B = A+

Wind Farm

Our hill walking club has been at it for 100+ years; they know what they are doing. As an aid, they rate each of the walks on a scale of difficulty. The scale is somewhat subjective, but it helps. Difficulty is generally assessed as a function of miles, elevation gain, and trail conditions. D walks are usually 6 or so miles with little elevation gain over well-established pathways. C walks are longer, with elevation gain, with some challenging footing. And so forth.

Well, this latest walk bent or broke the rules. What was listed as a B walk of 12 miles ended up being much more. And, there was much grumbling. Actually, there was a bit of a mutiny as well. At one point the leader announced we would be walking across an open field with cows and a bull. This is not uncommon; after all, the Scottish National Right To Roam law means that we can walk most everywhere, public land and private land included. And, the leader had recently been here on a recce in preparation. Some walkers were having none of that. They spontaneously separated from the group and walked in a completely different direction; no cows and bull for them. It was a wonder to watch the leader's reaction to the insurrection.

Turns out, we walked by the first and largest wind farm in all of Scotland, over one hundred turbines (see photo). In just 20 years or so, the country has gone from little to no wind energy to now having virtually 100% wind energy. Impressive. Oh, the B = A+ blog title reverts to the fact that our 12 mile walk ended up being 20 miles with 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Definitely not a B rated walk; more like A+. Long day. Phew.