Garrett and I took, what I will consider a life-changing trip, to Scotland to hike Hadrian's wall, and to explore just a bit of the Scottish Highlands (a place that we certainly plan to head back to in order to do some climbing).
A view of Glen Coe and Loch Leven from the hillsides of Kinlochleven.
We hiked Hadrian's Wall first, Garrett telling me many stories of the giant, crazy naked guys carrying swords that Hadrian and his army encountered in the barren, harsh, cold landscapes of the North. After encountering them, he decided their land wasn't really worth taking over anyway and underwent the construction of the wall.
A drainage gully in the wall provides a nice, contrasted view.
We encountered some local wildlife near a castle outside of North Cumbria.
We were able to walk most of the soft trail in our bare-feet... so refreshing! And it helped to earth us after our flight and get rid of jetlag. Well, that and sleeping like madmen.
The wall crests a number of ridges in the middle of the island. Here, the wall descends down to Sycamore Gap.
I told Garrett not to sit on the wall! Just kidding, that was already toppled. Don't arrest us, anyone.
Springs felt like he was a proper Scottish lad. He even sweet-talked a souvenir-store lady to get a Scotland sweatshirt. I told him that made him look like a tourist. He told me to shove it and eat some more hagis.
Seriously though, hagis is SO GOOD. Love that stuff. Garrett and I also have a new-found appreciation for scotch, as we learned about how to properly taste it and determine it's origins and length of aging from its characteristic taste on different parts of the tongue.
In Fort William, we climbed Ben Nevis - an amazing view and an inspiring hike that prompted my recent podcast discussion on Mountaineering's Most Underutilized Rule (Episode 007).
In Fort William, we climbed Ben Nevis - an amazing view and an inspiring hike that prompted my recent podcast discussion on Mountaineering's Most Underutilized Rule (Episode 007).
Because we are both way too scared to try ice climbing, we decided we should try out some top-rope ice climbing at the world's largest indoor ice climbing wall in Kinlochleven - The Ice Factor. Boom shocka-locka.
Finally, we ate more hagis and grass-fed cows, saw some cows and told them we would like to eat them soon, and hung out in Edinburgh before heading back to the states.
How did Garrett Moore get so damn good-looking?
