stowe, in summertime

Beacon Hill is a charming 19th neighborhood in Boston, close by the Massachusetts State House.  It can't really be compared with the West Village of New York because the current charming West Village was built for the poor and working class, while the Beacon Hill development was built for the gentry. 

Mrs. BD and friends were visiting colleagues on Beacon Hill a little while ago. She wondered where the beacon was. I checked it, and discovered that most of the hill and its warning beacon were taken away by horse and wagon in 1811. 

It is still hilly, though. 

Some major urban areas still have delightful, quiet, antique neighborly enclaves, untouched by modernity or urban renewal. I'm thinking Brooklyn Heights - and large parts of Harlem.  Outside the northeast, I think of the entire downtown of Savannah, GA, which was spared the devastation of the Union armies and of urban renewal.

Besides opera tix, the other Christmas present I received (besides stinky cheeses) was an island-hopping rugged hiking trip in the Outer Hebrides. Well, Mrs. BD likes remote rugged places as readers know - as long as there are cozy B&Bs at night.

I checked the weather for our trip: 40s (F) at night, high 50s (F) daytime. Some precipitation 21 out of 30 days/month in summer (more in winter).  North Atlantic weather. I've done a few ship crossings in the north Atlantic and know what it's like: cool mist and drizzle, no need for sunscreen.

Gwynnie lent me his waterproof Olympus.

My Mom and Dad were partial to trips to northern climes. Dad wrote the poem below to document the habit (with a photo of the poet at the farm). 

With trail reviews, at AllTrails. Just punch in a general area.  

They have the trail maps too. 

Photo is the Meindl Burma

Our commenters to our Hiking Footwear post were well-informed, experienced, and helpful. Appreciate all of those offerings. Lots of hikers, hunters, and some field geologists among our readers.

Two basics about boot sizing: Your dress shoe or sneaker size might be small for boots. Try the boot at the end of the day when your foot is most expanded. With the heaviest socks you might wear with them, but unlaced, check to make sure you can fit your index finger down the heel.

Tips:

-  What you need to know to buy Hiking Boots

- Lots of good info about hiking boots, insoles, etc. 

- Good website: Cool Hiking Gear 

This is useful too:

Here's my chance to elicit opinions from readers about hiking gear.

I'll limit the discussion to footwear for relatively rugged lengthy day hikes on uneven, sometimes wet, sometimes rocky, steep, or unstable ground with no more weight on your back than a full daypack (in other words, not real backpacking but not ordinary walking either. Something that would be good for our 9-mile urban hikes too).   And I will stipulate that merino wool or wicking synthetic socks, with or without liner socks, are important for this sort of thing to prevent blisters. One blister or hot spot can ruin an outing - or a week.

I'm thinking of footwear that would be good for scrambling up Tuckerman's Ravine, for woodsy hikes through hill and dale, and for boggy spots. So I think we're in the realm of what they call "Light Hiking" or "medium duty" waterproof boots with good arch and ankle support, without the weight of those monster boots designed for mountain hikes with a 40 lb pack on your back - or 60 lbs of fresh elk meat.

I've done a lot of hiking in running shoes and it's not ideal but it is blister-free.  I have also done a lot of backwoods all-day hunting in things like wellies, LL Bean Maine boots, and heavy snow boots. Those things are not great for distances - at least for me, they become fatiguing to wear after a couple of hours. I guess I am more experienced with the Hunting Boot category (though I don't know why they are different from the hiking boot category except that hunting boots are higher and often insulated - here's a good hunting boot) and with the steel-toed Work Boot category than I am with the Hiking Boot category. I have worn out many pairs of Work Boots at the farm.

In my research I have seen the yuuuge variety of offerings in the general category of Hiking Boots. Capitalism with competition certainly offers us endless choices in things and they all seem to be very good. These range from heavy-duty sneakers with heavy treads to slightly lightened, or ordinary, heavy-duty mountaineering backpacking boots. Some are higher, some lower, some softer, some harder. Some leather, some suede, some synthetics. Some insulated, most not. Hard leather boots need 20-40 miles of breaking in, others not so much. Waterproof usually has some Gore-Tex in it. Gore-Tex was one heck of an invention.

Well, maybe it makes sense to have a couple of different boots for different hiking purposes but I like the idea of a versatile boot which is well-broken-in, and I have no plans to do any mountaineering with a 40-lb. pack. I have not "done" the Presidential Range, but I would like to have done the Presidential Range just so I could say I did it.

What is your experience and what are your preferences?  

Photo above is a Merrell Capra boot. A few random examples of pretty good boots below the fold - 

They sent us a packing list for our upcoming hiking expedition in the Outer Hebrides, between Scotland and Iceland, where it is chilly with some rain almost daily in June. Wilderness Scotland.  Hiking poles? You betcha. It's rocky hills and marshy dells for 6-7 hour daily marches. If the daily reward is a little whiskey, I am game.

Mrs. BD has a thing about remote islands. Always has. And I am a pretty good sport even though generally I am more content working than traveling: Happy wife, happy life.

Few people live out there anymore. Those with any sense came to America generations ago. So did Trump's mother, who was a poor girl from Stornoway 

We had the privilege of birding last week with ornithologist and author Scott Weidensaul. He is a fine congenial fellow who knows everything, and while he is there he gives a splendid talk on some ornithological topic every evening after supper.

This is a photo travelogue of our second visit to Little Saint Simons Island on the Georgia coast for this year's birding week there. I'll post my bird list at the bottom of this post.

Little Saint Simons is not for everybody. It's a barrier island nature preserve, Southern Maritime Forest habitat and vast salt and brackish marshes. It's rustic and therefore not inexpensive, and you have to entertain yourself unless you partake of the planned outings (ie kayaking through the marshes, birding, fishing trips. Booze and family-style meals included.  You can take a bike, kayak or motor skiff out anytime you want, or fish and swim on the ocean beach. The self-serve bar is open 24 hrs/day. There are 3 excellent naturalists available all the time for hikes. The bugs weren't too bad this year but I did donate my share of A+ blood to the cause of mosquito conservation.

Two innovations have been adding a/c to the cabins, and revamping the unheated pool with a gator-proof fence. It used to be a downer to find a 6' gator in the pool. An unwelcome innovation (for me) is the "healthy eating" trend instead of the traditional Southern fare that I love. I like to stay at least 6' away from kale, cilantro, organic produce, and veggie wraps or I break out in a bad case of annoyance.

Cool things about this very special place with photos, below...

People who move to the NYC area for good work love it, not just because of the vitality, or sight-seeing, or theater, or jazz clubs, or museums, or parks, or great food and pubs, or the smart ambitious people, but mainly because there are always very cool and unique things to do.

Two random fun examples this weekend:

The Fifth Annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo (this weekend). It's a big party.

Walking (stumbling?) Tour of NYC's oldest bars. April 23 

My pic is from the mirador a good hike down and up from Alhambra, longer due to getting lost wandering through the old Muslim quarter - everybody gets lost trying to get to the mirador. Part of the fun. We linked up with a charming Turkish gal, and a German couple who were equally confused. There is always a jolly party of mostly young people up there at the mirador in the evening.

My previous Spain posts from last November:

Real Flamenco

High-speed trains

Tapas in Spain

Moorish Design and Marble Plaster

Moorish Architecture

A few comments on visiting Spain, with lots of Seville photos plus Carmen's work site

With the amusing election, family matters, and holidays past, I will catch up on my Andalusia photo travelogue from early November.

Another inspiration is that I am re-reading (with more interest and understanding after having been there) Menocal's  The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain.

In the 700s and 800s, Spain was invaded by Moslem immigration partly from Damascus (then the center of the caliphate before it moved to Baghdad) but especially by newly-Muslim Berbers from North Africa. That immigration wave brought civilization to post-Roman Visigoth-ruled Iberian peninsula, Christian in a Visigoth way, which was a dying place where the term "Dark Ages" accurately applied. That immigration/invasion produced the first Golden Age for Spain.  The Muslims brought modern irrigation, agricultural wealth, architecture, art, landscape design, education, medical knowledge, enlightened governance, and poetry to a god-forsaken corner of Europe.

The only other place where something similar happened, as far as I know, was in Sicily where the Normans kept the Muslims on the job because they knew how to run things properly and were well-educated. Those were not the Muslims who grab the news these days.

Note to all history teachers and profs: My problem with your courses is that you never seem to locate the details in the Big Picture, into the Big Timeline. Please do it - it's for the kids!

All right, onward from Cordoba to Jaen and Grenada below the fold.  I'll do a Madrid post later.

Across the USA for $213.  (h/t American Digest)

 (My first Spain post was A few comments on visiting Spain, with lots of Seville photos plus Carmen's work site)

After a few days in Sevilla we hopped the high-speed north to Cordoba - once a Roman city - to spend a couple of days there. Unlike Seville, Cordoba is a normal city which happens to have a couple of must-see attractions - mainly the Mosque - the Mesquita, which has an amazing history.

Largest (ex-) mosque in the Western world. Can not capture its magnificence with a camera:

More Cordoba pics and comments, with food, below the fold -

You are welcome to just walk in and watch a wedding. We chanced to watch one 2 weeks ago in Madrid in San Jerónimo el Real, right next to the Prado. Man, the French did a lot of destruction in Spain during the Napoleonic era.

Quite formal wedding, ladies dressed to the nines. There is no bridal party, just dressed up kids as bride assistants. Pic is awaiting arrival of the bride. The party after at the Ritz was wild and crazy and went on until the wee hours.

- Spain is for Spring or Fall, not summer. Too hot unless well-north of Madrid.
- People in Spain dress well and look fit. Seems to be a matter of pride. Best to look a bit elegant and well-dressed.
- Spanish people, we feel, are the most friendly, warm, and freely helpful people we have seen in Europe.
- Spanish people go out at night, eat in restaurants, drink wine and beer, stay out late, socialize.
- Spanish food is not great. It's not about eating.
- Spain is a young country. You see far more youth than grey hairs. Old Seville is a romantic town, maybe Disney Spain. and it's not mostly about old stuff and museums - it's more about life.
- Spain is supposed to be one of the sad PIIGS of Europe these days. If it is poor, you would never know it from the city life.
- Andalusia embodies a lot of the stereotypes about Spain - bullfights, Moorish architecture, flamenco, etc. Andalusia, and the Iberian peninsula in general, used to be one of the poorest parts of Europe, really since the flow of New World gold and silver ended in the 1600s. Doesn't seem poor now - at least in the cities.
- Seville is a charming, human-scale tourist trap. Tourism the main business there, plus higher ed. As in most European cities, local people prefer to go into the Old City to hang out.
- Seville is far up the Guadalquivir River, but it was the starting port for the New World expeditions, including Columbus'. As the river silted up, Cadiz became the port for the New World.

Rainy night alley in the old city.

Lots more below the fold, with plenty of small streets and alleys in the medieval maze. We saw lots of other places in Seville, but these posts are a lot of trouble to put together so give my pics a look.

Spain is a great place to look at Moorish architecture. Sometimes it is referred to as Islamic, but Moorish is more accurate. The horseshoe arch, for example, was borrowed from the Christianized Visigoths who ran the various Spanish kingdoms before the Moslem Moors successfully invaded Iberia in the 700s.

Even after Christian kings had their long reconquista, but while Granada was the last Muslim outpost (until 1492), Moorish architects and craftsmen were in demand throughout the Iberian peninsula because the style was so popular. That post-Reconquista style is referred to as Mudejar, which often combined Moorish with some Gothic and Renaissance styles.

Good summary: Islamic Architecture of Andalusia.

My pic of a courtyard in the Alcazar in Seville is Mudejar. In Moorish architecture, it was usual to use scavenged old Roman columns for their new buildings.

It was a convention of Moorish design to decorate the heck out of walls, with maybe 5-6' of colorful geometric ceramic tiles from the floor, then rising to the ceiling with intricate carved-looking walls which often have some Koranic verses in them.

This from the Alcazar in Seville:

I learned three things about  Moorish upper-wall treatment:

- This is not stone. It is marble plaster.
- This is not carved. It is made with molds while the plaster was soft.
- These walls, now white, were generally painted originally so it must have been jewel-like. It reminds me that Greek statues and columns, and even the statues of saints etc. on the outside of Gothic cathedrals, were also painted.

This is my pic of a plaster wall in the palace in the Alhambra.

We ate a lot of tapas in Spain, partly because dinnertime there (9 pm) is a bit late for us. Also, we kept trying to find some really good ones. I concluded that none of them are all that tasty except with wine or beer, and we were not drinking booze. It's bar food. An exception was the tapas at the Madrid Ritz, but those were about 20 euros each instead of the normal 3 euros each.

I think we only did 2 real dinners, on the fancy side. At one, I had bacalao and at the other, suckling pig. Both excellent.

We broke the rule of Foods to Avoid in Spain, partly just because we wanted to see how they did it. We tried paella twice, once as a media ration with tapas and one shared for lunch. The latter was ok with squid, octopus, mussels, etc, but I just don't get the big deal about paella.

I also had to try a gazpacho, as in my pic along with some tapas. This one was creamy and delicious. We did try Salmorejo in Cordoba. Disgusting stuff, we agreed.

Anyway, the fun part of tapas is deciding which ones to try. That plate in the middle was fried eggplant. Not delicious at all - but it should be. Pic is the outdoor cafe at the Parador de Grenada.

We took the high-speed AVE train from Madrid to Seville. 310 k/hr, smooth as silk, utterly quiet, large comfy seats, and with stewardesses serving drinks and snacks. Just one stop, in Cordoba. Reservations are required because these trains are always sold out.

Later, we took the same train north to Cordoba.

Madrid train station. It even has a turtle pond.

Andalusian countryside from the train. It is dry, and 90% olive orchards.