Someone told me to expect the worst, and plan for it!

Fortunately, we did. as some of you may know we set off last Sunday to ride from Callander to Newtonmore in Scotland. Some 189 miles, not a big ditance in world affairs, but big enough if things do not go well. Day one started with a hint of rain, with a stiff breeze blowing down Glen Ogle, it slowly deteriorated into a full blown gale, with hail, rain and sleet, with the odd snowflake thrown in! By the time we had done 10 miles, we were soaked, and dispite gearing up for cold a wet, I didnt have a single part of me that was not wet!

By lunch time, we had decided that with the horses shivering in this cold, and wet, we would call a temporary halt. Unsaddling was fun, cold numb fingers trying to undo buckles! Anyway, we managed, and a few hours later, with no phone signal, we found some overnight grazing. This was supposed to be flaming June! Hot and sunny, no chance! We had picked one of the worst weeks for doing our trip, and for the next 3 days we were battered with 70 mile an hour winds and all that comes with it! Rivers flooded, trees down trails blocked, our very own tent flattened,and to top it all off, water in the cell phones! The only thing that worked was the stove! At least we ate. finally after three days stuck in the same place and no respite, we called in the back up team. Craig arrived, all smiles? But we straightened him out. Our next destination should have been Glen Tilt and then Glen Marr, but the rivers for horses had become really to dangerous, and we needed to get clothes and saddle pads dried out. Friends in the Great Glen helped us out, and how! Finally with clothes and tack dried out, sleeping bags dry we set off on the last two days of our trip, yes it rained, and yes it was windy, but no where near as bad as what had been. It was to be a quite sobering last two days, as we heard that 4 people had been killed due to the weather in our own community. Here is a few of the pictures we managed.  Tranquility on the last day. 

This video was of the Commemoration, of the Center of Scotland Stone. Which we arrived in time for.

Never have  I known such weatherin June, never seen snow either, totally extraordinary. Sorry there isnt much more folks.