Hiking in Scotland

As I went over the crest of the “Devil’s staircase”, I was a wreck, both literally and mentally. For this, I blame the Scots wholeheartedly. Everytime I stopped to ask a person “Are we there yet?”, I would get this beafic smile and the answer would invariably be “Oh yes love, just a couple of minutes away!”. The minutes turned into hours, my feet became blister ridden and in the end, I must have cursed the scots to hell and back.

I also hated walking downhill. It is a curse. Walking uphill, sure, takes up some energy, but walking downhill is akin to murdering your knees, lower back, feet, and your soul. Everytime I saw the trail slope downhill, I shuddered as realisation dawned on me that I had to climb the whole bloody thing up again at the next glen.

But, it was worth it. The Devil’s staircase is so named because it was the only way to get from the soldier’s barracks to the nearest pubhouse (crossing two majestic hills). Needless to say, while coming back, the soldiers having had one too many, often put a foot wrong and the devil happily “claimed its own”.

The views, were intense. Having hiked 34 miles in two days, I was weary and worn and quite honestly, sick of glens, loches and old women who could walk faster than me! However, revenge is sweet they say, revenge is a dish best eaten cold they say. While cresting downhill on the last glen, I came upon this couple who were clearly exhausted. “How much further?”, the man asked. Putting on my best scottish accent and a wide grin L replied “Oh just a couple of mins away!”.

Attached are a couple of pictures I took from my friend’s camera, or rather, a poor substitution for a dinky toy :). At the crest, I suddenly wished I had an expensive one to have done more justice to the breathtaking scenery!

Reached Edinburgh worn out and the whole of saturday was spent taking trains to reach london and here I am, the next day, back in NY.

It was a lovely trip. Will organize snaps and post them on flickr when I’m free.