Whoa Nessie! (July 11th)

As mentioned in my previous update, the plan for today is to stay in Fort Augustus to attempt to get caught up on the ever-growing backlog of updates and perhaps even dry out a few things. I’m not sure which will be harder to accomplish.

The sound of rain tapping on my tent was the first thing I heard upon waking this morning. I’m not sure exactly what time that was but it was early. Early enough to easily fall back asleep and pretend I didn’t hear it. When I awoke the second time there was no sound of rain on my tent. Not only was it not raining, the sun was doing its best to shine through the clouds. And it was successful on several occasions.

With the rain being held in check (and having enjoyed not one but two bowls of cereal for breakfast), I wandered back into town. There was quite of bit activity going on as tourists made their way up and down both sides of the canal. I, of course, was one of those tourists. It’s not like I’ve never seen locks in action before but it’s still a pretty cool thing to watch. Almost makes me wish I had a boat.

From there I wandered over for some scenic shots of Loch Ness and, of course, to see if Nessie would make an appearance. I mean, I’ve come all this way it would be a bit rude for Nessie NOT to appear. Of course, the problem with any Nessie sighting is that no one would believe it anyway. So, even if I were to say I spotted Nessie, it’s highly doubtful anyone would take me seriously. Me! Not taken seriously. How sad.

With yesterday’s non-rainy conditions repeating themselves today, I once again opted to cook for myself – although, I’m really starting to crave fish and chips. I mean, seriously, how could I not. They’re everywhere. However, that craving would have to wait. Instead, I decided to do a little experiment and bought a couple of hamburger patties. I got them at the grocery store but they were from a nearby butcher so I figured they’d probably be okay. The big question was, “How effective will my Trangia alcohol stove be at cooking burgers?”

It turns out said alcohol stove does a pretty decent job at cooking burgers – maybe it’s the highly skilled chef that’s the key. And while the burger cooking was successful, the amount of fat that was left in the pan (which also serves as the lid from my pot) was, well … let’s just say these burgers were clearly not made with lean meat. Or even slightly lean meat. I think I had a partial cardiac event just looking at the pan. I know, I know … I don’t exactly have the healthiest of diets and, yes, I still long for those glorious times where a poutine-a-day was the norm, but seriously, these burgers had a LOT of fat in them. That said, it wasn’t the worst tasting burger I’ve ever cooked. It was probably the fat.

Side note: The sun is actually shining as I type this. It’s 4:26 PM and the sun is shining. There are clouds everywhere but there is one glorious gap which is allowing the sun to shine through. I’m sitting at a picnic table, basking in the sun. I don’t even have my jacket on. Hmmmm … maybe I’ve died and this is heaven (did I mention the fat in the burger?). Oh … Never mind. It’s raining again. All is well.

With the burger experiment deemed a success, I turned my focus to coming up with at least a partial plan for tomorrow.

While I was in town, I stopped in at the tourist office to inquire about a local path (The Great Glen Way) that I could take me to Inverness – I thought if it was cycle-friendly it would allow me to avoid both traffic and backtracking along the route that got me here yesterday. It turns out that it’s not cycle-friendly. At least, not for a loaded road bike. However, I was then told that the south side is a actually a better route for cyclists – although, I was warned that said route begins with a big hill. Duly noted.

Earlier in the day, I had also sent out a Warm Showers request to a couple not far from Inverness. Muir of Ord, actually. I was more than a little happy to hear back from them so quickly – especially since they said they were available to host. It was official, tomorrow I would have my first UK Warm Showers experience.

The last remaining task of the day was to check on the status of my laptop which I had left charging in the office. Keeping said laptop charged continues to be a struggle when I have consecutive days of wild camping. Or even campground camping as I usually don’t have easy access to power outlets. Anyway, the folks at Cumberlands Campground let me charge my laptop in the office. In hindsight, I probably should have brought two adapter plugs for my devices – that way I could’ve charged my portable battery pack as well. Oh well. Next time.

Unrelated, with the temperatures here in Scotland not being particularly balmy I opted to buy milk while I was in town yesterday. I mean, it’s not like it’s going to go bad overnight. And the thought of being able to have cereal for breakfast was a happy thought – and, as mentioned previously, it worked out very well this morning. The only challenge is the lack of a bowl. My usual “bowl” is the pot that is part of my alcohol stove kit which works great when I’m cooking something but is a bit inconvenient when all I want is a bowl. So, I was kind of hoping I might be able to find some sort of camping-friendly bowl in one of the local shops. That didn’t work out. That’s when I decided to channel my inner-MacGyver and came up with an alternate solution.

The milk that was purchased yesterday was in a one pint plastic jug. Upon closer inspection of said jug I came to the conclusion that if I cut the jug in half (approximately) I could have a serviceable bowl-like creation. It turns out, I was right. It may not be the fanciest of “bowls” but it certainly beats having to unpack my cooking kit to access the pot that until now was doubling as a cereal bowl.

Once again, it’s the little things that make a huge difference.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, I cooked the second burger earlier this evening with equally successful (and fatty) results.

Completely unrelated side note: Happy Birthday to my Miata (aka. Miata #2). Remarkably it’s been 16 years since it was won. It’s actually old enough to drive itself now!

Today’s totals:
Nessie sightings: Inconclusive
Bowls created: 1
Burger’s cooked: 2
Cardiac events: Pending