Day 2 West Highland Way – Drymen to Rowardenan

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Michael Kane

Day 2 West Highland Way – Drymen to Rowardenan

20180810_165427

View from my room

IMG_20180811_164417_026

Long slow day today, uphill the first 3 hours culminating in our first real climb. Then the rain came, descending is not my strength, doubly so in the rain. The kicker was the mini-rollercoaster in the last mile, designated on the map as tiring undulating trail. Very accurate description, but dinner at the Clansman and an early bed tonight, no Netflix no keep me up.

20180810_113901

A rainbow i looked down on was the most beautiful thing i saw today.

I learned a good bit about how remote I really am today.

What made me happy was the beautiful landscapes i got to look at all day.

20180810_112100

Hard day but soooo beautiful,  enjoy the pics and have a happy day my friends. – Rev Kane

Posted in 2018 Adventure, personal happiness | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Day 4 West Highland Way – Ardlui to Tyndrum

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Michael Kane

Day 4 West Highland Way – Ardlui to Tyndrum

Images when I can, sorry

20180812_134159

20180812_134159

 

This day was a hard one to get my head around as I was very focused on my long hike the next day. That makes for hard work, hiking is at least as much mental as it is physical.

 

It was a grey and misty morning, there’s a lot of that in Scotland. But the lake was calm and it was a quiet day.

There was some really pretty trail on my 14 miles and weather-wise it was a perfect walking day.  It was right around 60 degrees, a nice breeze, which keeps the midges away, and not a lot of sun.

There was also a lot of history on the trail today. Some really cool informative signs and then some cool Robert the Bruce connections. Including the pond where his famous lost sword supposedly rests, they checked, it doesn’t. Also some cool battlefield sites as well.

Made it into Tyndrum late, had a terrible meal in town and my first haggis of the trip which was by leaps and bounds the best part of the meal. Twenty miles to Kingshouse in the morning.

Posted in 2018 Adventure, personal happiness | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Day 3 on the West Highland Way -Rowardennan to Ardlui

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Michael Kane

Day 3 on the West Highland Way -Rowardennan to Ardlui

IMG_20180811_164417_026.jpg

Good day so far, little things have gone wrong. Scraped my leg, barman doubled my order and then gave me all my change in coins. The morning hike was totally mellow.

Afternoon didn’t look bad in the guide. Then I had one person mention it was a bad section and another tell me their book said it was the hardest section on the trail. What it was, was the first technical section on the trail. Lots of little ups and downs over roots and rocky paths. A few small scrambles, a ladder and some exposed trail over the loch. I hate exposed trail however when it’s over water it doesn’t bother me as much.

IMG_20180811_164251_665.jpg

This afternoon felt like a section of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, except it wasn’t 40 degrees and pouring. Although I have to admit after the heat of the Mojave, our “hot” afternoon at 66 degrees Farenheit is awesome .

20180811_153420.jpg

Cool hotel experience tonight, taking the ferry across Loch Lomond to to the Ardlui hotel.  Writing this offline while sitting in a tree on the banks of the loch waiting for the ferryman to come off lunch, notice the raised ball and come get me.  Also getting my first midge bites, which is amazing.  Normally there are clouds feasting on you. But we’ve been essentially midge free.

IMG_20180811_163937_919.jpg

What was the most beautiful thing i saw today, the loch at Ardlui.  I learned that Rob Roy’s cave is nothing more than a cave. And what made me happy was just sitting in a tree waiting on my ferry to come.

20180811_152908.jpg

I hope your day has been as happy as my last half hour sitting in a tree by a lake. – Rev Kane

Posted in personal happiness | 2 Comments

Drymen to Rowardenan

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Michael Kane

Drymen to Rowardenan

 

Unfortunately images won’t post due to limited wifi. I’ll add when i can but i got a couple up on Instagram earlier at reverendmichaelkane

View from my room

Long slow day today, uphill the first 3 hours culminating in our first real climb. Then the rain came, descending is not my strength, doubly so in the rain. The kicker was the mini-rollercoaster in the last mile, designated on the map as tiring undulating trail. Very accurate description, but dinner at the Clansman and an early bed tonight, no Netflix no keep me up.

A rainbow i looked down on was the most beautiful thing i saw today.

I learned a good bit about how remote i really am today.

What made me happy was the beautiful landscapes i got to look at all day.

Hard day but soooo beautiful,  enjoy the pics and have a happy day my friends. – Rev Kane

Posted in personal happiness | Leave a comment

Glasgow Cathedral and Legos

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Michael Kane

Glasgow Cathedral and Legos

IMG_20180808_210314_658

Glasgow Cathedral is one of the check box tourist spots in Glasgow. It’s certainly a beautiful old gothic cathedral and the history contained within is very interesting, but it’s not a long stop, however it is free.

For some reason the church was holding an exhibit the day I was there of a famous Lego artist from Scotland. No idea why and not knowing ahead of time, it was a truly bizarre experience and made for some interesting juxtapositions in the photos.

Glad for it all, have a happy day my friends. – Rev Kane

Posted in 2018 Adventure, personal happiness | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Day 1 – Hiking the West Highland Way

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Michael Kane

Day 1 – Hiking the West Highland Way

20180809_081112

Day 1 saw me leaving Glasgow for Milngavie (pronounced Mull-guy) and hitting the trail. I was excited to get hiking and got to the train early. Arriving in Milngavie early paid off, the luggage transfer folks were early and so I hit the trail by 8:30, well sort of. I dawdled around in town and then at a local community center looking for a restroom, but by 9, I was on my way.

IMG_20180809_164126_504

It was a beautiful day for hiking, the temperature was around 60F all day with clouds and sun and a little breeze. Which meant no midges! It’s still early but some blackberries had even started to ripen so I ate my first and thankfully supersweet trail berries of the year.

20180809_092944

Critter count for today, 8 domesticated dog only 2 on leash, 2 slugs, a duo of ducks, some swans, 1 crow, a ton of titmouses and other LBBs, countless coos, a shitload of sheep, a bevy of butterflies and one lone beetle.

IMG_20180809_163756_585

Not much to say on this front other than the flowers have been lovely.

Got to eat my first trail berries for rhe year and they were super sweet and awesome.

20180809_122649

The trail also overlaps with the newly developed John Muir Trail.

It wouldn’t be a Scottish hike without a whiskey distillery on the trail.

IMG_20180809_164359_457

On the way onto Drymman someone left up a gift for us Tolkein fans.

I hit Drymen about 2:15 which once my stops were factored out meant i was hiking about 2.7 mph today.  This made me super happy as I’ve been working on improving my speed on flat sections. I normally hike 2.4 mph regardless of slope. This is fine going up or down but I needed to move faster on the flats, so today was a success on a mostly flat 12 mile section.

IMG_20180809_164953_876

It feels great being back on the trail. Initially I encountered a string of less than friendly hikers but it improved as the day went along. I’m missing the type of instant community that forms on less supported hikes but I also realize all community takes time to form. I did meet a lovely young hiker from Germany though, her name is Ella and she was very nice.

IMG_20180809_164233_934

I am returning to my 3 questions for the hike.

What was the most beautiful thing I encountered today and that would be all the flowers. These were my favorite.

20180809_104744

What made me happy today? Quite simply a beautiful walking day in the Scottish countryside.

IMG_20180809_163949_011

What did i learn today? That my training to increase my pace has been at least somewhat successful.  Also that deepfried Mars bars are a thing in Scotland and not just a county fairs.

A tradition for me hiking in Scotland,  my end of the hike Magnum Icecream bar.

20180809_153337

Have a happy day my friends. – Rev Kane 

Posted in 2018 Adventure, hiking, personal happiness | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Finally in Scotland

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Michael Kane

Finally in Scotland

20180806_210252

The view from my room

So I finally arrived in Glasgow on a cloudy but nice evening.  Currently the European sporting championships are in town, my hotel is full of track cyclists.  I think the mascot is an Otter.

20180806_213406

20180806_220202

I grabbed a taxi from the airport, nice guy, good information, that is of course what I could understand. I love Scotland but it always takes a few days to start try to cleary cut through the accent. Scotland, like most of the UK is a lot like America, but there are subtle differences everywhere, like standing instead of walking people on the crossing lights.

20180806_212304

After a very long night’s sleep, today will be spent exploring and running errands. Although on my walk last night I did find something interesting, those if you with young kids will likely be familiar. My 4 year-old nephew kept trying to explain this characters name to me and I just couldn’t get it, now I do.

20180806_214017

Off to explore, have a happy day my friends. –Rev Kane

Posted in 2018 Adventure, personal happiness | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In First Class and out if place – part 2

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Michael Kane

In First Class and out if place – part 2

IMG_20180805_214621_472.jpg

My pod on the plane

If you missed part 1 of this post you can find it here.

I wanted to just follow on last nights post with my experience on the plane. My personal pod was fabulous, watched Black Panther then laid flat and passed out for 6 hours. Dinner was fabulous.

20180806_000151

You get gifts in international business class, too bad you don’t get to keep the headphones. Noise canceling headphones on an airplane are heaven.

IMG_20180805_215443_875.jpg

Customs was a breeze, got a really friendly and chatty clerk who was interested in my hike and asked a lot of friendly, curious questions.

Wandered through terminal 5 at Heathrow until I landed at the British Airways first class lounge. Not quite as nice as JFK, but couches, wifi, buffet who could complain, certainly not the Minister of Happiness.

 

 

Posted in 2018 Adventure, personal happiness | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

In First Class and Out of Place

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Michael Kane

In First Class and Out of Place

Photo, sunset

I’m a blue collar kid, and although at this point in my life I’ve built a white collar life I often find myself in positions where i feel utterly out of place.

Growing up I had a friend Peter who cane from a wealthy family. The first time I ate dinner at his house was a revelation. The confusion on my face must have shown and his mom asked me to help in the kitchen.  Away from everyone else she did a quick place settng and explained fancy eating to me.  A lesson that still serves me well, she was a truly kind and wonderful woman.

Kicking off my adventure today has been wild and fun.  Got lost on the way to JFK and two other guys made the same mistake I did. One was from UC Davis and we have mutual Sierra College friends.  I met a beautiful Brazillian woman at the airport with her service dog Pandora, she took quite a liking to me, the dog, not the girl although the girl was very nice. I got to speak Portuguese twice tonight and then after security got my real treat.

You see I cashed in all of my air miles for this trip so I could fly international business class to Scotland. This means I have access in the US to the executive lounge.  I’d been in an Admiral’s Club at the airport before but it’s been years. I expected some free snacks and newspaper, free drinks but i should have known better. This is rich people land and the more you pay the better the freebies.

There is a full free buffet, free top shelf drinks and super comfy chairs.  So for dinner I had seared tenderloin, miso glazed salmon, pork tenderloin, cauliflower with wild mushrooms, waldorf salad and a New York standard, a black and white cookie for dessert.

Of course as a blue collar kid and proud hiker-trash I feel completely out of place, but I’m here and happy. I earned my ticket and place at this table, but I still feel out of place. Maybe a wee bit of Makers Mark will help me relax. – Rev Kane

 

 

 

Posted in 2018 Adventure, personal happiness | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

So it begins…Adventure 2018

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Michael Kane

So it begins…Adventure 2018

20180804_141835

Rev Kane at Grand Central

So I’m finally on the road spending my first night in New York with my little nephews my brother and sister-in-law. So much fun playing with the munchkins. I brought them a jug of sea creature toys and little Yogi set up an aquarium on the rug.

20180804_173819

I also of course, had a little pizza.

So while I’m on the road for the next couple of months my posting schedule will be a bit sporadic, and posts will be shorter since I’ll be posting from my phone, so please excuse my poor thumb typing and any mistakes because of it.

Posts from Scotland should be more frequent, but Spain, Portugal and Morocco likely not so much. I’ll do my best to bring you along and hopefully we’ll all have happy days. – Rev Kane

 

Posted in personal happiness | 4 Comments