On Applecross beach

I've noticed that the sign at the head of the bay, which was removed by campers, has been replaced. It politely asks people not to camp on that stretch of beach and requests that they do not have fires. Apparently, all fires should be below the high water mark anyway; however, burning away the grass that consolidates the soil and provides the environment that brings them there in the first place would be counter-intuitive.




On my morning runs I have seen more and more people camping here and I am dread to think what their idea of suitable toilet facility is, perhaps some do travel to the public toilets in the village; however, I tend to think those folk are in the minority.

The other morning, whilst running across the grass I came across a used nappy, what a wonderful indicator of someone's thoughts on the area. Why come if that is what they think of the place? Or, perhaps more likely, these people just take rubbish and trash with them wherever they go...I shudder to think of what there houses/gardens are like.




I think it more suitable that people camp on the far-side of the bay; after all, that is not home to trees and soil, just sand with a thin grass carpet. Perhaps, by providing facilities (like those found at many tourist beaches) for visitors, i.e. bins, toilets, etc. the situation could be better managed.
The recent media coverage of Applecross has undoubtedly had an effect on the number of visitors and the general wear and tear that they bring with them. I think that people should come to Applecross, after all the number of pictures and comments about the place on the popular photo sharing pages,etc would suggest that it is generally enjoyed by many. I also think that camping is okay...in the appropriate places. If people cannot camp responsibly, without trace; then, why not stay on campsites with proper facilities where someone cleans up behind them?













Finally for anyone who has camped at Applecross bay, our primary school children help clean the beach of rubbish: how would you like your child to come across other peoples dirty nappies, etc? All I would ask is that people show respect for what is a beautiful spot and treat it accordingly.

These pictures were all taken after a quiet week-end. Granted the erosion is the reuslt of a couple of years of camping and fires, but all the bonfires pictured here were recent. Imagine what it'll be like during the summer holidays...disasterous (at least for those who are left to live here).


If you come to Applecross and want to camp, please do so consideratley and responsibly, not thoughtlessly.

Enough of my ranting, for now!

Easter visit to Applecross

During the Easter holiday Sarah's cousin and his family came to visit. It can be difficult having relatives over; however, this was more like having friends to visit. The video is an experimental version and in future I shold be able to embed some longer clips; however, for now...I hope you enjoy this one (spot the carrot).

Running

Well the progress up the bealach has improved to a height of 380m (over halfway); however, running uphill for such long periods seems to be having a detrimental effect on my knees. So, I've reduced the number of weekly hill runs. In fact, I've reduced the number of runs as I'll be training for the Loch Ness Marathon from mid-June. So, for now, I'm just maintaining a base mileage of somewhere around 20 miles a week. Yesterday evening I ran 6 miles in 46 mins on top of dinner...it wasn't the most comfortable run I've had...I'm so used to early morninig runs on an empty stomach that I hadn't reckoned on the food factor; still, lesson learnt :-)

Zoe has a cold: wheezy, coughing and sniffling and has been confined to barracks for two days now.

Andrew seems to be fine. Sarah is suffering from cabin fever (loking after Zoe) but got out of the house for an hour this morning to help with the Strupag (gaelic for tea and chat) at the local hall. Tables of home baked goodies, soup, pizza and soup all without charge (just a donation). Apparently, they raised £200 for the Applecross Playgroup. Good effort.

Spring has sprung

Well, its 8 o'clock in the morning...it's sunny, the temperature in Applecross is 8 degrees celsius and the wind is a gentle 5 mph breeze from the South. Trees are budding, some are already in leaf...some daffodils are waving in the breeze and I almost ran into (literally) my first lark yesterday morning.
I've been running uphill the last few mornings...training myself for an attempt on the bealach in the near future. That was where I nearly ran into a pasionately singing, descending lark!

Snow again

It's been a while since my last post and the presence of white hills across Applecross have prompted me to update (briefly). Occassional sunny spells light up the hills brilliantly until the next band of showers are blown in on the strong northerly winds which have been gusting all night long. It looks as though we will have to go around the coast road to reach Lochcarron today.

Some history...I completed the Inverness half marathon in 1:53:04. It was snowing horizontally at the start line and we had drizzle, rain, snow and subshine with blustery winds throughout the race...almost four seasons in one day. My grateful thianks go to the boys and girls of the Territorial Army and Army Cadets who marshalled the course providing cheery hospitality and encouragement in what wereinhospitable conditions for standing around.

Andrew's birthday on Monday and we are hoping to get to Inverness to take him to the pictures and swimming and possibly a pizza or aomething similar. Thankfully, the weather looks like it's going to improve by then.

Anyway, just a short post this time...bye.

Worth waiting for?

Well, we did not escape the white blanket; however, we fared far better than some parts of the country, apparently! It's still not advisable to use the roads and we're hoping that they'll be clear next week. I worked an extra day Saturday so we could go to Inverness mid-week. The cats haven't had their stitches out and food supplies are running low. All status quo for the time of year.

Running is fun in the snow!

There's no snow like no snow

Well, as you've probably gathered from the post title, we haven't had any of the recent snow in Applecross yet. Which, in my humble opinion, is probably a good thing as it only means extended isolation and increased fuel costs; however, Andrew would probably not agree.




Countdown to the Inverness race: 5 weeks and counting..hopefully the weather isn't going to make the training more hard work than it needs to be, after all I'm not competing with anyone but setting myself a race benchmark for the future. At least that's my story. for now!






The kittens have had the 'snip' and are sporting bald patches on their flanks just in front of their hips; I guess this is why they're a bit reluctant to go out when there's a cold wind blowing?

Belated Happy New Year

The year is 18 days old as I write and it has snowed again. There is a good covering of the stuff down to about 1000 feet. The nights are slowly shortening, it works out as about 2 minutes a day I think; at least it's not completely dark at 5 o'clock and torches are not necessary, in good weather, just to get home.


After resting what I think was a patellar tendonitis injury over christmas (by rest I mean exchanged running for cycling and race-walking) I have run again, with no ill effect unless you count stiff quadriceps and hamstrings. Starting to think of the race in the first week of March more now.