Wilderness, Climbing Mountains, Fishing, Scrabble and Whiskey: Skiary, West Highlands
We came to Skiary full of expectation. Reports of a Loch-side haven preceded us; a haven where you can climb a munro during the morning and plunge into a fresh water stream during the afternoon, a haven where half an hour’s fishing produces dinner for six and lunch for four the following day, a haven where paraffin lamps and candles illuminate the evenings’ conversations, meals, scrabble and whiskey.
Skiary is all of this, and so much more.
831 (and a bit) Miles Around Scotland
26th July - 7th August 2012
Red Telephone Boxes And Scottish Lochs
This July, we’re spending four days at Skiary Guest House on Kinloch Hourn, in the Scottish Highlands.
We’ve been told to expect a 22 mile single track journey, followed by a boat collection and a short transfer across the Loch to the views and food above. Four days of hiking, fishing, reading, relaxing, swimming and eating.
I received the finals details by email last night, and the intriguing holiday plans got an added boost of British charm:
“To arrange pick-up time, you need to phone us from the red phone box at the Tom Doun Hotel, which is on the single track road after you have turned off the A87…”
I cannot wait to use the red phone box.
Skiary Guest House: July Can’t Come Soon Enough!
This is where we will be spending five days in July: Skiary Guest House, on the south shore of Loch Hourn in the Scottish Highlands.
No phones, no electric lights, no cars.
Just good food, hikes, views, late sunsets, wine, whiskey, fishing, staring into the loch, and boat trips.
I cannot wait.
Source: skiary.com
Looking good in Andorra - 54 days and counting!
(Not sure about those queues though. Hmmm…)
Planned Scotland route - July & August 2011 2012. Cannot wait.
Fresh Beginnings
I’m looking forward to 2012.
It’s going to be very, very busy, but I like busy.
The new version of the Bootpack website should be live before the end of February - when I head off for what should hopefully be a powder-filled week in Andorra. The new website will be a much larger affair - we’re not afraid of a challenge - with a broader focus on skiing, snowboarding, mountain sports and photography. Expect resort profiles, ski and snowboard equipment and clothing reviews, skier and snowboarder bios and, sticking to our roots, bigger and better photo galleries.
The new site is being built on Squarespace which, if you’re not familiar with their platform, has been a breath of fresh air. Perfect for designers who have a bit of CSS and HTML knowledge but who also don’t want to get bogged down in code and instead crave time to focus on their content.
I’m hoping to keep regular posts going - both here and on the new Bootpack blog - as well as keeping all the extremities updated (Twitter, Google +, etc, etc).
2012 will also see continued study - this year it’s philosophy and economics - and a vain attempt to read more books and ride my bike more often. I’d also like to do some gardening. I’ll be spending a couple of weeks in Scotland with my better, much prettier half during the summer, staying for a few nights at the potentially spellbinding Skiary Guest House. Very excited.
But New Year’s Eve must come first. Have a good one and adios.
