california show your teeth

i hiked ben nevis! it's the tallest mountain in the UK! at about 4400 feet i think. and my legs are feeling every inch. It's a nice hike, but LOOONG. i didn't realize how long it was until i was hiking down at which time i was like, "i hiked up this? I hiked up this?" and yes, i did. now i will show you:

I started pretty early in the morning. sometime before 8. i'd arrived the night before when it was dark, so i didn't actually know which way to go. I asked some other hikers who pointed me in the right direction (the one with the signpost that said "Ben Nevis", but like i said it was early) and i started the ascent.

See, the trail is very pretty! A little wet. And rocks the whole way, which i don't really like. But you're walking along this other mountain/hill and it's pleasant. I saw some other hikers (saw them pass me) and it was lovely.

You get up to this little part between mountains when you switch to another one that takes you closer to Ben Nevis, it's here:

See? so pretty! a little loch then the trail continues and it's LOOSE ROCK. WHICH I HATE. it's like running on sand, you're getting nowhere slow. but there was this tour group behind me and i was like, "ok there is no way i'm getting behind that tour group" so i just kept walking. I was going at a snail's pace, but i didn't stop and I made pretty good time. I looked online and it said allow 5-6 hours and i made it in 4. So, about 1-1.5 hours on the nice side of mountain trail, another 30 minutes on the second mountain nice trail, and the last 2 hours on all loose rock. but here's the best part: the fog.

I knew that climbing by myself wasn't smart. But at first i was like, "ok you don't hike or in the morning because of bears and mountain lions" i am such a california girl. but then i thought, "bear- indigenous to the pacific rim" (right?) and "mountain lions- just north america" (also right?) so i was like, "full speed ahead!" well, hiking by yourself is not smart especially in 10-20 meter visibility. near the top there are these gullys like above that you don't see until you're basically falling down them. But I stayed on the "trail" if you can call it that up there. It's all loose rock, with big piles of rocks every 15 meters or so to let you know where to go. But after asking around I found the peak and here is me!

Yay me! I'm wearing my spankies (see rachel? they totally come in handy) wool socks and shorts over them. spankies on top, day camp shirt, rain shell. which of course wasn't enough. it was super wet and incredibly windy up there. there's ruins of an observatory up there (though i don't know what you'd see other than cloud) but they provided little to now shelter, being ruins and all. So i stayed for like 10 minutes and read two psalms (8 and 139) and went back down.

You see what i mean about the no visibility? and the stone piles? seriously i'm glad i made it down ok. even though my ankles are about to secede from the union that is my aching body.

But the highlands are beautiful! here's the picture that's currently my desktop background (yeah it made the cut)

And now I'm back in Edinburgh. I got a bus home. I fell asleep of course (Ben Nevis + dramamine = coma) and when i woke up could hardly get off the bus. I feel like an old lady when i walk up or down stairs (or walk at all). I finished my lab report (3 days early! it's an early christmas miracle!) and although I should do my astrophysics, I'd rather look at flights to germany and ireland. Although, it has occured to me that i could take a BOAT to ireland!! a boat!! bridget i could take a boat!! so i'll keep that in mind. BOAT! i'd pull a titanic the whole way, though.

i am so excited about this boat! a ferry! i'll wear my rain shell the whole way, after i've gotten my sea legs.

p.s. rachel (and anyone else who is interested) a 'munro' is a mountain over 3000 feet. there's upwards of 200 of them in scotland and some people make it a point to climb all of them. in cali there's the 14000 club (or something like that. fourteeners? much less creative anyhow) and somewhere between 20-30 of them in cali and people make it a point to climb all of them. so they're sort of dinky in comparison... but they're our dinky mountains. but actually not that dinky. for all intensive purposes they are super tall and i am therefore a BADASS CLIMBER.

p.p.s. i saw "english muffins" in tesco today but of course they only said "muffins" and i was like, "wait a minute.... OH I AM SO CLEVER!" yeah, i'm going a little slower these days. intellectually and on my feet.