Summer has arrived! While our Aberdonian Spring was cold for a long time, the past few weeks have been not just warm, but hot. That’s a term we don’t often use here! It did not rain for nearly 4 weeks – the effects on the natural world had become noticeable. Cracks in the soil, birds changing their food preferences (my grape-aversive crows were now gobbling them up like they were going out of fashion), worryingly low river levels and an absence of mushrooms.
In an overnight display of mercy, finally the rains appeared. That morning, I set off for my cycling holiday to Braemar, delighting in the petrichor smell. Four days of hillwalking and wild swimming lay ahead! Here’s what I found on the first day when I went up Morrone:
I drank the mountain water that was freshly running down across the rock and peat, the best water you’ve ever tasted. I swam in the burn below the mountain and felt fully ‘one’ with the environment.
This coming week I will be once again raising funds for the River Dee Trust’s campaign of planting one million trees along the river’s tributaries. In Glen Shee this project is in full swing:
There are about a thousand saplings in this picture, with each one costing £2.50. This Friday and Saturday I will be doing a duathlon from sea to source (cycling the length of the Dee and back, swimming in 8 places) to raise money for 250 more trees. John will be cycling alongside me as support – and photographer! When I was in Braemar I had a bit of a shock to see myself on the front of the local newspaper where they announced it:
I will be reporting about it here on the blog, including a link to my Justgiving page in case anyone would like to support the cause. For now I’m going to try and get lots of rest to be ready for the long haul on Friday!
The healthy forager 