Scotland

We visited Scotland in July, 2011.  The biggest single reason was to visit Marguerite’s nephew Oliver, who was then a doctoral candidate specializing in mycology.  On the first day of our time with him, he took us on the most challenging and demanding hike we have ever taken together.  On the second day, the hike was one of our most memorable.

Oli lived on the essentially unoccupied side of Loch Maree, the fourth largest in Scotland.  On a perfect day for hiking, he took us straight up the mountain behind the estate where he was living.  One of many memorable views is shown below.  In addition to the majesty and bleakness of the image, I was struck by the fact that in the entire photo, I can find nothing that shows the hand of man.  From this distance, it appears to be untouched.