Adventures After the walk!

We have been on several adventures since we left the walk and headed back to England.  Most days we have been more busy than when we were walking. Our wonderful hosts have been finding some fun things for us to do during our last weeks here. I have post some pictures of some of the things we have been up to. We went to an indoor go kart track too but forgot the camera so nothing to see there. 

Obstacle Golf (Mini Golf) and Pitch in Putt in Keswick (Kez-ic) in the Lake District 

Dad putting in obstacle golf

Kari on the first tee of Pitch and Putt

We got lucky this day and had some great weather. We played obstacle golf which is pretty much mini golf except this one was on concrete and that made putting somewhat difficult.  I did not win, actually I will admit I was dead last. After that we played Pitch and Putt, a 9 hole course where each hole was about 60 yards and you had a 9 iron and putter. The whole 9 iron thing was hard for me but I did well and ended up winning between Chad, Dad and myself being 3 over. Not bad for someone with no short game!  

Later that evening we returned to Keswick to the theater and watched one of the summer plays that was going on. It was a comedy in 3 acts and was hilarious, we all enjoyed ourselves   

City of York in Yorkshire down south

We headed down south to see other relatives that live in Yorkshire. While there Chad and I took a train to York and spent the day there. York is a very old city and one of the oldest in Europe that still has a wall surrounding it. York has been occupied by Romans, Normans, Saxons and Vikings, so its rich with history. 

Chad outside York Minister

Another view of York Minster

York Minister is one of the most famous minsters (important church) there is. It is also a cathedral because the archbishop has a seat there (the cathedra, where the word cathedral comes from). This site has also been the site of other worship buildings for each of the groups that once occupied the city. Below the minster you can see Roman foundations and lot of artifacts that were found during one of the last major structural renovations of the present day building.

Chad on the wall that surrounds York

Wall of York

York is a very large city and it has grown outside its walls. However, most of the wall is still intact and you can walk along it in various places. The railings you see above were added so people wouldn't go falling off the wall but its interesting to walk along and see the steep banks on outside and imagine people guarding the city from attack. 

Great Yorkshire Show

The next day we attended the Great Yorkshire Shows which has the same idea as our county fairs but its a bit different. The Yorkshire show is one of the largest (or is the largest) regional shows in the country. Its nearly about as crowded as Disneyland too! 

The show has a lot to see and do. It has animal judging, shopping, food, cars, farm equipment and a lot more.

The people we were staying with own a car dealership in the area and have booths at the show. We went in the night before to help fill the hospitality fridge and found an Aston Martin sitting there. While this is not the expensive DB9 its was still pretty spendy at 119,000 pounds which is 190,400 dollars!  The next day we saw a Mercedes SLS AMG Coupe which is also crazy expensive at 145,00 pounds, 234,000 dollars.

Later in the day we watch two shows in the main area. First was show jumping which sounds boring but its not when you are watching it in person. There was a girl who competed from the states and did well but didn't end up placing at the end.

The second show we watched was Lorenzo, a trick rider from Spain who rides standing on the backs of two horses. He will have up to 8 horses at time depending on the type of trick is doing. He also jumps with them too. It was pretty amazing to watch and he has incredible balance. He is doing a show each afternoon with each one being more spectacular. We saw the first one which was pretty spectacular itself so who knows what he did the other two nights.

That is all for now, we head to Hadrian's Wall tomorrow and then to Beatrix Potter land on Friday, hopefully we get to see Harry Potter on Saturday and then Chad and I head to London for a few a days on Sunday, then we get to come home!  Whew all that sounded exhausting when you type it all out. 

Ice Climbing Video

Mom took a video of Chad and I climbing the large wall.
Video on You Tube

Yesterday at the Ice Factor

Note: I posted 5 different posts today in order to catch up with the last 5 days of activities. There are lots of pictures and you probably will have to click "older posts" at the bottom of the page to see all 5 posts from today. I labeled the last four days of the hike 1 of 4, 2 of 4 etc so you know where you are at in the posts. Hope you enjoy!
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Since we finished the way a day early we could now spend the next day at the Ice Factor. The Ice Factor is an activity center in Kinlochleven that is mainly known for its ice climbing wall which is considered the largest in the world. They also have 3 different rock climbing areas that are designated by skill. Outside they have a ropes course and huge swing that you can ride on too. And of course a pub.

After the 16 miler the day before Chad and I were not really feeling up to doing much there. Dad was kinda moping around because he wanted to climb the ice wall. I gave in and said fine, I would do it if he wanted too. Chad couldn't be left out so he reluctantly agreed to climb too. At 11:30 we were in the ice wall room getting our instructions.  We were taught how to use and attempt to trust your crampons (which is really hard to do) and how to use ice picks properly.  After a short instruction we tied in and Chad and I made the first climb up the small wall. We caught on to technique quickly but ice climbing is very different from anything we have ever done that we were using muscles that normally don't get used as often. It was physically exhausting but a hell of a lot of fun.

Since Dad had to belay for Chad on his first run up, they switched places so Dad could climb and I got to try the small wall a second time. My second time up was very quick and I almost beat Dad up the wall and he had a head start. Dad did well, but was using more arms than legs and wore himself out. We all were offered to try to large wall so Chad and I took the challenge and Dad opted out. I will admit that I was pretty reluctant but decided to anyway. We both made it almost to the top but our arms were shot by the time we made it nearly to the top and had to come down. We needed to be using more legs than arms too.

Getting our boots and crampons on

Getting ready to go in!

Practicing the use of our crampons and moving horizontally along the wall

First attempt up the small wall

Kari nearly to top of the small wall and Dad is being tied in, Chad is on belay

Starting up the large wall with instructor Bex on belay

Chad going up the large wall, Dad on belay and instructor Connor keeping an eye on things 

Even though we didn't want to do it at first we are really glad we did. It was an awesome experience and I am glad I don't live in Kinlochleven because I would be climbing that ice wall everyday and spending too much money!

After ice climbing we jumped on a bus and headed in to Fort William to our B &B. Which is neat old place that was a rectory and choir school for the local Episcopal Church at one time. We have had a good day walking around FW and will take a ride on Jacobite Train tomorrow afternoon that takes us to see more great views of Scotland.

St Andrews Guest House, originally a rectory and choir school

Post 4 of 4: Kinlochleven to Fort William July 3rd..LAST DAY

Originally we booked 2 nights in Kinlochleven because of our intention to go to the Ice Factor Activity Center. We had been hearing that the weather may deteriorate before or on the day we had planned to walk the last section of the way. We decided that we would walk to Fort William on July 3rd instead because the weather that day was supposed to really good.

We woke up to a real summer morning on the 3rd and had an early breakfast and was out on the trail by 8:30 am. Which was the earliest we had ever started during the past 10 days. All for good reason, as we had 16 miles that had to be done all at once. Just like the day before, our first task of the day was to climb up another ridge similar to Devils Staircase, this one was not as high but it was just as tiring!

Looking back down on Kinlochleven

If you look at the center of the picture above and you see a mountain sticking out just behind the large one that extends up from the city, that was the area we eneded up coming down from when we came from Kings House the day before. It was a pretty steep walk down!

Dad and Kari resting on the way up the ridge

Looking up the loch from the top of the ridge

Starting to climb up into to the gap between the mountains, not as bad as the others

Well into the gap now, looking back at where we had already walked

Ben Nevis, the largest mountain in Great Britain, we are about 4 miles away from Fort William 

 At this point we had to make a decision. We came to junction and had a choice. We could take the normal WHW trail into Fort William that was 6.5 miles and would take about 3.5 hours. Or we could take the road in which was 4.5 miles and 2.5 hours. Since we had to head back to Kinlochleven for our second night there and meet back up with Mom, we had to get into Fort William before 5:15 to catch to last bus back to Kinclochleven. We opted for the road and walked the 4 miles in on pavement which was not great on the feet. We made into FW with plenty of time. We watched the final match of Wimbledon in pub near the bus station to kill time. We probably could have taken the normal way in but needed to be better safe than sorry.

Fort William at last!!

The original end of the West Highland Way, we made it!

Since we were worried about catching the bus on time we didn't get a chance to see the end of the way until the next day. Even more annoying is that we didn't know the new end of the way is now at the far end of Fort William's main street. We walked right by it when we hiked in the day before but since we were looking for bus info we didn't even notice! So no true pictures of the last day but it is still a great accomplishment. We saw some awesome stuff and are glad to move on to seeing some new stuff for the rest of the time we are here!

Post 3 of 4: Kings House to Kinlochleven-July 2nd

The morning of July 2nd had us leaving Kings House and having to immediately climb the Devils Staircase on the way out of that valley. Mom decided to opt out of today because the steep ups and downs kill her knees and can make a short trip really long. She took a bus to Glencoe and then another to Kinlochleven which was the end point for the day. This day was another one for beauty. Being officially in the highlands for the past 3 days each day seems to produce some new amazing view. 

Kings House Hotel at the base of the mountains

Chad with Buachaille Etive Mor in the background

Dad and Kari in the same spot

First rest of the staircase with Buachaille Etive in the background, you could hike up that if you wanted to, we opted out!

Made it to the top of the staircase

Chad selecting the lunch stop of the day

View of Blackwater Reservoir from our lunch stop 

The trail heading down into Kinlochleven

After the last picture above we still have a few hours of walking an most of it was at such a steep grade that we didn't end up taking anymore pictures because it took a lot of concentration to stay upright and to keep from slipping on the loose gravel on the way down. After climbing 800 and some feet up the staircase we have to walk down about an equal amount. We made it into Kinlochleven mid afternoon.

Post 2 of 4: Inveroran to Kings House-July 1st

We headed out of Inveroran the next morning and the weather was cooperating. No rain today. Not a lot of sun early on but we did end with some. The mileage for the day was 10 miles but according to Dad's trusty West Highland Way book there was nothing to crazy along the way. Each day the scenery seemed to get better and this set of 10 miles had to have been probably one of the most spectacular. Compared to the other days I think this one won! 

Dad and Chad on one of the bridges outside Inveroran and Mom way up ahead

Moving along an old cobbled military road

Kari sitting on a bridge at our lunch stop...it was a midge free area

Chad on the same bridge when the sun came out

Trekking up the large hill of the day

Kari and Chad took an extra hike to the very top of the ridge

Last rest at a bridge before going down into Kings House

Dad showing Chad what distance we had left to go

One of the best mountains in the area called Buachaille Etive Mor, don't have a clue what it says!

Walking the last leg to our hotel there in the distance

Post 1 of 4: Tyndrum to Inveroran-June 30th

On June 30th we left a really nice Bed and Breakfast for Inveroran, which was a 9 mile day. A few miles longer than we had been going the days before.  There is not much accommodation but we were lucky to get into the Inveroran Hotel. This day and the days to follow had the best scenery of the entire way. You can see from the pictures although its not the same as being there in person! 

Kari walking through a stone underpass, it was raining again

Just one of the very large mountains that we would be seeing

Chad on the Bridge of Orchy, our lunch stop before the climb up a ridge

View at the top, we had walked through that valley earlier in the day

Still at the top of the ridge an the general direction for the walk on the following day

More mountains and rain off in the distance

From the top of the ridge which is scene above we had steep walk down the other side and right to the hotel. We could see it on the way down but for some reason didn't take any pictures.