Entries about hail

Today we went for yet another hike in Cairngorms National Park, this one was in Glenmore Forest Park. The walk itself was titled Meall a'Bhuachaille..you all can have a go at trying to pronounce that one (Bh is pronouced "V").

Today's hike turned out a little different. It was fine at first, the weather wasn't too bad and the sun even came out a few times, but as we neared the summit of our little hill we noticed that the wind was picking up, and some dark grey clouds were headed our way. A few minutes later some snow started to fall down on us, which wasn't bad at first, it just meant sticking another layer on to keep warm and we would be free to continue on. But it started to come down faster, and turned into hard little bits of ice which we were pelted with continuously. When we got to the top there was a small wall of rocks which we sat behind to try and stay out of the wind. But it looked to us as if there could be rain coming and so we decided that we might as well continue walking, as we'd be wet either way. The wind had picked up even more, but we pushed through, hoping we could find the shelter that the information centre had said was somewhere along the way. The rain never did come, but the hail stayed unfortunately. But as we got partway down the other side we were able to get out of most of it, which was quite a relief. The hillside was pretty steep, and a little slippery from the few days of weather, which isn't a great combination. But at least the other three were able to keep their footing. Closer to the base we found the shelter that we had heard about, and decided to stop in for a few minutes to have a little lunch. We were joined later by a few others, along with their 8 month year old dog. You all are probably thinking "Aww, how cute.. a puppy!", but it wasn't quite like that. It looked to us like a cross of a Doberman and a Rottweiler, and it was so huge that even the man holding his collar looked to be having trouble. Some of you may know that one of my biggest fears are dogs, especially large ones... who aren't on a leash... and are very energetic... and want your chocolate. But we were soon on our way again, eager to get on with our walk. The rest of the hike was very flat, as we just circled around the bottom of the hill around to our car. But before we were able to seek refuge in Winston, we got our last bit of weather, some nice rain to finish everything off nicely.

When we finished our route we decided that we were done for today, as the weather had been pretty nasty and we all just wanted to have a warm drink, or in my case, a shower.

I've also decided to include a short summary, if the details were just too much to handle and get your head around.

Wow, this is pretty. Yeah, quite nice. Now I'm tired... and hot. Oh, but not for long. Wow, that's a strong wind. Ooh, snow! Ow... ow that hurts... wow, that's a lot of hail. Yay, the top! WIND.. MORE WIND. Lots more hail. Finally, a break with food and shelter! OH MY GOODNESS.. IS THAT A BEAR? No? Just a dog?.. okay... Great, this is nice and flat. The car is so close!!... but... RAIN.

After we got home my parents took a nap (surprise surprise!!) and Hannah and I just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. Later we got a knock on our door, and when we answered it turned out to be our friendly landlords offering us some freshly baked scones. They were warm and delicious and we all thoroughly enjoyed them. My mom was even able to wiggle her way into getting the extra one.