Saturday 16 March 2013

Kilmartin Part I

Paul, Paul and myself are up near Killin, visiting Lindsay. We arrived on Friday evening, just in time to take Pip for her evening constitutional.

We also took the cat for a walk...

Flambo, Lindsay's ginger tom, is totally incredible. The first time this happened, Paul went for a walk up a nearby mountain with Pip, and Flambo went with them. Right up past the snowline. He has photographic evidence:


The whole time, Paul was thinking 'no, he's going to turn back...' but he just kept going, bouncing in Paul's footsteps when the snow became too deep.

This time we didn't climb anywhere near as high, but partway we heard him mewing and suddenly there he was, following us on our walk.

Both Pip and Flambo are canny spirits. They stop and wait for you, they come to find you if you're getting lost, they try to show you the way, and they cuddle up if you're tired. I've never seen anything quite like it.

We made it back down off the hill just as the last light faded. Whilst the boys headed in, I went down to the stream alongside the house. There's a bathing pool there. Any excuse to strip off and throw myself in freezing mountain water!

Wandered in to a blazing fire and a roast dinner.

Today, I woke up shattered. Bedding down on the floor in a room with two snoring blokes! Ho hum.

What better idea, when your eyes are hanging out of their sockets, than to dose yourself full of caffeine and take a 170 mile round-trip to Kilmartin?

Paul, Paul, Lindsay and myself piled into Kitty and off we went. After breakfast in Oban, we arrived. What an incredible place! Pictures ahoy (click to enlarge)...

Sentinel Stone, on the roadside as we
approached Kilmartin.
View from Uphill
L-R: Kitty, Paul, Lindsay, Paul, Stone.
A sense of scale: Paul & Lindsay looking
at the stone.
Habitation Remnants

I really enjoyed exploring the ruins...

Beautiful Moss

Thick Glass Fragment
Paul #2 also found me a gorgeous memento. I've dubbed her Fred.




Yup, that should stop people driving up my tailpipe...

2 comments:

  1. Want one of them for our car ;) Envious of the wild swim, well dip anyway. Oban is now on our tour list!

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you're gonna do Oban, come via Lochgilphead, up thru Kilmartin. It's a bit longer - but much MUCH more evocative. :)

    ReplyDelete

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