Lakeland 50 - Mardale Head to Kentmere Institute

Arrived at Mardale Head.  Another busy and bustling checkpoint.

On the way around I thought I could hear a bell ringing.  There used to be a village in the valley called Mardale Green which was flooded when Haweswater reservoir was created in 1935. Most of the buildings were blown up by the Royal Engineers with the exception of the small church. The ruins of the abandoned village can occasionally be seen when the water level in the reservoir is low. For some reason, I had it in my head that this was the Mardale church bell.  It turned out to be a bell at the checkpoint rung for the arrival or departure of runners ( I think).

I rolled up with my arab scarf cloak wafting behind me and one of the marshals thought that the race needed a few more super heroes!  Made me smile. Once again plenty of helpful marshals on hand to sort you out.

I had planned to eat some sandwiches at this checkpoint but the heat had killed off my appetite somewhat.  I refilled and topped up my carb drink and forced down a ham sandwich and a handful of crisps. I also had a drink of flat coke which was wonderful.

You head straight up and onto the Gatesgarth pass from the Mardale checkpoint.  This had been a hellish climb on the recce in full sun on a hot day.  Fortunately, it was later in the day and the pass was in shade.  It was still hot but not as blisteringly hot as it can be. Hands on knees, huffing and puffing to the top again.

By this point I'd passed a few 100 mile runners still going and spoke a few words of encouragement each time I overtook them filled with awe.  I passed a couple more on the way up the Gatesgarth Pass.

Once at the top, it's a rough track all the way down through Long Sleddale to Sadgill. I'm not the best descender in the world but I knew this rough path was coming and I managed it a lot better than on the recce. At end of the long lane you turn off and head off up and over to Kenmere.

It was on this leg that I bumped into Jane and we ran and power walked along together to the checkpoint. I think we had probably been bumping into each other on and off all the way but we buddied up for a while here. The cameraderie is one of the best things about this race.  You can enter as a solo but there is always someone around if you need a bit of company or help with navigation.  Sometimes you stick together for a while, sometimes only for a few minutes. It's all very friendly.  Himself was long gone and that was OK; we'd entered as solo runners not as a pair and in any case he is miles faster than me. It would have been very frustrating for him to crawl along with me.  I knew that there would be plenty of people around and I was pretty confident that I knew where I was going.

At the end of the stage the route cuts across some fields and there are a few wall stills to get over in close succession which is when you really start to feel the strain of all those miles on your legs!  It's quite an effort to clamber up those things after 25 miles or so. We managed a respectable run  up the road to the checkpoint and dibbed in.

Pasta meal on offer here and I was ready for it.  I ate with gusto and then hit the fruit smoothies.  Oh how lovely they were.  I cadged a couple of strawberries and topped up my carb drink.  I was ready for the off.  Jane was still eating so I headed off as I wanted to get into Ambleside before dark.

Kentmere checkpoint is just over half way at 27 miles so getting there is great psychologically because you have less miles to go than you have already done.

Lakeland 50 - Dalemain to Howtown

It was hot.  Really, really, really hot.  Baking. Sweltering.

Off the coaches at Dalemain House and a bit of hanging around before the start.  100 Mile runners were coming through in a steady stream to cheers and applause from awestruck 50 milers.  They'd been on the go for around 17 hours at this point.  Amazing.

Eventually, we were all dibbed in and directed to the start line.  OMG it was soooooo hot.

We wore our Clayton-le-Moors Harriers vests and the official photographer spotted us.  He's from Sport Sunday event photographers that are based in Nelson, just up the road from us.  He'd clocked the Clayton shirts and wished us luck.

Team Olszewski at the start line of the Lakeland 50

And then we were off.  Off on a 50 mile run of a lifetime.

I don't know about you, but I am a rubbish starter.  It takes me a good couple of miles to get going so the initial loop around the grounds of Dalemain was hard.  It was hot, and slow going and lots of people were walking.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one wondering what the hell I thought I was doing there at that point. I managed a bit of a trot and then realised that I needed a wee.  Fortunately, we looped back past Dalemain House and the porta loos had no queue so I had a quick pit stop and then rejoined the hordes of people still going by.

The recce route had started at Pooley Bridge so the loop round the grounds and the short trip to Pooley Bridge were new to me. Fortunately, it was all pretty low level stuff so other than the heat it was quite a nice runnable stretch.

Passing through Pooley Bridge was great with lots of support from all of the holiday makers there and then we climbed up and out of the village almost to High Street before crossing the fell and dropping down to Howtown.  A great runnable stretch.  It was going well.  I'd had to estimate how long it would take to run the start loop and additional stretch to Pooley Bridge and, looking at my watch, I was pretty much on schedule and feeling good despite the heat.

Howtown Bobbin Mill was organised chaos.  It's the first checkpoint for the 50 runners and the field is still all quite close together at that point.  There were lots of big buckets full of lovely cold water and plenty of helpful marshals on hand to help you fill your bottles.  There were lots of goodies to eat to but I didn't really feel like anything at that point.  It was too hot.

I'd got plenty of carbohydrate and electrolyte drink with me.  I'd decided to have 500 ml of this between each checkpoint. I also had gels but just didn't really fancy gels in the heat.  I think I only had one of them in the whole race.

I dug out my arab scarf to tie around my shoulders.  I could feel the burn from the sunshine.  I wore this all the way to Kentmere like some kind of demented super hero but it seemed to do the trick.

Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No it's Padihamknitter in a silly scarf!

From Howtown it's the big climb up Fusedale (aka Death Valley in that heat!). I'd already decided that this was going to be a walk and my aim was to get up non stop at the best pace I could.  It was hands on knees, huffing and puffing and grim determination all the way to the top.

Once at the top, it's quite runnable. I just had to persuade my legs of jelly to get going again. It was a more of a shuffle to begin with but after a while I got going and into a better rhythm.  On the recce we'd overshot the turnoff going over the summit so I was keen not to do the same today.  I could see people ahead and I was sure they'd gone to far ahead.  They had.  I clocked the right path and peeled off to the right and downhill towards Haweswater.

I could see people looking over and heading back the right way. It's easily done.  The bracken had come up a massive amount since May's recce and it all looked a bit different at times but I carried on and eventually came to the footbridge and deer gate I'd been looking for.  It was going well. I'd struggled around the lake on the recce but I was feeling OK and made good progress on the single track path around the lake.

It's a long section and I was relieved to finally reach the Rigg.  After a small climb up and over it wasn't far to Mardale Head and my second checkpoint.

There was live tracking available online from the timing people but I'd signed up for additional updates to be posted to my Facebook timeline and Twitter Feeds. I wondered what they would be like.

Lakeland 50 - Off to Dalemain

Saturday morning arrived.

It was going to be a hot one.  We were up pretty early and headed to the showers.  There were a couple of portable shower blocks and there was a queue in front of one but not the other.  After enquiring, we found out it was because the hot water had failed and the showers in that block were cold. After waiting for a few minutes, it seemed so silly to be so wussy about a cold shower.  After all we were all about to run 50 miles in searing heat, we'd be begging for a cold shower later.  I pulled up my big girl pants and headed into the empty, cold shower.

It really wasn't that bad! Quite refreshing really.

This got us into the main hall in time to beat the breakfast queues and tuck into yummy bacon butties.  Catering on site was provided by a wonderful bunch of fund raisers called the Frilly Lillies who raise money to help send disabled children on adventure holidays at the Calvert Trust in Kielder.  They were amazing feeding everyone through the entire weekend and all through the night on the Saturday.  They raised £4000 for their charity.

Lots of last minute packing and repacking of race packs was going on.  Bought a new pair of sunglasses as it was promising to be a hot and sunny day. And we were ready (ish)

There was emergency/last minute registration and kit check for the later arrivals and then compulsory briefing for all of the 50 competitors.  Then onto the coaches for the journey to Dalemain House, the start point for the 50 race.

This was it.  It was really happening.

Lakeland 50 - Getting Ready to Go

Friday arrived.  It was time to head up to the John Ruskin School (aka Race HQ) to register and get ready for the Lakeland 50. Girls and ageing, stinky dog were dropped off for a weekend with my parents and off we went.

Camping for a couple of nights on the school playing field is included in your race fee so we packed up the tent and headed up to Coniston.  We were quite early arriving it seemed and were shown to a decent spot on the field relatively close to the buildings but not too close to the porta loos.  We pitched the tent and headed into the main building for kit check and registration.

Stupidly, we'd spent ages packing and repacking our race packs to get everything in and have it all organised "just right" only to have to get everything out again for inspection.  Once compulsory kit is checked a cross was drawn on the back of your hand with a marker pen and you could proceed to pick up your race number and goody bag.  Number collected, you moved on to get your timing tag.  Finally, you are weighed and, unfortunately, your weight is written on your race number for all to see.  At least it was in kilograms - I don't really get kilograms - so not as bad as stones and pounds!

Tagged, numbered and weighed.

When we finished registering and went back to the tent, the camping field had filled up completely.  It was like a festival or something.  One or two clubs had banners up, and there was a pleasant buzz around the place. We could take it easy for a while and we were looking forward to watching the 100 milers set off at 6.00pm.  We knew a couple of competitors taking part so we wanted to give them an encouraging cheer at the start.

After a live performance of Nessum Dorma was performed at the start line by tenor Alexander Wall. There's a back story for this which you can read about here if you want to know more! They were off.  Led out by Richard Bardon up the road and through Coniston.  The road was lined with people cheering them on and then they were gone.  Off on a journey of 100 miles.  Possibly on the go for 2 nights.  Incredible.

A short while later, there was a 1 mile race to Lake Coniston and back for the children that were in attendance.  All ages from tiny tots to teenagers having a fantastic time. Possibly some future running stars in amongst them, who knows?

A chippy tea and a quick pint and then we turned in for the night. We'd been a bit concerned about such a busy campsite but we needn't have worried.  It was pretty peaceful and we had a good night's sleep.

Roll on Saturday.

UTLD 2014 - Entering the Lakeland 50

That's the Ultra Tour of the Lake District for those of you not already in the know.  It's an ultra distance race of either 100 or 50 miles in the Lake District. More information can be found at the Lakeland100 website if you want all the details.

I first came across this race when we were camping at Bays Brown Farm this time last year.  When we were checking in at the farmhouse, the farmer's wife was having a bit of a hissy fit because her phone line was down after a thunderstorm in the days before and the general lack of a mobile signal.  She told us that she was expecting around 1000 runners through the farm over the next day or two and didn't want to be incommunicado. Sounded intriguing.

We ended up seeing the leader of the 100 mile race coming through the site and at the local pub (the Wainwright) watched many, many weary runners passing through.  We clapped and cheered them all. They had names on their race numbers so we cheered them individually as well.  It was fabulous.  At this point I was only about 6 months into my running journey.  I'd graduated from the  c25k (Couch to 5K) program and was out running about 3 times a week. I watched all the runners come through and I wanted desperately to do it myself.

A week or so later himself and I were back in the lakes for a week on our own.  The girls had jetted off to sunny climes for a week with the grandparents. We'd researched the race and had pretty much decided to give it a go.  We'd downloaded the roadbook and we started to recce the bits of the course near to where we were staying. We even ventured further afield and had a look at the dreaded Fusedale ascent.  We were hooked.  It was on.  We were going to give the 50 mile race a go.

Ulp! Typical me.  Never do anything by halves.  First race I ever entered turned out to be a 50 mile ultra marathon!

Opening day for entries came along. Sunday 1st September 9.00am.  We were both at the computer, debit cards in hand, and waiting for the clock to strike 9. It struck, we clicked on the pay button and held our breaths.  Would we make it and get a place. YES! Confirmation we were both in.  Much jubilation followed as we followed the comments on the Lakeland 100 Facebook page.  It sold out within 3 hours.  There was much sadness from those that weren't able to get a place. How lucky were we?

Erm.... the only thing was I certainly needed to do a bit of training.  Don't think I'd even run 10 miles at that point. I decided to take it gradually and found the Lakeland 100 sister site, Trail 26 and entered a 10k (Rivington - Nov), a half marathon (Grizedale - Feb) and a marathon (Howgills - May).  Also went along to both recce dates for the 50 mile route.  I joined a running club and had a go a few local fell races as well (Aggies Staircase, Great Hameldon Hill Race, Reservoir Bogs, Trawden Trail Race) and got out and about on my own around Pendle when I could.

I was about as ready as I could be....bring it on!

WIPs

Few things on the go at the moment


1. Never ending socks.  These purple socks have been lurking in my handbag for ages. They were intended to be a birthday pressie for a work pal but that has long gone by and so the sense of urgency has gone too.... naughty knitter. I need to pull my socks up (did you see what I did there?)

Never ending socks

2. Sweater for Big Girl. Now this is progressing nicely. I'm using a new yarn by King Cole called popsicle which is slubby and bumpy looking. 

Sweater WiP

I really liked the look of it and even went with the colour way on the pattern.  It's for Big Girl but I think Little Girl has her eyes on it too on account of the pinkness.

2. Baby Blanket. Another impulse project. Saw this knitted up at Sheila's Woolshop and thought it was gorgeous. As it happens a work colleague is expecting and the baby flavour is unknown so I thought this pattern in a stylish silver would be great whatever gender the baby turns out to be. It's instructions only, no chart, so there is a heck of a lot of counting which makes this a bit trickier than I thought. I have to take my time and pay attention to avoid mistakes. Really must learn how to count!

Baby Blanket in progress

Close up of pattern

Half term hanging out in the shadows

Blessed with another break in the incessant rain the girls and I headed out into Padiham on foot for a change. A lovely sunny day again.  Best not get too used to this because it probably won't last too long. Lots of shadows today. 

Massive puddles beginning to disappear hopefully 

Blue skies at last

A rare traffic-free moment

Fallen trees by the river

Shadows on the railway bridge

House shadows on the houses

Our shadows

Lovely. Let's hope we have some decent weather in the spring.

Grizedale Forest

My biggest race so far is coming up. A trail half marathon on the 23rd Feb in Grizedale Forest.

So far I have only run in a couple of 10k races. Rivington in November and then the East Lancashire Hospice 10k race in Great Harwood. Both went ok but it's time to move up a notch.10k is 6.2 miles and the half marathon is a little over double the distance at 13.1 miles. I have been upping my long runs and even managed 21 miles a couple of weeks ago so I am confident that I can get around the course.

The forecast for Sunday was excellent - a promised jewel of a day amid the rainiest winter on record - definitely not to be wasted. A picnic was packed and we headed up to Grizedale forest for a walk and a chance to check out the race route as well. Plus we had just got the girls all kitted out for winter walks so it was about time we road tested it all!

Fully kitted out for winter walking

It was glorious. Sunny and dry with fabulous views of snow topped lakeland peaks.

Fabulous view in Grizedale Forest

Just heavenly

Came across one or two random signs. Amusing but incomprehensible....

There was nothing to look down at - we were on the flat!
Unless it means keep looking at that spectacular view!

Err... your guess is as good as mine

We managed to cut a corner and only did 10 miles instead of the full 13 but I don't think the girls were too upset about that. This was the first long walk in quite a while so there was a fair amount of moaning and complaining going on!

A brilliant day out with awesome views, brilliant weather and a respite from the gloom of January.  Just hope we get similar weather on Sunday for the race. Fingers crossed.

January, sick and tired, you've been hanging on me

Oh it was just a big old washout.  It just seemed like a constant barrage of rain and storms.  At least I am fortunate enough to live at the top of a hill so no flooding around these parts unlike the poor folk down in Somerset and the South West.

On the plus side, I did make a few bits and pieces;

Ripple crochet scarf - present for a work colleague

Slouchy socks for my mum

Groovy Girlfriend Earwarmer  also for my mum

Birthday socks for Big Girl's Friend "E"

Myboshi hats for the girls with MASSIVE pompoms!

It was that rainy and miserable.  We didn't get out anywhere in January.

Did go along to the Lakeland 50 recce/night run though.

Total miles running: 71.4
Total Hiking: 14.89

A new sensation

It’s time to ‘fess up and face the facts. It’s no secret that knitting and I have been growing apart over the last year, the lack of posting on here is evidence of that, so it’s time to own up. There is a new pastime in my life. An exciting and adventurous one that is hogging all my spare time and keeping me away from the needles and the hooks. Don’t get me wrong, I still love knitting and crochet but I just can’t stay away from this new passion. It’s not the knitting and crochet….. it’s me.

A bit of background. Knitting/crochet and I have been rubbing along nicely together for the last  decade.  At the beginning it was all so fresh and new, and, I might add, a little exciting as well. I couldn’t get enough. Yarn, needles, hooks, more yarn, new skills, Ravelry, more yarn, hours reading about it on the internet, more yarn… well, you get the picture.  But like most things in life, gradually the thrill died down until it was barely a flicker.  It had become a comfy, non-thinking trundle.

I gave up smoking 3 years ago and my sedentary lifestyle and middle age combined to develop the dreaded spare tyre. Oh yes middle age spread and maybe a mid-life crisis as well. Who knows… What I do know, is that I was invited to my local surgery for a health check-up (as I am now officially middle-aged)  where all my vitals were checked. All was good. Blood pressure fine, cholesterol low, blood sugar normal, even had bone density checked and that was good too. I was feeling rather pleased with myself until the doctor weighed me and the “O” word was uttered. You know the one, the one that grabs all the headlines, the one that is an impending health disaster for the western world. Yep, she told me that I was OBESE!

I was horrified. Something needed to be done. I moaned and groaned and whined about it. I got upset and I got a little bit downhearted about it. Then my plain-talking, no-nonsense husband got fed-up with my constant harping and suggested that I put on my big-girl pants and do something about it. So I had a bit of a think and the 100 mile challenge began.  January 2013 – walk 100 miles in a month. I walked a little bit most days and threw in a few longer walks when I could.120 miles in the bag! I was so pleased with myself and as an added bonus my spare tyre was beginning to shrink. My waistbands were slightly looser.  I was feeling better.

Walking is quite time consuming and so himself suggested running as an alternative. Running! Me? Seriously? It wasn’t something I’d ever really considered. I was full of excuses. My knees are bad, my boobs are too big, I’ll look silly, I am too old…etc. It was a lot like the excuses you come up with when you are thinking about giving up smoking ( I LIKE/ENJOY smoking, it calms me down, I am bad-tempered if I can’t smoke, I won’t be told what to do….etc). Hmmm… if I can overcome those feeble excuses then surely I could overcome my running excuses. So I did some research and discovered C25k.

C25k or, couch to 5 kilometres, is an introductory running program. It takes around 8 weeks to complete.  You begin with a mix of walking and running and progress until you can run for half an hour by the end of the program. Feb 2013 and I began the program. It’s a nice easy start.  I think most folk could do it. I stuck with it for the full program. 3 times a week following the plan – I repeated some weeks if I needed to -  and then before I knew it I could actually run for half an hour.  Without stopping. Blimey…. I was an actual, bona fide runner. Me! Yes, me! Oh and by this time I was over a stone lighter as well.

I was growing rather fond of this running malarkey. It was beginning to fill my mind with possibilities and I found myself looking forward to our sessions. I was beginning to spend internet time pouring over running gear, blogs and maps instead of Ravelry and Knitty. It made me feel a bit guilty… forlorn half knitted socks made me feel ashamed of myself. Even dark nights/mornings and rain didn’t deter me….it was another excuse to indulge my running habit by researching and buying a headtorch and waterproofs. It was all lumens and battery life and hydrostatic heads and taped seams…. What happened to merino and sock yarn and Kitchener stitch!  Argghhhh

And now, it’s getting a little out of hand. Races. But not just any races, oh no! Parkruns and 10ks just weren’t enough for me…. I have my eyes on ultra distances. A 50 miler is coming up in the summer and I have entered. I will be taking part in the UTLD The Lakeland 50. A 50 mile race through the Lake District. I am ridiculously excited by this and looking forward to it immensely. Training is underway and I will be doing a half marathon race in Grizedale Forest at the end of the month. Got a full trail marathon planned for May and will try and fit in a few runs around the Yorkshire 3 Peaks as well before the big day in July.

Grinning like a madwoman even after 21 miles!

So there you find me…I am still knitting/crocheting but at a much lesser rate. Something I fit in when I’m not out running. 

2013 What you missed

2013 in Pictures, a photo by Padiham_Knitter on Flickr.

Let me see....

Lots of camping, walking, appreciating lovely flowers, water, hills, sunsets, running, muddy shoes, cycling, more camping, a massive plume of smoke when the recycling centre set on fire, kicking back with the family, failing to overcome my fear of cows, appreciating the view, being in the clouds, being in the water, being on the sand, spotting sunbeams on an otherwise dull day.

All that good stuff really.

It was fun :)

Padiham Knitter - ultrarunner!

Padiham Knitter - ultrarunner!, a photo by Padiham_Knitter on Flickr.

I took up running and decided I needed a challenge. Not for me the humble 10k or even a marathon. Oh no... I am really going for it. The Lakeland 50!

50 miles through the Lake District from Dalemain House to Coniston.

Over hill and dale searching for spring

Not posted for a while...blush...must do better.

I have been out and about quite a bit recently. Up in the hills in search of a view and an escape from the indoors working day. Inclement weather didn't prevent a little jolly out to Pendle Hill. It was quite rainy and blustery so we decided to explore the area around and about and it was surprisingly pleasant.

Spooky woodland around Pendle

Interesting shelter... or is it a witch's hut?

You may notice how well wrapped up we all are. I had hat and gloves still on at this point. I was beginning to wonder if winter would ever really end. The prospect of snow was still around and it was pretty darn cold as well. All the usual spring indicators were proving a little elusive. Would it ever be spring? We were seriously beginning to wonder.

The May Day bank holiday arrived and a long weekend was in sight. We decided to redo the Yorkshire Three Peaks walk. The forecast wasn't too bad, the grandparents were happy to take the girls for the day, so we duly set off. Unfortunately, the weather forecast did not prepare us for the unrelenting rain and wind we endured. After completing Penyghent and 3 hours of non-stop rain we were a bit fed up. Had there been any indication of the severity of rain we would not have even set off, or if we had decided to give it a go we would have been in full waterproofs. Once my feet were wet that was it. End of challenge and we trudged back to Horton in Ribblesdale (along with quite a few other equally soggy and fed up hikers!)

Summit of Penyghent in the rain

Then a funny thing happened. Despite avidly searching for spring and finding no sign of it, I was out for a lunchtime stroll and I noticed that the blossom was finally out. On further inspection it became apparent that spring had finally sprung, although it was more like spring had been out on the razz far too late and had quietly snuck back in the wee small hours.  Less of a spring and more of a stealth!

Blossom - at last!

Flower beds blooming - finally!

On the day I took the above photos I was not wearing a coat! Honestly, it was warm enough to be coatless. On the strength of the evidence I had gathered during the week, we decided to visit Spring Wood and see if the bluebells had finally come.

A carpet of bluebells in Spring Wood

The bluebells were indeed out.  Mind you it had got a bit colder and we were still wrapped up somewhat.  Time also for the annual bench shot.

Annual Spring Wood bench photo - gosh the girls are much bigger
than the first time we took this shot!

The original bench shot

What's on the needles?

Well I did take some knitting along with me on holiday, as you do, but not a massive amount of progress was made really. Too busy walking, biking and hanging out at the pub! I did manage to start a pair of socks for myself which I have now finished.

Justifiable reason for lack of holiday knitting!

Holiday socks - well kind of.

I did knit another pair for a friend's daughter but forgot to take pics.

Got a jumper for younger girl on the needles at the moment. I am actually using some stash up for it too which is a good thing. It's some pink, mottled effect aran that I have had for quite a while.  Just a little v-neck sweater but it should be handy for any cooler moments (or if we get any more snow)

Scottish Sunsets

Oh my, the sunsets were so amazing that I felt they deserved a post all to themselves so here you go...

Sunsets

Applecross Bay sunset

Sunset over the bay from the campsite

Sunset over Rasaay and Skye

Yet another magnificent sunset

Simply breathtaking.

Getting away from it all

Over the Easter holidays we headed north to get away from it all. 10 hours later we were on the Applecross peninsula in north west Scotland.  Remote, wild and very beautiful. Truly a world away.

We had blue skies and phenomenal views over to Skye and Rasaay. We had incredible sunsets. We had snow too. It was quite chilly at times but that didn't stop us getting out and about on foot or by bike. here's only really one road there, the famous Bealach Na Ba and is a spectacular and hair raising trip along hairpin bends through spectacular mountains.

The famous Bealach Na Ba pass

The famous Bealach Na Ba pass after overnight snow

Applecross Bay

We stayed at the Applecross Campsite in a wooden camping hut. The hut was great! It has a little heater, lights and a powerpoint which was fantastic. This meant is was lovely and toasty at night compared to a tent and we could use a kettle and toaster so super easy for snacks! I don't think it would have been too pleasant in a tent overnight - especially when it snowed.

There's not much in Applecross really. Luckily, there is a pub. The Applecross Inn is a pleasant and surprisingly bustling pub that does nice food. We were there every night. There is also the Walled Garden down the road that also does lovely food. Lots of seafood to be had including Squat Lobster which I had never heard of before. Delicious.

I fell in love with the highland cattle. They are absolutely gorgeous and the babies are unbelievably cute. Saw lots of deer as well but didn't manage to see any red squirrels or aquatic beasties while we were there.  After watching the pixar/disney film "Brave" by way of research, the girls took every available opportunity to hunt for will o' the wisps but sadly, not a one was to be found on this trip.

Highland cattle at home in the highlands - so cute

Deer checking us out in Applecross

Wonderful, mossy woods but no wisps to be found within