The Hikers My boss, Ann, introduced me to a local women's hiking group. They hike every Thursday. Sometimes the hikes are in the park, sometimes not, but they are always long and usually pretty hard. To date, I am the youngest in the group. The baby. It's nice. Usually, I am the old lady of the group. It is, however, very humbling to hike with these women. If I am the oldest, I can use that as an excuse when I fall behind. Not so here, and I do fall behind. They are fit. Very fit. The oldest in the group [View Full Entry]

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The Drive The road to my first real seasonal job, front desk at Apgar Village Lodge and West Glacier Motel in Glacier National Park, Montana. I left my home in Florida, after the Florida Film Fest (I try to volunteer when I am home) had ended. It was April 8th. My first stop was Johnson City, TN, where I planned on spending the night at a friends. It was great to catch up and chill in her hot tub while looking a the full moon above. I got an early start the next morning and made it to my daughter, Kelci's, [View Full Entry]

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...Camping, couchsurfing and visiting family and friends (thank you all for putting us up).... [View Full Entry]

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On the bus to the ferry, I met a man from Congo. He wanted to start some kind of tourism business in Congo, so he was in Northern Ireland and Scotland trying to drum up financing. He helped me find my hostel in Belfast. I decided since I only had 2 days in Belfast, I would take a tour bus to see Derry and Giant's Causeway. It was a rainy day and the Causeway was very slippery, so I had to be very careful walking on the stones. The murals in Derry from the time of the "Troubles" were quite moving. [View Full Entry]

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After I left the Isle of Skye I drove to Falkirk to visit the William Wallace monument and to couchsurf. I had a wonder couchsurfing host. She volunteered at the University (in Glasgow), in the zoology department and was kind enough to take me with her to feed the animals. I got to go "behind the scenes" and hold a snake, centipede and lizards. After staying with her and hanging out for two days, I had to return the car to Glasgow. I returned the car and took a bus back into the city. I lined up another great couchsurfing host. [View Full Entry]

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After Walking the Way I took the bus from Ft. William to Glasgow and rented a car to spend the next week in Scotland. After renting the car, I drove to Tyndrum (the route on the Way) to pick up some West Highland Way t-shirts for me, Dani and Thomas (we didn't want to carry them while hiking). It is amazing how short the West Highland Way is when driving. After picking up the t-shirts and talking to some walkers currently walking the Way, I made my way to the Isle of Skye for the next couple of days. The weather [View Full Entry]

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Kinlochleven to Ft. William: 12 miles It was a nice day. If my knee was ok, all would be right with the world. As it was, I dreaded every descent. At one point I walked backwards (easier on the knee) for almost a mile. I walked with, off and on, the Jersey girl, both sets of Belgians (the couple and the two guys) and a really nice German couple (this was their first long distance hike), Dani and Thomas. The views were great. The last 2 miles, I took the road instead of the trail to trim off 2 miles. It [View Full Entry]

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Kingshouse to Kinlochleven: 9 miles This day turned out to be the only rainy day I would encounter. It was also the most strenuous. We had to ascend the Devil’s Staircase, the highest point along The Way. It was so cold, windy and rainy. None of the walkers spoke much, we all just climbed, rested, passed each other, rested, climbed…. At the top, going around the bend, the wind hit so hard, I was afraid I would be knocked off the edge. Then came the descent into Kinlochleven. Mile, after mile, after mile, downhill. My knee was killing me. I was [View Full Entry]

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Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse: 9 miles It took me less than 4.5 hours to complete this leg. The day started out drizzly, but soon cleared up. I was a fairly level section. My knee barely hurt, but my toe was getting very bad. The nail was turning black and pressure was building. I decided to find a lighter and heat up a safety pin and puncture the nail, to release pressure as soon as I got to Kingshouse. Kingshouse had a hotel (expensive and booked well in advance) and free camping. I had to wait four hours for my backpack [View Full Entry]

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Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy: 7 miles Before heading out, I bought a roll of bandaids and some breakfast. My total was $7. The 7 miles from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy was very level (only taking 3.5 hours to complete), running parallel to some railroad tracks. Because it was level my knee was good (until the descent at the end), but, of course, it’s always something. My big toe (on my right foot), that I stubbed hard on a rock on the second day, was throbbing with every step. I wished I was on one of those trains. I was [View Full Entry]

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