As part of our training excercise for the upcoming hike our cat and I regularily walk from the house to the part of our plot that some locals call the “Rabbit Run”.
Back and forth this is a good 1’250m, after which the cat sometimes needs to take a break.
You can also consider this video as my contribution to the never ending world supply of cat videos on the internet. Hopefully, this remains an exception.
So we made it up to Caithness. The road was good. We were once more surprised at how serious the Britts are about those traffic cones. They not only mark the way with them, they litteraly build walls with those things…
Before arriving in the UK, we have been worried about the fuel shortage, we read about in the news. This is why we decided to first leave the bigger cities behind us, before trying to find diesel. Turns out, there was no problem really. The very first gas station we tried, had fuel and not even a line of waiting cars. So we took that for a favorable sign and continued our journey north.
Loch Watenan welcomed us with some rain but also with the most heartwarming hello from our neightbours.
Having learned from our last trip, we did NOT try to drive on our plot by night without knowing the state of the ground. This is why we stayed over the night on the parking space south of the lake.
The night was calm and clear, allowing us to see an amazing starry sky.
(OK, you might need some imagination for that one…)
And right now, the day is breaking in a breathtaking manner on Loch Watenan…
So first of all, what does a music gear have to do with hiking or trekking? As we are currently preparing for a longer hike, I created an spreadsheet with all the items we would need to pack along – including their individual weight. This list is divided into different sections with the most crucial sections at the top: Housing, Cooking, Transport, Clothes. The “luxury” items are more at the bottom. However, when reviewing this list, I realised after only being half-way through, that the total weight is about more than we actually wanted to carry. This left me in the situation that I would probably not be able to carry my Roland MC-707 along with my TR-8S along. So I thought, I would have to look for something lighter in my pack.
Here is what I really wanted to take along: a kind of sequencer with drums and samples. Ideally with only small power consumption. Powered by a USB-C power bank.
As I happen to already have the MC-707, I thought this to be a good excuse to finally get an SP-404. However, looking at its weight with 1200g I am not so sure, if that is a good idea. The MC-101 weights only 60% of the SP-404A. The downside, I would then have a device that is nearly identical to something I already have. On the other hand, I could use all my music (and samples) from the MC-707 (as long as I am using not more than 4 tracks).
Maybe, there are other cool devices out there. I must check. Until then, I have not decided yet. Time will tell.
Today I did it – I actually ordered a kilt. Though not from scottish or gaelic descendance, I gave this a try as my trekking or walking trousers. In German language an ancient word for trousers is “Beinkleid“, which somehow could be translated to “a skirt for legs”. So I thought a kilt would just fit into that category.
And having read about the “Dress Act 1746” I certainly wanted to take the advantage of no longer to be “bound down to the unmanly dress of the Lowlander” (as quoted on Wikipedia) …
As soon as the kilt arrives (and if it fits) I will post an update.
Note: the picture in this post is taken as a screenshot from the web site at SportKilt and courtesy of SportKilt. It is the actual model I ordered. I hope they do not mind, me re-using their image here.
Our Journey to Scotland 