The training has taken over our lives over the last month!
Heather and I have been up Bennachie and Glen Muick several times dragging poor Howard along with us Hee Hee. This weekend Howard and I were up in the highlands of Scotland at Assynt as part of a photographic workshop Howard was running, I'm the help!
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| Panoramic showing some of the stunning lochs and mountains of Assynt |
Assynt is spectacular and a great area to train for our challenge trek up to Machu Picchu. We visited the ruins of Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt on our first day.
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| Ardvreck Castle, Loch Assynt |
As you can see we were very lucky with the weather, it was fantastic all weekend. On day two we headed up the river towards the Bone Cave, so called because of the archaeological discovery several years ago of Polar Bear bones left over from the ice age when Polar bears were common in Scotland.
There are some lovely photographic opportunities on the way up to the caves including several waterfall and wild flowers.
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| Howard enjoying the lovely weather at one of the many waterfalls we saw. |
As you can see Howard is acting as a spotter for the photographers as this is where the models will sit, while the models get ready. As the "Professional Photographer" he carries his camera bag and helps out the clients and models. Whereas, I carry my camera bag AND the first aid bag!!!
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| Karen (Me) laidened down with my camera bag, the first aid bag and jackets etc. Photo by Tillie Feather |
Great training practise for Peru I was told !!!!! The funny thing is I think he was right, I was very pleasantly surprised how easy it was to carry it all, so the training must be working; maybe I won't die at the challenge after all LOL!!!
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| An early spring Bee enjoys the nectar from some Alpine Primroses |
Over the weekend we enjoyed several walks up the hills to enjoy the mountain views, but it wasn't all a hard trek. Assynt is so beautiful, when you get the weather, that even the lochs and waterfall found near the roadside are worth a visit.
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| Loch Assynt |
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| Waterfall |
These views were all worth it, but now for the bad news as this is where it all went wrong! Our last location was this very impressive waterfall, unfortunately the trek to get to it can be a challenge in its own right and yes I slipped on the shingle and twisted my ankle very badly. It has swollen up like a balloon! Oh well thankfully I have 4 weeks before the challenge and it will probably be fixed in a couple of weeks, I am just going to have to be very, very careful! Right now I am spending the rest of the holiday weekend following the RICE effect (Rest Ice Compression Elevation).
Don't forget you can still sponsor us for our challenge up Machu Picchu through our Just Giving Accounts here
Karen and
Heather.
