Strange... I didn't know the latter journal pages were not published. They are now!

My shot is a bit more zoomed-in.

Similar in setting but not quality, I don’t doubt. But where is it? I imagine off the end of the oddly named journal Skye & the Hebrides, which never makes it out of South Uist.

I took a very similar shot!

Your trip is bringing back so many memories for us. Beautiful country when the weather is good ... and it toughens you up when it's not! Your day today is a good portent for your upcoming 'weather lottery win' at the Black Cullins ... and the Monkfish in Scotland is the best!

Ah, yes. Number 2 fun. You need an occasional day like this as spice for the memory book. I remember turning over the key to our room on the ferry and our clothes drying out in the hall that night as clearly as anything else on the tour.

Type II fun! Horrible when it’s happening but (hopefully) laughing about it later in the evening when Rachael and you were having a nice diner in a quaint old warm and dry pub!

Hey, good job!

😲

😲 how’s this!

Yes, we came in from the north. That little knife blade ridge north of Buttermere still stands out in our memories. And yes, we did love the Lake District. Every sketched out version of a next ride through Britain includes a second visit here. I’d like to see if we could still make it up Helvellyn, though my knees might think otherwise.

You’ll to forget about that sopping ride to Kilmartin temporarily, as it was published in error and now hidden again. We’ve got a few days ahead of us still before we get there. Try to act surprised when it appears again.

Don't you love the Lake District! Quaint valleys with pastoral villages set beside beautiful calm lakes ..... interconnected with insanely steep single track roads! Looks like you came into Buttermere from the north (you can see the two road grade signs on Google street view!). Back in 1982 when I was on my (completely random) post uni tour of Europe I was on my way to Buttermere from the east on the B5289 that went south from Keswick along Derwent water. My target that day was a Youth Hostel at Honister pass just a few km's east of Buttermere. When I reached Seatoller (a farm yard, a few houses and a very nice pub) on the east side of the pass I made my weekly collect phone call home to my parents from a classic British red phone booth.During that call I found out that my dad had just picked up my degree that morning at my uni's convocation! To celebrate I decided to treat myself to a real meal, and a couple of pints, at the Seatoller pub. Once that was done I started to head up the pass to the hostel. I was immediately met with a 25% grade sign and what looked like a wall of pavement in front of me! It was a nice night, there was a small stream with a few trees (and more than a few sheep) nearby so I made the correct decision to have another pint and pull out my bivy sac and spend the night beside the stream. Still remember it vividly!
From your posts from the next few days when you are in Scotland, it looks like you got the proper Scottish west coast weather welcome! Seeing Rachael cowering under an awning in Kilmartin looks like a 'normal' west coast day! Still anticipating the bluebird days in Skye that you teased everyone with in your intro page :)

I see what you mean looking at Kilmartin page... wild weather indeed!

I remember reading of this tour and feeling resentful. Only one wet day? Not like our experience.

I was in the UK back in 2014 - with Debbie. We mainly toured Scotland and were quite lucky with the weather in June - just one damp day going over Bealach na Bà.

It sure is - or was, since I actually entered it 7 years ago but never published it for some reason. It’s also rewarding just to reread it and refresh some fond memories.