We started off by a small car park in Lochawe. It was early morning on a reasonably wet day. We wondered up along a small road all the way to Cruachan Reservoir. By the time we reached the dam, we were decently soaked and just as we started to feel miserable, the sun creeped up. These ridiculous plays are happening all the time here and I feel my Scottish hiking reports consist mostly of talking about the weather.
Has it ever happen that you went for a hike on a beautiful sunny day with a heavy camera in your backpack and when you wanted to take the first shot, the camera said “No card inserted”? Welcome to my first Saturday in October when Anna and I were hiking the Glen Loin Loop in the Arrochar Alps. At least we took a few pictures on our phones.
Ben Lomond is a tall beauty with its grassy head reaching breathtaking heights above windy Loch Lomond. It’s not actually that big, but because Lake Lomond is so close, it gives you the feeling that the top is in heaven.
Moving to Scotland was a big decision for us. Neither of us had ever been before so it was completely new. Just a few days after our arrival, we decided to go for a hike. I can barely imagine a better way to connect with a new country!
Gorski Kotar in Croatia is magical. I’ve been to Croatia many times but next time I’ll head straight to Gorski Kotar and not bother with the over-populated coast. Sometimes it’s called Croatian Switzerland and there is a good reason for it, though it’s far from the tidy looking Swiss villages with the tremendous scenery of the Alps in the background.
When I was in Croatia about 7 years ago, I desperately wanted to hike up to Vojak (1401m), the highest peak of Istria peninsula. I was convinced that one day I’d come back and stand at the top. Now, 7 years later, we were standing at the car park at the crossroad of 5047 road and a road called Cesta za Vojak, deciding whether to go up.
When you say “Slovenian mountains”, I reckon that most people imagine the breathtaking scenery of the Julian Alps. White peaks with green valleys, sprinkled with colorful dots of alpine flowers and lakes with water clearer than your bathtub.
Wasserfallweg is an old mountain path in Gesäuse National Park, Austria. It was established in 1891(!) which is incredible to me, and I felt honored to have a chance to hike a route which has been in existence for so long already. Just thinking about people hiking the rugged route so long ago with the most basic of hiking gear was mind blowing.
If you ever wondered where all those hippies go when they get older? Come to Salt Spring Island and you’ll see. Apart from the hippies, the island is full of farms, lakes with naked people and positive energy. One of the best views you can get of the island’s beauties is from Baynes Peak (602m). So, we decided to check it out.
East Sooke Regional Park is my favourite hiking destination within the Victoria regional bus network. It’s wild, hilly, with great ocean views and big enough for day long hikes.