Hiking the West Highland Way

 

At the end of August/beginning of September Kaefer took a solo hike along the West Highland Way in the Scottish Highlands. The West Highland Way (WHW) is a 96 miles (154 km) long walking route from Milngavie to Fort William. Milngavie is north of Glasgow and Fort William is in the Scottish Highlands at the foot of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles.

In the morning she had taken the earliest Eurostar from Brussels to London from where she took the train to Glasgow. Last purchases were made there and then she took the bus to Milngavie where she started her hike in the later part of the afternoon. Around 5:45 pm a Scot, walking toward her, looked at his watch and said "the pubs in Fort William are closing soon". Classic...

For the first night she had booked a room because she had expected to arrive late and didn't want to pitch her small tent in the dark. It was a good decision since this was a very long day. 

The next day, along Loch Lomond, was a mixed bag regarding the weather.

But it was lovely when she arrived at her campsite, after having hiked more than 32 km (19.8 miles).

Every morning she got up real early and that morning she was rewarded with a beautiful view of the very still lake.

Loch Lomond is the largest fresh water lake in Great Britain and the WHW follows its eastern shore which extends roughly 24 miles (39 km). She sent us many beautiful photos of this section.

That evening she did some "wild camping" which is allowed on the WHW. It was too far to the nearest established campsites. She had hiked about 23 km (14.3 miles) that day. She had found a beautiful spot right on the shore.

Unfortunately, the weather got worse. She told me that after the second night, which was rainy, her tent never comletely dried - and that, of course, made her backpack even heavier. This reminds me of our camping trip through Alaska more than 20 years ago when our tent seemed to be constantly wet.

But Kaefer kept her smile.

While she didn't meet many other hikers during the day - everybody was more or less hiking in the same direction, South to North - she did meet other living beings.

What would the Scottish Highlands be without highland cows?

Or without heather?

Despite the rain, every now and then the sun peeked through and Kaefer shot some atmospheric photos.

 

One hiker who was passing her was kind enough to take a photo of her at Devil's Staircase.

The view from Devil's Staircase. It sure is a lonely area.

Every now and then there were rocks put in the path in order to cross creeks.

On the last leg - another 24 km - the weather turned to the better...

... only to turn cloudy again near Ben Nevis.

Finally, on the seventh day - the end of the way!

She sure looks happy and can be very proud of this accomplishment. I sure am proud of her.

That evening's dinner was well deserved!

All photos are by Kaefer and her face joins Nicole's Friday Face Off today.

Art Cards

 

I haven't done any art recently, so for Nicole's Sunday in the Art Room I show you some beautiful art cards I found at one of the local nurseries. All of these cards were created by Marion Rose Stern, a local artist. Unfortunately I couldn't find any information about her and the staff at the nursery couldn't tell me much either.

I'm tremendously enjoying her art. She works in both watercolor and acrylics.

Her acrylics:

"Cedar Waxwing"

"Burro and Butterfly"

This card reminds me of our sweet neighborhood donkey that passed away in January 2025.

A favorite of mine:

"The Raven"

And these are the watercolors:

"Red Avadavat"

"Lucy, on a Stroll, in the Fog"

You bet, that I love this one. Kibeau was orange and white, but he had spots, not stripes.

"Notorious Bee Catcher"

And this is the watercolor card, that first drew my attention to this artist. I wish I could paint like that.

"Yelo Moon"

Whenever I am at the nursery I look through Stern's cards, always with an idea in my head to whom I will send them. The nursery will soon close for the season, but I hope there will be more cards next year, when they open again at the beginning of March.

Owls and Quails

 

During our visits to the Sonoma Botanical Garden (here and here) we came upon these owl and quail sculptures before entering the shady part of the garden. They were part of the 2025 "Winged Wonders" exhibition. The sculptures are made from split and solid bamboo by Boston-based artist duo The Myth Makers, Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein. The Winged Wonders sculptures represent native birds found in the garden. Unfortunately I didn't see the exhibition back then, but I was glad that the owls and quails remain at the garden.

These owl and quail sculptures are 20 feet tall and tower over you - it's quite impressive. The following picture was taken from inside one of the owls.

The quail sculptures used to sit at the edge of the vineyard during the exhibition. Now they live in the shade of old oaks. 

After all, it is our state bird, so it should feel quite at home here.

And the owls do have their very own home.

These are my - owlish - faces for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

If you're interested in seeing more of these Winged Wonders birds (there are some really beautiful ones), just follow this link.