Climbing Is A Mimzy!

Never managed to post yesterday, because of this:

That's Corryhabbie Hill, which we climbed, a good walk it was as well, 5 hours it took us.

The photo above is of Cook's Cairn, and the pointy hill right behind it is The Buck.

This is along the ridge-line form Corryhabbie Hill, and is called Carn an t-Suidhe. I know, unpronounceable, but the further into the Highlands you go, the more common these Gaelic place-names become.

I would have posted in the evening, but we were watching a film; "The Last Mimzy". It's the first decent family film I've seen in years, I really enjoyed it, so did the wife, and the kids. I can't recommend it enough! It was like a mixture between; E.T. , Short Circuit and some other stuff of which I can't be certain. My daughter now wants her own Mimzy, which I suspect comes with a fairly hefty price-tag, and doesn't have the powers of the film version!

Everything's Not Lost!

I'm 15 years married today. That's pretty good going by modern standards, I do believe. What's more we've never once threatened to kill each other, and that has to count for something right? I'm not a big fan of overblown romantic gestures, and neither is she, or at least she's practical enough to realise that we can't afford them, so there's no extravagant presents or massive bouquets. If there was I'd probably be right under the spotlight. In certain quarters, such items are a sure sign of hidden guilt. This is such a quarter!

I'm still loving the new series of Lost, loads of questions stacking up once more, such as why is Kate pretending to be Aaron's mother? What therefore happened to Claire? Why did Jack say that there were only 8 survivors of the flight? and why are they called the Oceanic 6? We already know that Jack, Kate, Hurley, Said and Ben make it back, and so who is the other island escapee?

I'm trying to find some smaller hills for this weekend. After last week's Force 10 bashing at the top of the Buck, I'm starting to think that it's still just a little too seasonal for hills of that height, so the plan is to stick to the smaller ones until the weather improves. The challenge is to find smaller hills that sre still worth scaling, because if you can practically drive to the top, then there's hardly any point pulling on the hiking boots is there? I'll find such a hill though, don't you worry!

Back Of Beyond!

The Buck!

Took this shot on the way back. A view of the Buck from the Cabrach. Doesn't look nearly as big as it actually is from here.

Thought this was a nice idea for a photo, looking along the fenceline with Ben Rinnes in the distance.

What appears to be a pictish symbol stone with 3 fishes swimming around each other, and some other symbols. Nobody knows what these stones represented, but it could have been a boundary marker. Interestingly, the present day boundary between Moray and Aberdeenshire, runs right across the top of the hill!

View from the top towards the Cairngorns.

This was a hard one! The virtual bog at the bottom had to be negotiated twice, but at the top of the hill, the wind was so strong it was almost impossible to stand. I've never experienced anything like it before. I only managed to get some photos off because I found shelter behind the rocks on the summit. What an adventure!

The Missing Dollar Bill Mystery!

Things are beginning to take shape. I might have a job lined up for next year. It's not definite yet, but it's definitely very promising. If I can keep my head down and keep my nose clean, I'll be in with a great chance, that's for sure. I for one will be glad to have a pay-packet again after 4 years of study. I say pay-packet, but it'll be a payment transfer probably. I guess pay-packets are a thing of the past. I can remember when I got my pay-packet on a Thursday, and having to mix it with the drunks at the bus stop wasn't fun at all. Especially when they started hassling me for money... "You've been paid today right, it's Thursday, everybody gets paid on a Thursday!" Of course I denied it. They'd probably have robbed me for it otherwise.

Anyway, thoughts turn to buying a house, not likely similar to the one in the photo. I'll probably opt for something more traditional to be honest. Old on the outside, Sci-fi on the inside. That's my ideal house, and with huge rooms, which you don't usually get in an old house. You see what a contradiction I am. Anyway, probably won't need a house unless I have to move, and I'm hoping not to have to move, but I might upgrade anyway.

I was hoping to climb a hill called "The Buck" this weekend, but the weather is damn awful right now. Yes American citizens, you read correctly, it's called "The Buck". I don't know where the name came from, but I'm sure it wasn't because an American tourist lost a dollar bill up there and nobody ever found it. We don't get many American tourists up here anyway, because they haven't found out about the place yet. In case you're wondering, we have some of the best beaches, hills, forests, castles and scenery in the whole of Scotland, and you don't even know about it! Scotland's best kept secret! Sssshhhh!