Sunday's Psalm--Third Sunday of Easter

Lord, you will show us the path of life.

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.

Lord, you will show us the path of life.

I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

Lord, you will show us the path of life.

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.

Lord, you will show us the path of life.

from Psalm 16

Connect to other illustrated psalms on Sundays at Robert's challenge on Athens Daily Photo.

ABC--X--always problematical

I am bypassing my UK trip photos for this letter, as the perfect example showed itself the other day.

How did this come about up there in the forest treetop? Here are the ground level views of the trees involved.

 


















The root systems of evergreens are very shallow, and often depend on intertangling with other trees in the vicinity for stability to support their bulk. Despite the extent to which the tree on the right is uprooted, its crown still appears healthy. I wonder how long that will be, and how long the tree has leaned as it is now.

When ABC Wednesday reaches the letter X, I always think of two things. X brings out the creativity in all of the participants--it will be interesting to see what is posted. And another round wil l start soon--shall I continue? Probably so--I have been hooked since round two and have not missed a week except this summer while traveling--and I made those letters up.

Beaver Pond

Trail of the Shadows, Longmire, Mt. Rainier National Park

Weekend Reflections--sponsored by James at Newtown Daily Photo.

George took us on another hike while we were in Swansea

Well, actually Liz and Mike did, but George likes to take the credit.

They took us to this lovely beach.

With this awesome sky for SkyWatch Friday.

SkyWatch Friday has the SkyWatch Showcase at the site this week, along with this week's sky posts from around the world. Be sure to stop by to see.

Oops, George got distracted.

This view shows the reason that this is called Three Cliffs Beach.

Thanks for your patience. Still lots to do getting the house back to normal. We're sure we'll reach for things for the next few months and find them not there and say "oh..." But it's stuff--just stuff.

Worm's Head

 Liz and George and I had our "official" Blogger meet-up photo earlier in the day at another beach and here it is. But since I started with the afternoon walk out to Worm's Head (not to be confused with the head of the "worm" currently gracing my header) I must show you how delighted George was to show it to us.

See: "Come on, you guys. What are you waiting for? I think I can put in twice as many steps as you in getting out to the point."

The spit of land that is the Worm's Head reaches out into the Bristol Channel from the point that extends west from Swansea.

You can hike out there if the tides are right, but the high tides cover the spit, and you have to time your hike to fit within the window of opportunity. We used lunch as an excuse to time  ours nicely so that we wouldn't have to decide whether to go or not.

I don't think everyone notices that the "worm" has an eye--you might not see this natural arch if you don't hike out there--or get really curious with your zoom lens.

Later this evening I will show you what else we saw at Worm's Head with a SkyWatch post. And our walk to Three Cliffs is coming up, too.

Hadrian's Wall

Back in the year 122, the Emperor Hadrian traveled to the limits of the Empire to check things out. Rather than try to expand further, he decided that it would be wise to consolidate and strengthen the existing expanse of Roman territory. Visiting Roman England, he ordered that a wall be built--to keep the barbarian Picts from crossing into the Empire and making mischief.

You see, there was trouble from the Scots even then. My Scots husband had no trouble going down the steep hill on this portion of the wall trail. Myself, I was scooting down one stepping stone at a time on my seat.

The wall stretched from the Irish Sea on the west to the North Sea on the east--about 73 modern miles. From Carlisle to Newcastle--from the River Solway to the River Tyne--portions of the wall are still intact and the route of the wall makes up the popular trail.

It was eight to ten feet wide and 15 feet high. In a few portions of the path, you actually walk ON the wall, not just beside it.

It was not just a wall. Small forts called milecastles were built into it every Roman mile. There were gates opening to the north (not everyone on that side was feared.)

And several large forts were built as well.

the ruins of Houseteads--one of the larger forts

Since the Hadrian's Wall Path shares itself with sheep pasture, there are some means of keeping them in place. These gates do not assume that everyone will remember to close the gate behind them. And in some places, instead of a gate, there is a stile.

We hiked along just a few miles of Hadrian's Wall. We would like to go back to walk more of the wall and see the ruins of the Roman town of Vindolanda, where civilian artifacts have recently been found, including typical letters home.

Two more days of hikes--Cul Mor and Stac Pollaidh

Fog! We set off for Cul Mor not anticipating long views. Some days are like that.

We did get to see some of the lochs below through the damp. I think this is Loch Veyatie. Cul Mor is a challenge. I looked back to see the others scrambling up the rocks behind me. (How did I get ahead?)

...and ahead to see what was coming as we continuned upward.

This time I was among those at the top, as we gathered around the trig mark at the highest point.

I think this is Stac Pollaidh, our goal for the next day. I am not sure, as the most distinctive part of that peak would be hidden there in the cloud.

Friday's hike, easier in some ways--up to a certain point. You can see the top from here.

This is the top. Shaun knew not to ask me to take those vertical rock walls. Ranney and I remained to watch and look around.

We could look back to Cul Mor--you could actually see the top today.

While the mountains in the Torridon area were like a range--lots of hills and ups and downs, these rise up from the surrounding plain as individual monoliths. You definitely start at the bottom.

Here they come back down--a white knuckle experience for some. They could truthfully say they climbed Stac Pollaidh. I am content to say that I climbed ON Stac Pollaidh.

Where had they gone? Up there!

Over the hill

Over the hill, a short hike away...











...is a beach.

There ready for enjoyment.

...of locals and dogs, and international hikers.

Gairloch forest and farm stroll

Our day in the Gairloch area took us along a lovely pathway past a manor house...

...and a horse farm--there was a riding class in session.

Both homes shared in the abundance of wildflowers to be seen in the neighborhood.

We got beyond the inhabited area and Shaun pointed out the lone cottonwood (I think it was cottonwood) tree.

That one there on the hill. Once there was a forest.

As I mentioned, we were on our way to a waterfall. There it is.

Name? Waterfalls here don't have names.

We actually did take shelter --all of us--under this uprooted tree's extensive root system when a sudden shower came along. It was the only serious rain of the day.

It was there also that I changed memory cards in my camera, so the rest of the hike are in another folder. Up to this point I had taken 654 pictures. I have two more cards which will take us through the rest of Gairloch, the rest of the Highlands, our trip back to Edinburgh, down through Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, to Wales and finally London. The trip isn't over yet.