Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

Visiting Kirkwall and the Broch of Guerness – St Magnus Cathedral, the Earl’s and Bishop’s Palaces, Orkney Museum, and Tankerness House and Garden

After Rousay I spent two days in Kirkwall and they were the coldest and wettest of my days in Orkney so far. Luckily, I had a lovely airbnb accommodation that was warm and cozy. There was a mini self-catering area with breakfast items provided and the opportunity to microwave a dinner and make many cups of tea. It was a lovely refuge from the weather! It was also within easy walking distance to Kirkwall’s historic town centre,

and so after the first of those cups of tea, and a welcome clearing of the sky, I headed out to explore Kirkwall. I expected the historic main street to be very busy with cruise ship passengers milling about (one or two large cruise ships dock in Kirkwall each day) but it was surprisingly quiet, perhaps because it was a Sunday.

It didn’t take long to reach St Magnus Cathedral which is visible from miles around. Built of red sandstone, its tower is 50 metres high!

The cathedral was founded in 1137 by Earl Rognvald who was a nephew of Saint Magnus and the Earl of Orkney and Shetland under Norwegian rule. Earl Rognvald was canonized in 1192, and the remains of both saints are buried within pillars in the choir, the oldest part of the church.

Here is a view from near the west entrance, looking down the nave towards the chapel. The length of this impressive cathedral is 66 metres.

There was an excellent pamphlet provinding information about the history of the cathedral and describing many of the historic items to be found within. From left to right below are: a medieval town cross (1621), moved here from Broad Street; a statue of Dr. John Rae, employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company who explored the Canadian Arctic and helped discover the Northwest Passage; a 13th century gravestone, the cathedral’s oldest, with a carved “morning star” symbol and sword, possibly denoting a crusader; a memorial to the HMS Royal Oak, a battleship sunk in Scapa Flow in 1939, featuring the ship’s brass bell and a Book of Remembrance to honour those who died – the pages are turned every week by the cathedral custodians. (Click on any photo in this to see an enlargement.)

Also in the cathedral were many 17th century tombstones that once covered burials in the floor of the nave. At some point in a later century the remains were exhumed and reburied in the graveyard, and the headstones were arranged along the walls of the cathedral. As well as inscriptions and some elaborate carvings such as coats of arms, all of the tombstones feature grim reminders of death in the form of images such as skulls, crossbones, hour glasses, and gravediggers’ spades. Many also end with the blunt words, “Remember Death.”

After visiting the cathedral I walked across the street to visit the Earl’s and Bishop’s palaces. The set of photos below is from the Earl’s Palace which was built around 1606 by Patrick, Earl of Orkney, who ruled the Northern Isles for Scotland from 1592 to 1615.

The nearby Bishop’s Palace was built in the early 1100s when the Northern Isles were under Norwegian control. Constructed at around the same time as the cathedral, the palace was a grand residence for the bishops of Orkney and was a symbol of their political importance, prestige, and power.

After my visit to the Earl’s and Bishop’s palaces I continued along the main street, past its shops and cafes, and soon reached Kirkwall’s harbour. This harbour is where I would catch my next ferry to the northern isle of Westray.

Next I visited Kirkwall’s “Peedie Sea” (“peedie” means little), a large circular pool and adjoining pool of salt water where I saw two lovely swans who very protective of their five little gray cygnets. Other birds are to be found here and sometimes even otters!

I really enjoyed my walking tour of Kirkwall. I shopped for groceries and then returned to my accommodation just as the rain started to fall again. It was a perfect time to start a new book, “The Golden Bird”, by the well-known Orcadian poet and author George Mackey Brown.

The following morning it was very gray, very wet, very windy, and very cold! I briefly considered not heading out to visit the Broch of Guerness, but in the end I put on my waterproofs, grabbed my umbrella, and headed out. At the bus stop I met Gerard again. He was embarking on the next leg of his St Magnus Way walk and we enjoyed talking together on the bus until we both exited at the small community of Evie – Gerard to head north towards Birsay, and I to head down a long hill and then along a puddled track that led past and around a long curve of beach.

It was a wild and wet walk and really quite wonderful! When I reached the Broch of Guerness though I was definitely ready to warm up and dry off a bit in the small but excellent Visitor Centre. Here is the Broch of Guerness, an Iron Age broch that was built sometime between about 500 and 200 BC. It was encircled by deep ditches and ramparts which were filled in sometime after AD 100.

Outside of the broch there was a small accompanying settlement of stone houses, yards and sheds. At first glance (top left photo), I was looking at a rather confusing jumble of stones, strikingly covered in thick white lichen. But, as I entered each home things became more clear. Each house had a main room with a hearth, a waterproof tank for water (lined with clay), cupboards, and sleeping spaces. Some of the houses also had a small yard, open to the sky, and a shed. In the bottom photo, you can clearly see the hearth, water tank, and a quern stone used for grinding bere (an early form of barley) and oats.

There was a clear passageway leading to the entrance to the broch where the most important family would have lived. Inside, the broch originally had one central hearth and would have been at least three stories tall. In later centuries, the central space was divided into multiple living areas by slabs of stone.

Here is a view from the back of the broch,

and here is a view looking across towards Westness on Rousay where I had visited the Midhowe Broch.

I was very glad that I had braved the elements to visit the Broch of Guerness, but was less glad when there was no prospect of begging a ride back to Kirkwall. There were only a few other parties visiting the broch (the weather!), and they were all heading north to Birsay rather than south to Kirkwall. I did get a ride back up the long hill to the main road, and then I started walking and hitchhiking because the return bus wasn’t coming for another three hours. Google told me that it would take 5 hours and 36 minutes to walk to Kirkwall! I walked for maybe 40 minutes, in thankfully just a light rain now, but there was little traffic. Finally, the sixth car stopped and whisked me back to Kirkwall! Thank you kind sir!

I was dropped off at the harbour and decided to treat myself to a hot lunch at Helgi’s pub. I had read that there were illustrations and text on the walls here copied from the Okneying Saga. They were quite marvellous!

Then, en-route to my accommodation, I stopped to visit the Orkney Museum which is located almost directly across from St Magnus Cathedral. It is housed in Tankerness House which was built in the mid 1500s as a manse for the archdeacons and choir masters of the cathedral.

It was an excellent museum, with well-curated and presented exhibits covering the history of the Orkney islands from prehistory through the 20th century. There was a lot to see! I spent most of my time in the Neolithic, Iron Age, and Viking-era exhibits. Below are Neolithic decorative inscribed stones, and to the right is a beautiful 6th or 7th century Pictish sandstone tablet, carved with the image of an eagle and elegant geometric designs.

I was very interested in a display of items found in a Viking burial ship that was discovered on the island of Sanday after a storm revealed it (I will be visiting Sanday and the beach where the remains of the ship were found). A woman, a man, and a child were buried in the ship with their grave goods that included a beautifully carved whalebone plaque, whalebone gaming pieces, antler combs, shears, a spindle whorl, a double-bladed iron sword with its guard decorated with silver and brass, arrows in a wooden quiver, and an ornate brooch of mercury-gilded copper alloy with silver capped bosses.

As well as the many excellent collections and displays found in multiple rooms of the manse, there was an exhibit of the drawing room, dining room, and staircase as they would have looked in the 1820s when the prominent Baikie family owned Tankerness House. The curving stairway was so beautiful!

After my time in the museum I stepped out into the walled garden of Tankerness House. What a delight! It a refuge from the wind and, after enjoying the flowers and other plantings, I found a place to sit and rest my feet a bit before the walk back to my accommodation.

The garden was a lovely way to end my two days of exploration in Kirkwall and at the Broch of Guerness. I returned back to my cozy accommodation to read, rest, write, and prepare for my next day’s onward journey. Thank you to Kirkwall, Orkney’s historic capital, and to Fiona and Ian for their kind hospitality.

Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

A Quick Trip to Egilsay – St Magnus Way and Church, RSPB Onziebust Nature Reserve, and Eastside Beaches

On my last full day on Rousay I took a morning ferry to the nearby small island of Egilsay where I would have four hours on the island before the next return ferry. On Saturdays and Sundays, this ferry service is only available on prior request. I wasn’t willing to request an entire ferry just for me, but after enquiring I learned that the ferry had already been requested and so I was able to go. It was another beautiful morning – hurray! – and I headed down to the ferry terminal early to visit the Rousay Heritage Centre which has some displays about the history and flora and fauna of the island. Back outside I admired the sailboats at anchor off shore and the view of the hills from the far end of the pier.

Here comes the boat! Vehicles that take this ferry need to drive onto the deck in reverse, but there were no vehicles driving either off or on this morning.

Up in the passenger lounge I met Gerard, a Dutchman who had requested the ferry as he was starting his walk on the St Magnus Way which begins on Egilsay. We were the only two passengers! It felt odd to have the entire ferry operating just for the two of us, but I was grateful that Gerard had requested it or else I would have been unable to visit the island. Gerard led mountaineering trips in the Alps for thirty years, and he has walked many long distance trails, chiefly in Scotland and Spain, so we had lots to talk about. We landed at the Egilsay pier and this was the view over to Rousay (the tall lone windmill located at the Heart of Rousay Boardwalk is just visible on a hill on the left side of the photo).

This was the curving beach just north of the pier with an enticing-looking headland beyond.

I started up the road (a little ahead of Gerard as we both like walking alone), and this was an early view of St Magnus Church, seen from across a field full of tiny buttercups and daisies.

St Magnus’ Church was built in the late 12th century on the site of a much older church. The tall round tower is reminiscent of round towers found in Ireland except for the tapering of the shape. The tower is fifteen metres high but it was originally twenty metres and would have had five or six stories inside.

I walked all around the church and inside. I loved the colour of the stones and the irregularity of their shapes and placements.

Inside the sanctuary of the church there were two small recessed shelves. There was an old nest tucked into the back of one, and a new nest in the other with eggs in it! Sadly my photo did not turn out well. I had plenty of time on the island, and I wasn’t planning to walk far, so I sat for a while on a bench seat in a corner of the church yard, protected a bit from the wind by the high stone fence. I enjoyed my views of the church, the sea, sky, and Rousay in the distance.

I left the church via a track, with this view back. I was officially walking on St Magnus’ Way, a  58 mile pilgrimage route through Mainland Orkney, inspired by the life and death of Magnus, Orkney’s patron saint.

I turned onto another track which led to the crossroads of the island. At present, less than thirty people live on Egilsay.

Then a left turn led me due east towards the sea. The bird life here was amazing! I was walking through a part of the RSPB Onziebust Nature Reserve which covers more than 55 percent of the island, in cooperation with island farmers. Curlews and oyster catchers were rising into the air noisily as I walked, but not just because of me. There were gulls about, flying low over the fields likely looking for eggs or chicks, and I saw two small hawks that I think were Kestrels hovering and swooping as they hunted. I loved watching them. Small birds sang from somewhere out of sight or sometimes on fence posts, and I’m quite sure that I saw several Arctic terns fly in from the sea.

I stopped often to watch the birds, but I didn’t do any photography as I was eager to get to the beach while the sky was still blue because…..it looks like this!

What a beautiful beach! And here was the view to the south.

I headed north up the beach and didn’t get far before stopping to admire the angled rock formations, decorated with sea pinks and bright yellow lichen.

This was the next beach on, and then another after that. Wow!

The sky to the west was starting to darken so I headed back to the first beach to have my lunch and I met up with Gerard who kindly took my picture.

There he goes, off to explore the north beaches.

There is more walking to be had on the island, south down the main road, but I decided to spend my time here, sitting quietly and looking out to sea, waiting for the birds and other wildlife to say hello. A grey seal came by for a peek at me, and a small flock of shore birds landed on the beach for a few minutes to quickly scamper over the sand and seaweed before lifting off again. One stayed a minute or two longer than the rest.

The sky was just as mesmerizing as the waves and the shifting colours of the sea. While I watched rain fall in the distance, dark clouds approached from behind and surprised me with sudden rain and then an onslaught of hail. But, I had my trusty umbrella with me and sat huddled beneath it, quite happily dry as I watched the hail fall and bounce off of the beach rocks all around. Ten minutes later it was all done!

I said goodbye to the lovely beach and headed back up the track towards the centre of the island – the tallest hill on Rousay is centred in the distance.

I had attached my zoom lens onto my camera at the beach, but the birds were much quieter now at around noon. The hawks, terns, and gulls were no longer in sight but I did manage these two feeble photos of a curlew and an oyster catcher.

In a field near the track is a monument dedicated to St Magnus that marks the place where he was slain by order of his cousin Earl Hakon. Magnus shared the earldom of Orkney with Hakon and in 1117, at an Easter-time parlay here on Egilsay to resolve differences, Hakon arrived with an army of eight boatloads of men rather than the agreed-upon two boatloads of men each. Magnus – pious, peaceable, and well-liked – was slain by one of Hakon’s men who was forgiven by Magnus prior to the deed being done. The story is told in the Orkneying Saga. (You can hear a narration of the text in this YouTube video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C-bBXX8_AB0)

I returned to the crossroads and had some time remaining before the ferry so I spent a few minutes in the island’s wonderful little community centre which is always open for islanders or visitors to enter, make a cup of tea or coffee, use the computer, or maybe even play a game of ping pong. I perused some of the bird books, trying to identify the little bird I had seen on the sand.

Then it was time to return to the pier to catch the ferry. The sky was mostly blue but the wind was still strong and cold so Gerald and I sat and chatted in the small but nicely warm waiting room. I thanked him again for having requested the ferry, so glad that I had had the opportunity to visit wonderful Egilsay.

Here comes the ferry, again just for the two of us!

Back on Rousay, I had planned to hike up to the top of the moor but after four hours outside in the sun and the wind, and despite the small amount of walking I had done, I felt tired and decided to head to my accommodation for a rest, perhaps to do the hike in the early evening. Some rain moved in later in the day, not much, but it was enough to justify my laziness and decision to save that hike for, hopefully, another time. The next morning, I said goodbye to beautiful Rousay and its farms and hills,

and then looked forward out of the ferry window, towards Mainland Orkney and new sights to come.

Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

Visiting the Beautiful Island of Rousay – Neolithic Chambered Cairns, Iron Age Broch, and Stunning Scenery

After my stay in Stromness, I took the ferry from Tingwall, on the east coast of Mainland, to the island of Rousay which is the fifth largest of the Orkney islands and has the second highest hills after Hoy. Roughly circular, farms occupy the lower slopes, close to the sea, while the hilly centre of the island is rather wild with heath and moorland and small lochs. Rousay has more than 160 archaeological sites, and it is rich in flower meadows, birds, and other wildlife. My accommodation (a lovely little self-catering studio suite at Trumland Farm) was located close to the ferry. I settled in and then set off on foot along the main road to visit three Neolithic chambered burial cairns which are located within about two and a half miles of the ferry terminal.

It was a lovely walk, despite the very strong wind and occasional drenching sweeps of rain! (I was prepared though, wearing my waterproofs and armed with a strong umbrella.) In the photo below (centre) is Trumland Farm and to the left is the ferry terminal, with part of the island of Wyre opposite.

As I walked I had fields to my left, sloping down to the sea, and fields to my right sloping up to the heather-covered hills. Curlews and oyster catchers were nesting in the fields and as I passed near they would rise up and fly about noisily, warning me away. These lovely horses, however, were calm and sedate, and barely noted my presence as I walked by. It was great to be alone, on this quiet single-lane road and I was already in love with this island.

The first chambered cairn was Taversoe Tuick which is around 4,500 years old and, unusually, it has two stories, with an upper and lower chamber. There was no one else about and it was thrilling to enter the cairn and descend down a metal ladder from the upper chamber into the lower one. When first discovered, the bones of five people were found here, together with flint, stone tools, and pottery fragments.

The next burial tomb was Blackhammer Cairn, entered through a sliding hatch. It is a stalled cairn, thirteen metres long, with seven compartments. It has been damaged over time but a concrete roof with skylights now protects it. The bones of two individuals were found here and it is believed that the tomb was probably cleared periodically over many centuries. The far end of the mound was rounded, and faced with a large flat stone. I got chills here, but it wasn’t creepy or because of the cold – it was reverential, and a privilege to see the work of people from 5000 years ago as they created these homes for their dead.

The next tomb, the Knowe of Yarso, required a good steep climb up the hillside to reach a level terrace on the moorland, with views of farmland, the sea, and a ferry below.

This cairn was also protected by a concrete roof with skylights, and was in better condition than the last, with higher walls and the slabs of rock dividing the space into chambers were more intact. The bones of 29 individuals were found here, and it is thought that the tomb was in use for at least a thousand years. Again, I felt very privileged to be here, all alone, to walk through this space and imagine the lives of those who built this place.

The following morning dawned brighter than previous days, hurray! Trumland Farm rents bicycles and I splurged on a electric one for the day which was a wise choice given the strong winds and many steep hills on Rousay.

The first stop of my round-the-island tour was at Midhowe Broch and the Midhowe Chambered Cairn. This 5,400 year old chambered cairn is so immense that it is protected by a hanger (the large building at the bottom of the hill, below).

Once inside the hanger there was a bit of a surprise. Catwalks have been built above the cairn, enabling visitors to view the structure from above. The cairn’s passageway is an astonishing 23.6 metres long and features 12 stalled chambers. The upright stones marking the chambers rise to a height of 2 metres and the remaining walls rise to a height of 2.5 metres.

It was thrilling to walk down one side of the catwalk and back along the other. Looking down, one chamber reminded me of the box beds found at Skara Brae.

The remains of 25 people were found here when the site was excavated in 1932. Cattle and sheep bones, antlers, fish bones, shells, worked flint knives, and pots were also found, possibly due to ritual feasting in the space, or possibly placed with the bodies for use in an afterlife. I was rather awestruck by the enormous effort it would have taken to quarry and fit all of the stone for this enormous tomb.

Back outside, the unceasing wind had cleared away a few dark rain clouds – the sky was blue and the coastline ahead was wild and beautiful. Just ahead was Midhowe Broch, the best-preserved of three Iron Age brochs that were built on this section of coast and occupied sometime between 200 BC and 100 AD. Brochs are round defensive residences that are particular to Scotland, and when I visit Shetland I will view the best-persevered of all.

The siting of this Broch is spectacular. It was built on a promontory, with ditches cut through the rock on two sides and also a ditch and rampart on the landward side for defence.

I enjoyed walking around and through the broch. Again I was here all alone, but for the wheeling gulls over the sea and swallows swooping low over the turf.

I headed back towards the chambered cairn hangar,

and then beyond it to view and learn about even more historical sites in this area called Westness.

There were the jumbled remains of a Viking hall (the Wirk), the ruins of 16th century St. Mary’s Church, built on the site of an earlier medieval church, and the ruins of Skaill Farm. The current ruined buildings of the farm date from the early 18th century, but are built atop and amongst many Viking farm buildings and field structures of the early 12th century when Sigurd of Westness ruled here.

There were interpretive panels at each site and it was a lot to take in! Here, an archaeological dig is ongoing. I am so impressed by the painstaking work that archaeologists do to make sense of the structures and artefacts they find, and to try and piece together the very complex story of human occupation and use of the land here over many centuries and even millennia!

But that was enough history for one morning! I left Skaill Farm, and the entire Westness site, very happy with my visit to this incredibly historic and atmospheric place. These sheep wanted their quiet grazing time back, and I had more of the island to discover.

I climbed back up the hill and hopped back on my bicycle to continue my counter-clockwise circuit of the island. There was no traffic to worry about and the fields, hills, and scattered farms were wonderful to take in. Soon I had reached the northwestern part of the island and I stopped for this wonderful view across farm fields to a small loch and beyond it the Bay of Saviskaill where I had read that seals sometimes pull out to rest on the shore. I passed several more farms on my way to the bay, including one with old out buildings deeply covered in yellow lichen. At the beach, the tide was high and the shore was thickly covered in rich mounds of deep burgundy/brown seaweed. I sat and had a light lunch here and watched the gulls and several curious Grey seals who watched me as much as I watched them.

Leaving the bay, I passed the end of the small loch and traversed a bit of boggy ground to get a picture of the yellow iris blooming near the shore. Down low, I saw a purple bog orchid with two very large and fat bumblebees on it. I think that they may have been Great Yellow Bumblebees which were once found throughout the U.K. but are now quite rare and mostly found in northern Scotland and the northern isles. I crouched low for a photo but was not quick enough and they flew off a second before I pressed the shutter so a positive ID can’t be made!

My next stop was at the trailhead for a loop hike of Faraclett Head where Arctic terns and Great Skuas nest. I climbed up a steep hillside and then across sheep-shorn turf, with great views ahead and down towards a small loch situated behind a curving beach.

The walking was great but after only about a kilometre dark rain clouds were approaching fast and so I decided to cut my hike short and retrace my steps. I arrived at my bike just as the rain started and decided to crouch down beside one of the two cars parked at the trailhead. Now one advantage of Orkney’s wind-driven rain is that it comes in at quite an angle, versus straight down, and so I stayed surprisingly dry sitting on the ground against the lee side of the car, knees tucked in to my chest, boots tucked under my waterproof pack. I snacked on a granola bar, shook my head half-admiringly at the rapid changeability of the Orkney weather, and quite enjoyed the sight and sound of the heavy fall of rain around me. Ten minutes later it was all done! I walked to my bike, swept the water off of the seat, and continued on my journey.

My next stop was at the Heart of Rousay Boardwalk. The electric bike was so helpful in getting me up a fairly steep dirt road to the summit of a hill that was topped by one lone and very large windmill. The boardwalk passes over a tufty expanse of cotton grass and heather and provides great views across to the hills at the centre of the island, and also out to the sea, looking towards the island of Egilsay, which was my destination for the following day. A string of circular pens, probably of farmed salmon, was in the sea between the two islands.

I cycled back down the hill, and then continued along on the quiet road, sad that I was nearing the end of my tour around the island. I made one last stop to check out the trailhead for a hike that leads up onto the moors and through the Trumland RSPB Reserve to the highest point on Rousay. I had read that it is a good place to view raptors such as Hen Harriers, Merlins, and Short-eared owls. My reconnaissance done, I took in the view of this beautiful wildflower meadow, with the ferry terminal below and my accommodation just minutes away. What a day! I was definitely in love with Rousay and wishing that I had many more days here to explore and enjoy. It is the kind of island where, of the few cars that passed me on the road, everyone waved.

If I could do it again I would definitely stay on Rousay for at least four or five or seven days as there are more walks to do and places to discover such as a large standing stone, sea stacks, bird colonies, and isolated lochs where red-throated divers nest. But, I still had one more full day here to look forward to, with a planned morning outing to Egilsay and an afternoon hike up on the moor. I was already looking forward to it, and I felt so thankful that I had come to visit the beautiful island of Rousay.

Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

More of Neolithic Orkney and Historic Stromness – The Barnhouse Settlement, Stones of Stenness, Maeshowe Chambered Tomb, Stromness Heritage Walk and Museum

I started my second full day on Orkney Mainland with an excellent guided tour of the Barnhouse Settlement and the Stones of Stenness. Older than the nearby Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness were built around 5,400 years ago and are possibly the earliest henge monument ever erected in the British Isles (it is older than Stonehenge by a millennium). It once consisted of 12 stones, encircled by a large ditch and bank, but now only 4 stones remain standing and the shapes of the ditch and bank have been erased over time by ploughing.

The site was very busy as many tour buses stop here but, with patience, I was able to photograph some of the individual stones on their own. Our guide related many facts, stories, and theories about this ancient stone circle and the roles it may have played in the ceremonial and spiritual life of the Neolithic farming culture that built it.

Close to Stenness is the Barnhouse Settlement, the remains of a small village which is the same age as the Stones of Stenness Circle and it is thought that those who lived here built the stone circle. As we neared the site, I turned for this lovely view of the pathway to the stones and of the mountains of Hoy in the distance. They were no longer encased in mist!

Unlike at Skara Brae, the structures here have been reconstructed, with stones placed as they were found during excavation. Our guide showed us three structures, the first of which was a small rectangular home with a layout similar to those found at Skara Brae with box beds, central hearths, and storage dressers. At least 15 such homes were found in the village. The second structure (below) was more like a duplex, with a passageway entrance and then the space is divided into two non-symmetrical halves, each with its own central hearth. It is possible that the spaces were used as workshops.

The third structure was comprised of a large circular outer wall, 1.5 metres thick, that would likely have been quite high. Inside the wall was a large rectangular structure with the entrance aligned so that the midsummer sunset shone down its entrance passage. The structure is thought to have had a ceremonial function because of its large size, alignments, enclosing wall, and archaeological finds.

After my guided tour I walked the short distance to the Maeshowe Visitor Centre to wait for the start of my next tour, this one into the finely constructed and nearly perfectly intact Maeshowe chambered cairn, built around 3500 BC. The long, narrow, and low entrance tunnel is aligned to let light shine onto the back wall of the tomb’s central chamber on the day of the winter solstice. The main chamber is roughly square in shape and surrounded by three smaller cells, and the high corbeled ceiling was built without mortar. Etched into the walls are Nordic runes, the largest collection of Norse runes outside of Scandinavia. The Orkneying Saga, written in Iceland in the 13th century, tells of a band of Vikings that took shelter here during a storm a century before. One set of runes tells of a great treasure, but many are boasts such as this one, “These runes were incised by the best runester in the west, using the axe that Gaul Thrandilsson once owned in south Iceland.” There are boasts of another kind as well, for example “Thorny was bedded”, and “Ingigerd is the best of them all.”

After lunch and an afternoon rest at my hostel, I headed out to do the Stromness Heritage Walk and to visit the Stromness museum. Armed with my pamphlet guide, I walked along the winding harbourfront street looking for the blue plaques that highlighted places of interest. At one stop was a cannon that was reputedly fired to signal the arrival of the Hudson’s Bay Company ships into the harbour. Another, most interesting stop, was at an old stone plaque marking the site of Login’s Well. This well supplied water to the ships of the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1670-1891, to Captain Cook’s vessels, the Resolution and Discovery, in 1780, and to Sir John Franklin’s Ships, Erebus and Terror, for their Arctic expedition of 1845!

Next, I visited Stromness Museum which was founded in 1837 and has quite an eclectic collection of artefacts. I learned that Stromness was a base for the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1670 to 1891. The company recruited men from Orkney to work in the fur trade, and by the late 18th century, three-quarters of the company’s work force in Canada were Orkadians!

Stromness had a very active Natural History Society during the Victorian age, and some of their collections of taxidermy, rocks, shells, fossils, etc. take up most of the second floor of the museum. I spent a lot of time here, especially looking at the beautiful birds, and at the collections of nests and eggs.

There were also some items in the museum which were found at Skara Brae, including “Buddo” a small figurine carved from whale bone sometime between 2900-2400 BC. It is one of only a few known human-like figurines that date from the Neolithic period of Great Britain. Also on display from Skara Brae were a stone pot containing crushed red ochre, bone points and pins, and necklaces of bone and shell. The blackened urn contains cremated human bone, found in a burial mound near Sandwick.

Whaling was also prominent in Stromness’ maritime history. From about the 1770s to the 1870s, whaling ships took on crews in Stromness, looking for young men who were skilled in handling small boats in rough seas. In 1816, the Aberdeen Chronicle recorded 34 whaling ships docked in Stromness Harbour. On display were models of boats and harpoons, etc., but my attention was caught by a set of scrimshaw (decorated bone or ivory objects crafted by whalers) that included two walrus tusks and four whale’s teeth. The etched images, chiefly of Arctic animals, are very beautiful and the artist must have been a somewhat soft-hearted whaler to have depicted the mother polar bear and her cub so tenderly. He may also have been missing the comforts and safety of home as whaling voyages often lasted four years or more and were very dangerous. The scene of the whale breaking the small boat apart, with all of the whalers tossed into the frigid seas, destined to drown, surely depicts a fear held by many, if not all, of the men who took on this dangerous job.

After my time at the museum I strolled further along Stromness’ harbourfront street, eventually leaving the town behind. It was a wonderful walk, with a fresh breeze, bright sun, and a beautiful sky and sea. Here, the NorthLink ferry is leaving Stromness harbour.

I descended to the beach for this photo of the Hoy Sound High lighthouse. Look at the colour of that water!

I continued along, sometimes down on the beach and sometimes up higher on the path beside the road. The mountains of Hoy were beautiful in the distance,

and I appreciated this silhouette of two friends enjoying a peaceful moment.

I considered walking a little further (you can continue from here on a coastal trail for seventeen kilometres all the way to Skara Brae, and then walk another twelve kilometres to the Brough of Birsay), but I was happy to turn around and make the return journey to my hostel, now with a greater appreciation for the historic harbour town of Stromness, and for long human history and timeless landscapes of these Orkney islands.

Orkney and Shetland – June 2024

Old Man of Hoy, Stromness, Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, and the Brough of Birsay

Hello everyone, I’m in Orkney!

I arrived in Scotland a little over one week ago, somewhat worse for wear after a sleepless flight and with the onset of the early symptoms of a cold or flu that has worsened as the days have gone on. I managed to do some sightseeing in Stirling and Inverness (posts to come), while also trying to get enough rest. I’m feeling better now but am still low energy so I am continuing to take it easy. It is sad, though, to let go of some of my looked-forward-to activities, including today’s planned 20 km loop hike on the Isle of Hoy, up onto its high cliffs to overlook the Old Man of Hoy, a famous sea stack that soars 450 feet high. Sigh! Oh well, at least I had a good view of the Old Man and the cliffs as I passed by on my ferry ride over to Mainland Orkney!

I loved the ferry ride from Thurso, on the northern coast of Scotland, to the historic town of Stromness on Mainland, the largest of the Orkney Islands. It was an exciting crossing, with a bright sky (at the start!), strong winds, and a rollicking swell on the sea. Here are several more views of the Old Man of Hoy and the cliffs of Hoy as we passed.

Hoy is the second largest of the Orkney Islands (of which there are more than seventy). It is also the highest of the islands, with its geology and landscape more akin to the Highlands of Scotland than to the more low-lying, pastoral landscape of the other isles of Orkney.

Here is my last photo view from the rear sun deck of the ship, with the tops of Hoy’s mountains obscured in the mist and a fishing boat heading out to sea.

And here is a photo of the historic town of Stromness as we entered the harbour and approached our dock.

How exciting to arrive! Thank you North Link Ferries!

It was a very short walk down a narrow winding street to my accommodation of four nights, Brown’s Hostel. (The bicycle parked for the moment in front belongs to a couple, “older than me” who have been cycling all around Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides, for over six weeks!)

The rain settled in soon after my arrival, and so did I. I abandoned my planned afternoon activities and headed out only briefly to buy groceries and to find a good book to read. The following morning, I took an early stroll along my street and explored many of the little lanes between the homes and cottages that lead to the waterfront where there are piers and ramps down to the water. In days gone by this was a very busy harbourfront full of sailing ships, whalers, and fishing boats stopping for provisions or to unload cargo. (I saw my first Orkney flag flying! This is a reminder that you can click on any photo if you would like a larger view.)

Next, I was off to visit Skara Brae which is one of Orkney’s most important archaeological sites. It is a wonderfully preserved Neolithic village that is over 5000 years old, sited above a stunningly beautiful beach at the Bay of Skaill.

In 1850, the ferocious winds of a winter storm severely eroded a high dune, known as Skara Brae, and revealed a marvel – the stones of an ancient farming village older than the pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge. The site has now been excavated to reveal the shapes and interiors of ten clustered stone structures, most of them homes.

A reconstructed house (below), sited near the Visitor Centre and filled with replica artefacts, allows visitors to walk through and experience what it would have felt like to be in one of the homes found at Skara Brae. Semi-buried, these small rectangular dwellings featured a narrow and low doorway, rock-lined “box beds” to either side of a central hearth (that would have been filled with warm materials such as furs or straw), small storage spaces in the walls, and a shelving unit opposite the door where functional and special objects such as pottery could be stored and displayed.

Below is a photo of the interior of one of the homes. It would have been roofed, likely with timbers and with hides or turf. What is amazing at Skara Brae is that what you see onsite is not a reconstruction. The stones are left as they were found during the excavations, amazingly protected and preserved for over five millennia by the sand dune.

The structure in the photo below, larger than the other dwellings, is thought to have been a workshop for the making of stone and bone tools and perhaps pottery. The excavation of Skara Brae led to many archaeological finds and discoveries and shed much new light on the day-to-day lives of early Neolithic farmers in Britain.

In the distance (in the above photo) is Skaill House, a 17th century mansion that is open for viewing on a joint ticket with Skara Brae. I had been looking forward to that visit but, mindful of my energy levels, I sadly decided to skip it. But, there was certainly time for a brief visit down to that gorgeous beach,

before exploring the exhibits in the Visitors Centre and then catching the bus to my next stop, the Ring of Brodgar. The Ring of Brodgar is part of the “Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site”, along with Skara Brae, the Maeshowe chambered tomb, and the Stones of Stenness. It is dramatically located on a narrow strip of land between two long lochs and is the third largest stone circle in the U.K.

Thought to have been constructed between 2600 and 2400 BC, the massive stone circle has a diameter of 104 metres and is surrounded by a henge (deep ditch). There are 36 remaining stones, of an original 60, and there are also 13 prehistoric burial mounds located in the nearby landscape.

I loved walking around the outside of the circle (the inner path is currently closed for restoration). The stones were each unique and beautiful and the setting was tremendous. But, bad weather was moving in quickly, more quickly than I expected, and after just one circuit of the stones I had to scurry away at speed, turning for one last photo that is blurred from the drops of water on my camera lens.

There was no shelter to be had anywhere, and the bus was still 40 minutes away! I had my rain jacket on, but not my rain pants (rookie mistake), and as I fumbled in my day pack for my small umbrella the wind-driven rain lashed at me and laughed at my efforts. Within minutes I was completely drenched and I looked as if I had stepped into a shower with all of my clothes on! There was no question of waiting it out so I begged a ride from a woman who was also scurrying away and she kindly rescued me from the deluge! (The weather here changes constantly. Sitting here as I write in the hostel kitchen, the scene outside the window has alternated between rain and sun at least four times this morning!)

Later that afternoon, the clouds magically cleared and the sun came out. At the hostel I had changed, rested, and had a hot lunch so I felt as if I had enough energy to make the journey to the Brough of Birsay, a small tidal island located off of the northern shore of Mainland. The island is only accessible by foot via a causeway for two hours on either side of the low tide. The bus dropped me off beside the ruins of the 15th century Earl’s Palace in Birsay,

and it was an easy 15 minute walk out towards the causeway and this stunning view of the island.

I made my way across (what fun!), and then rose up onto the island to look back at the causeway and Mainland.

It was so beautiful there! The island features early Pictish, Norse, and Medieval remains. The structure in the photo below is thought to have been a Norse sauna.

The small island has a rich history. It was occupied in the 5th century by Celtic Christian missionaries, and was a Pictish stronghold in the 7th century. Archaeologists have found Pictish brooches, rings, dress pins, fragments of glass, and also moulds for the creation of fine Bronze jewellery. In the 9th century, the Norse arrived and built a settlement here which lasted several centuries. The remnants of Norse longhouses, barns, a smithy, a church, and the sauna are all beautifully outlined by stones, deep green grass, and lovely wildflowers including bright yellow vetching, and (my favourites) deep pink sea thrift.

After exploring the ruins, I made my way uphill for a closer look at the lighthouse,

stopping often to catch my breath and to look back down the hill and over the causeway to Mainland.

What a charming lighthouse!

Just beyond it, the wind was blowing, and gulls wheeling, over sheer cliffs. I stopped and took it in for only a few moments as I had arrived to the island a bit late and the tide was steadily rising. Back down the hill I had enough time to walk through the Norse ruins again, and then sit and view the misty headlands and wild waves to the east where there is a coastal trail one can hike.

I was sad to leave such a beautiful place, but it was time to cross back over the causeway,

But not for everyone! This fellow decided to risk a quick visit, despite my warning him about the rising tide!

Up at the level of the car park, I glanced longingly at the trailhead for the coastal walk to the east. This walk had been on my itinerary because of the two hour wait for the return bus, but my energy was quickly waning despite the exhilarating surroundings and the bracing air.

I walked the road back to the Earl’s Palace and spent just a few moments touring its interior,

and then I was not too shy to ask for help a second time in one day. I begged a ride to Stromness from a couple as they were approaching their car and they kindly said yes so I was happily whisked home to my hostel for a lovely evening of rest. It had been a magnificent day in Orkney!

Arizona/New Mexico – Spring 2024

The Spanish in New Mexico – Tumacacori and the Salinas Pueblo Missions of Abo, Gran Quivera, and Quarai

March 29th, and April 6, 2024

Hello everyone. As many of you know I have recently returned from a six week road trip to Arizona and New Mexico. Most of those days I camped and so it was nearly impossible to write blog posts to share photos and my impressions of places visited. Out of necessity, my thoughts have now mostly turned to preparing for my upcoming five week trip to northern Scotland and the Orkney and Shetland Islands. That will be quite a different prospect from the Southwest! There will be some similarities though, including visits to many exciting historical and archeological sites, museums, and galleries, as well as plenty of quiet and lonely hikes with spectacular, far-reaching views.

I have decided to squeeze in one post now about my Arizona/New Mexico trip, and I hope to return to my photos, journal entries, and notes in the middle of a cold and wet Vancouver winter to create more posts then, and to warm myself up with desert memories.

About an hour south of Tucson, and close to the Santa Cruz River, one can visit the beautiful and tranquil Tumacacori National Historical Park with its mission church ruins, gardens, trails, and excellent Visitor Centre and museum that shed light on the history of the original inhabitants of this land, the O’odham people, and on the creation of this mission under the Jesuits and then the Franciscans during the often turbulent times of the Spanish exploration, colonization, and governance of “New Mexico”. I arrived right at opening time, 9:00 a.m., on a warm and sunny morning, and had the entire place to myself for a peaceful hour before any other visitors arrived.

The mission church with its white dome, beautiful front facade, and bell tower, was built between 1800 and 1822 by Spanish Franciscan monks and the local O’odham on a site where Jesuit monks first erected a small adobe church in 1757.

I toured the interior of the church which would have been brightly painted and adorned,

and then I walked around the grounds, reading every interpretive sign and trying to imagine life here during those colonial days when two vastly different cultures met, interacted, and co-existed for a time, sometimes peacefully and sometimes not.

I’ve often wondered how the missionary priests, who were an important part of the Spanish occupation, were successful at converting many to a new religion. Part of the answer to my question lies here, I think, in the large (once two-level) storerooms of the mission. The Spanish brought with them metal tools and many kinds of domestic livestock, including horses, sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, chickens, burros and oxen. They also brought seeds for grain, including wheat, rice, barley and rye, and they introduced new vegetables and fruits including apples, peaches, apricots, plums, pears, quince, pomegranates, figs, olives, limas, sour oranges, and grapes. These new food products, hides, wool, beasts of burden, and metal tools must have been very attractive indeed to the established agricultural communities who lived in the fertile Santa Cruz valley.

Next I walked through the beautiful heritage orchard where peach trees (the dark pink blossoms) and apricot trees (white blossoms) were blooming and happy bees were very busy. The planting of this small modern orchard of heritage varieties was inspired during restoration work on the mission church when two ancient peach pits fell out of a crumbling adobe brick! The orchard is located on the site of the former walled mission orchard and garden that covered nearly 5 acres and was irrigated by acequias, stone-lined ditches that brought water from the nearby Santa Cruz river.

I next walked on a trail to the river, through a forest of mesquite, cottonwood and willows, and then I walked for a short ways north on the Anza Trail towards Tubac, four miles to the north, where the Spanish built a military fort in the 1750s to defend against rebellions by some of the O’odham and attacks by the nomadic Apache. The Anza Trail was built to commemorate and follow, as closely as possible, the route taken by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1775-1776 when he and about 240 Spanish colonists, along with a thousand head of cattle, walked north from Sonora Mexico and then roughly northwest to found a mission at San Francisco, California, a journey of some 1200 miles!

After my walk on the trails, I spent time in the excellent small museum and was impressed by a film which featured many O’odham speakers sharing their connections to this place, both past and present, positive and negative. It was a very educational visit that added to my ongoing accumulation of knowledge about the Southwest and its peoples and history.

Just over a week later, this time in New Mexico, I toured the ruins of three more mission villages, the Salinas Pueblos, but not on a lovely warm sunny day like on my visit to Tumacacori. I had spent the previous night camped stealthily in a hotel parking lot in Socorro, having decided to not camp high in the mountains because of a winter storm warning, and that was a good decision as I woke up to tiny snow flakes, coming strangely from a blue sky, and blowing here and there at speed in a strong cold wind. They looked extra-cold somehow! I glanced west towards the mountains where I would have camped and their tops were completely obscured by dark and heavy snow-laden clouds. Brrrr!

After warming up with a fast food breakfast, I drove north and then west some fifty miles to the broad Estancia Basin (known by the Spanish Empire as the Salinas Valley) to arrive at the first of three ruined pueblo missions that comprise the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Here are the ruins at Abo, where it had definitely snowed the previous night and where the wind was so cold that I had to put on all of my outdoor gear including my rain pants to cut the chill. Sometimes I wish that I produced videos instead of a blog with photos because then you could see and hear that ferocious wind! One visitor, who arrived to the ruins here at dusk in 1853, is quoted as saying, “The cold wind…appeared to roar and howl through the roofless pile like an angry demon.”

Despite the cold, I enjoyed my tour of the site which was a thriving village when the Spaniards first arrived here in 1581. The Spanish would have seen a large pueblo (village) of apartment-like connected homes, work shops, and kivas made of stone and adobe, and they would have encountered people who for centuries had farmed the land, hunted, and engaged in a wide network of trade that included salt, pinon nuts, buffalo meat and hides, flints, shells, and cotton goods. The Tiwa puebloans who lived here were also skilled weavers, basket makers, and potters.

Spanish Franciscan missionaries came to the valley in the 1620s to build a church and to preach to, convert, baptize, organize, and educate the native population. I spoke for a time with a Ranger at the Visitors Centre and at his recommendation I purchased a book called “A Harvest of Reluctant Souls.” It is a translation of a “Memorial”, written in 1630 by the Franciscan priest, Fray Alonso de Benevides, in the form of a letter to King Philip IV of Spain, in which he describes the various indigenous tribes throughout New Mexico. It is a fascinating first hand account of the inhabitants, landscapes, and resources of this land as well as of the work of the missionaries. There is much to be learned from his Memorial but one has to be mindful of his purpose for writing. He is petitioning the King of Spain for more missionaries, more supplies, and more security in order to continue the work of converting the indigenous population to Christianity. He refers often to how the conversion of each individual to the Catholic faith will help ensure the King’s own ascent into heaven. More earthly concerns are also at play as he describes the mineral wealth of the region and as he writes of recent conversions (at Jemez pueblo), “Your Majesty may still count here on more than three thousand newly assembled taxpayers.”

From Abo, I then drove the 35 miles south to visit Gran Quivera. The drive was beautiful, with the quiet highway passing through rolling sage- and juniper-dotted grasslands, scattered here and there with ranches, and with views of the snow-dusted Manzano Mountains to the west.

Gran Quivera was the largest of the Salinas pueblos despite its exposed position on a ridge and the absence of any nearby springs or streams. And yes, the wind here was still fierce and very cold. Of Gran Quivera, known to the Spanish as Las Humanas, Fray Benevides wrote, “It is a poor land, due to its frightful coldness and little water.”

The people here, though, were resourceful and additional water was accessed and stored using wells, roof-fed cisterns, and hollowed out shallow rock basins on a north-facing slope that would catch rain water. The agriculture practiced here was dryland farming of maize, squash and beans and was dependent on rains. Piñon nuts, yucca, prickly pear and other plants were gathered in the surrounding area, and rabbits, deer, pronghorn and bison were hunted. Gran Quivera was also a centre of trade between the settled peoples of the Rio Grande Valley and the nomadic Plains tribes.

The Spanish missionaries built a church and associated buildings here in the mid 1630s and again in the 1660s, but there was not a resident priest at this pueblo. Rather, visiting priests from other missions routinely travelled here to build, preach, teach, oversee, and organize. Many hidden kivas were found during excavations of this site. During the first years of contact, the Puebloans’ traditional ceremonial events and dances, held in circular kivas, were tolerated by the Spanish missionaries, but by the 1660s new Church directives attempted to force converts to abandon their traditional religious practices.

From Gran Quivera, I retraced my route north and continued on to Quarai, the third of the Salinas Pueblo Missions. Here are the ruins of the mission church and its “convento” buildings (kitchen, refectory, store rooms, and sleeping quarters for mission workers), likely constructed in the late 1620s and early 1630s.

Here again, the complex stories of contact, occupation, change, conversion, cooperation, coercion, and conflict unfolded. By the 1670s the Puebloans of Quarai, Abo, and Gran Quivera had begun to abandon their villages due to several years of severe drought, famine, and recurring deadly epidemics to which the native population had little resistance. Many moved to the Rio Grande Valley, or south to El Paso where they joined other Pueblo communities. Some resettlement and reconstruction took place at Quivera in the 1800s by the Spanish, but time and nature eventually took control at each of the abandoned missions, destroying roofs, felling walls, and covering foundations, until modern times when archaeologists, the Parks Service, and local indigenous advisors* brought these places to light again, if not to life.

*Certainly in the case of Tumacacori, but I don’t know about the Salinas Pueblos.

It’s difficult to impart only a few details of the long, complex, and important history of these highly evocative places. I learned many things during my visits to Tumacacori and the Salinas Pueblos, but I also left with many questions. As I headed north towards Albuquerque, somewhat tired and chilled from a long day out in the wind, but also feeling very happy and grateful, I looked forward to continuing my journey and to learning more about the peoples, history, and landscapes of the beautiful state of New Mexico.

Arizona/New Mexico – Spring 2024

A Day Almost Missed! The Very Large Array, Pie Town, and the Datil Well Recreation Area

April 5, 2024

It was a morning of indecision. It was cold and very windy when I woke at 6 a.m. at the Birders’ RV campsite so rather than cooking up my coffee and breakfast I drove the few miles to a McDonalds in Socorro. While there, I looked up the weather report – high winds were predicted for the day, as well as freezing night time temperatures at high elevations. Hmmm. My day’s plan had been to drive up into the high mountains west of Socorro, visit the Very Large Array and Pie Town, and camp at Datil Well Campground which sits at an elevation of 7414 feet! To be honest, I was getting tired of very cold nights and so, reluctantly, I decided to skip that part of my itinerary even though I have always wanted to see the Very Large Array.

I left Socorro and drove 30 minutes up I-25 en-route to visit the Salinas Pueblo Missions, but I kept glancing at those high mountains to the west and they were definitely calling to me. So, pulling off the I-25, I drove the 30 minutes back to Socorro to pursue my original plan and I am so glad that I did! I connected to Highway 60 West which quickly began to climb and curve its way up into the mountains and then, to my surprise, I was on the Plains of San Agustin, a large flat expanse of grassland dotted with sage that had once been the site of a large intermontane lake. This was the most scenic drive yet! It was the kind of road where I felt compelled to stop again and again for photographs. There were mountains ahead,

and mountains to the right of me,

and mountains to my left, blue in the far distance and topped with snow.

The plain stretched way ahead of me and after about an hour of fantastic driving I began to see the shapes of the telescopes of the Very Large Array in the distance. I stopped several times for photos but they were still very tiny! Here is one photo from a bit closer!

The Very Large Array collects faint cosmic radio waves from outer space to learn about objects in our universe, and I learned later that the array is located here in part because the surrounding mountains act as a barrier to radio interference from cities even hundreds of miles away.

I turned onto the access road to the Visitors Centre where there were closer views,

and then that road turned again and offered a different view. While I had moved from one stop to another, the radio telescopes had all shifted to point up! It was like a choreographed ballet! The telescopes can tilt up and down and spin around. They act in unison, and together they create the world’s most powerful radio astronomy telescope that has made more discoveries than any other telescope on Earth.

I reached the Visitors Centre where there were informative films to watch, interpretive exhibits, and a paved walk for closer viewing of the telescopes,

including the opportunity for a very up-close view! Each large dish measures 82 feet across and weighs over 200 metric tons.

There are twenty eight dishes, one of which is a spare, and they were all built onsite in a large facility called the Barn. The other twenty seven working telescopes are organized on three straight arms that radiate out from the centre, with nine telescopes on each arm. They move on rails and can be spaced closer together to cover a distance of about two thirds of a mile, or be arrayed far apart on each arm for a distance of up to 13 miles!

The Very Large Array makes detailed images of radio-emitting objects in deep space that are not visible to optical telescopes, and it can observe astronomical events likes the birth of stars and the growth of galaxies. The data collected by the Very Large Array is shared with astronomers all over the world. Here is an excellent film if you would like to learn more: https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/beyond-the-visible-vla/

After my inspiring and educational visit to the Very Large Array, I continued west on highway 60, through the small town of Datil, and then on to Pie Town, a teeny tiny stop on the road with three pie shops and a population of less than 200. Just before the first pie shop there was a property filled with someone’s wonderful collection of old windmills, vehicles, and machinery. (I recommend clicking on the photo of the truck for a larger view, it is really quite beautiful!)

Next, an old gas station and garage were terribly rundown, but also oddly beautiful! Then, what could be more American than a Chevy (I’m guessing here, let me know if I’m wrong!) paired with a Coca-Cola sign, and what could be more antique than a pay phone!

Ah, the first pie shop! (It’s a restaurant too.)

I had thought that I would scope out all three shops before deciding where to buy a slice, but this first one had me at hello.

The inside was as fun as the outside with all kinds of signs, photos, antiques, and various bric a brac to look at, admire, and wonder at. The ladies running the shop were friendly, and there were about ten different and interesting kinds of pies on offer, including their signature apple pie which incorporates green hatch chilies in the recipe. The Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk pie sounded just right for me so I ordered a slice with a cup of coffee and then made my way to a comfortable booth in the back corner.

This was my view of the restaurant from my booth,

and this was my close-up view!

I enjoyed my pie and coffee and then happily began the return journey east on scenic highway 60 to arrive at the Datil Well Recreation Area Campground. What a great place! The cost was only $5 per night (!) for a exceptionally clean and well-maintained campground located in a forest of juniper and Ponderosa pine, with well-spaced sites, some with ramadas and three with electricity! As well, it had historic significance having been a resting and watering site for multiple cattle and sheep drives over the years, including in 1919 when over 21,000 cattle and 150,000 sheep stopped here, “accompanied by cowboys or sheep herders, chuckwagons, and saddle horses.”

I chose a site, walked around the campground and on one of the trails for some exercise, and then had a simple dinner of tuna on crackers and some canned peaches because I was still full of pie!

Later, as it drew close to about 6 p.m., I started to worry again about the rising wind and the cold night ahead so I checked the weather report. Now, there was also a wildfire warning posted because of the dry conditions and high winds, and also the potential for snow! Reluctantly, I decided to say goodbye to my lovely campsite (and my $5) and drive back down to Socorro for the night to camp stealth in town. I felt like quite the wimp actually, definitely not as tough as those hundreds of cowboys and sheep herders that had passed through here and slept out under the stars, in much rougher conditions, in days gone by.

But, it was the right decision to make and I was happy as I made the drive back, still stopping often for photos as the sun lowered in the western sky behind me and the road stretched ahead across the high plain.

It had been a great day in New Mexico, and I was very glad that I hadn’t missed it!

Arizona/New Mexico – Spring 2024

Southern New Mexico – White Sands National Park, Black Lava at the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, and Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

April 3-4, 2024

I left the wonderful City of Rocks campground early, on a bright sunny morning, and headed southeast, first on quiet and scenic highway 180, and then on a fast stretch of I-10 into the city of Las Cruces where I crossed over the Rio Grande! The Rio Grande originates in the southern Rocky Mountains and flows for over 1800 miles before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. It has been a source of water to peoples in the arid lands of New Mexico, Texas and Mexico for millennia, and has supported a rich diversity of plants and wildlife as well as human occupation, agriculture and settlement. Once a wild river with seasonal floods, the Rio Grande is now tamed by several dams to control and manage its flow. Here, in Las Cruces, the wide river flowed downstream beside a pleasant riverside park.

I spent a bit of time in downtown Las Cruces and then carried on to visit White Sands National Park to see its dazzling white dunes composed of pure gypsum crystals, the largest such dune field in the world.

The crystals originate from ancient lakebeds in the Tularosa Basin, and the wind blows them into ever-shifting patterns of dunes that cover roughly 275 square miles of Chihuahuan Desert. As I drove towards the park, I could see a leading edge of the dune field with stubborn plants trying to maintain a foothold on the shifting sands. I learned later that soaptree yucca plants in the dunes grow taller to keep new leaves above the sand. They can have as much as thirty feet of growth below the surface of the dune as they strive to survive.

I visited the excellent (and very busy) Visitors Centre, and then I began the somewhat other-worldly eight mile drive into the dunes.

I walked the two short nature trails, learning about the plants and animals that are adapated to live here. The adaptations were grouped under these headings: grow fast (sand verbena), change colour (bleached earless lizard and Apache pocket mouse), go out at night (kit fox), grow tall (yucca), and hold on (skunkbush sumac). My adaptations were sunglasses, a hat, sunscreen, and water as I chose one parking area near the end of the drive and set off to climb up into the dunes. It was very beautiful!

Between the dunes were shallow areas where moisture can accumulate and plants put down roots, at least for a time.

I walked up and down many dunes, some quite steep, until my parking area was lost to sight. On my return journey I worried for just a moment, thinking that I could possibly be lost, but my sense of direction was true and the parking area came into sight just a few minutes later.

Part of me wanted to say longer in this brilliant and somewhat hypnotic white expanse,

but it was time to move on. I had reached the southeastern extent of my travels on this road trip. Now, it was time to start heading back north and west towards, eventually, home!

Back on the road, I drove towards Alamogordo and watched as fighter jets from the nearby Holloman Airforce Base whizzed across the sky at incredible speeds. I left that city behind and headed north on quiet highway 54, with the tall snow-covered peaks of the Sacramento Mountains to my right, and the flat expanse of the Tularosa Basin to my left, edged in the distance by the San Andres and Oscura Mountains. As I neared the small town of Carrizozo, I began to see a darkness on the landscape. It was the Malpais/Carrizozo Lava Flow, created some 5000 years ago when Little Black Black Peak began a series of eruptions that sent lava flowing south down the Tularosa Basin for 44 miles. The resulting lava flow of is between 4 and 6 miles wide, and up to 160 feet thick in places.

The Valley of Fires Recreation Area protects this unique landscape and its plants and animals, and it also offers a great campsite which was unfortunately full when I arrived in the late afternoon. But, one kind couple occupying an extra-large site on top of a hill offered to let me share their space which was very kind of them. Relieved to be settled, I had time to walk the excellent one mile paved nature trail that described the lava flow, as well as the plants and animals that are making this unique place their home.

After my walk, there was time for dinner, a chat with the elderly couple, and then a session of sitting on my camp chair, with this view, while the sun lowered in the sky.

I wanted to stay out for another evening session of star-watching, but my near-constant companion, the wind, decided to turn chilly and sharp so I retreated to the protection of my Toyota and the delights of a good book.

The next morning I was off again early, loving the emptiness of Highway 380 and the blueness of the sky as I travelled due west towards the Rio Grande Valley and the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

The Bosque del Apache Refuge protects almost 60,000 acres of desert, wetland, and bosque which is a forest habitat, often of cottonwoods, that is found along rivers, streams, and floodplains. It is an important refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds including song birds, raptors, waterfowl, and shore birds, and it is famous for its very large numbers of overwintering sandhill cranes and snow geese.

As I exited my car at the Visitor’s Centre, I heard, “Hello! Christine!” And there was Klaus, a German traveller that I had met on that snowy morning at Chiricahua. He had already spent the previous day birding at the bosque, and he was excited to show me where to see vermillion fly catchers in a stand of tall cottonwoods near one of the viewing decks in the refuge. That’s Klaus below, in silhouette, and we did indeed spot several of the beautiful and striking red birds, perched in the tree tops and in flight catching insects. It was very exciting to see them!

Klaus was heading to one of the north ponds where he had seen ibis, snowy egrets, and avocets the previous day while I went off to walk several trails in the southern half of the Refuge’s 14 mile loop drive. I loved the boardwalk nature trail with its charming signage done in the style of a naturalist’s diary, and though the reeds were brown and the cottonwoods were gray and leafless, it was still very beautiful, and there were little sparks of green to be found.

After my walks, I drove to rejoin Klaus who was set up on his camp chair at one of the north ponds where there was an exciting variety of species of birds all in one area. I set up my chair as well, pulled out my binoculars, and saw beautiful snowy egrets, and elegant stilts, avocets and ibis. Wonderful! There were also shovelers, dowitchers and other shore birds, and a killdeer which flew by noisily with its distinctive call. At one point, a harrier hawk flew low over the pond and set all of the birds aflight, but they soon resettled so that we could continue to watch as they fed, each in their own particular way, in the shallow waters of the pond. Sadly, I didn’t have my zoom lens with me for close up photos of the egrets, stilts, and avocets,

but Klaus kindly sent me several photos that he had taken, including this gorgeous photo of a white-faced ibis,

and this one of a snowy egret.

We sat for a long time watching the birds and chatting and then we visited the lovely small botanical garden and arboretum. Handsome red-winged blackbird bachelors ate at feeders and drank at a fountain while Gambel’s quail scurried from one hiding place to another.

Then, Klaus and I chatted some more in the Visitor’s Centre, about travel and famous adventurers, books and birds. By late afternoon it was time for Klaus to continue on his travels east to Texas, en route to view the solar eclipse, and I settled in at the nearby, rather uninspiring but safe and peaceful Birdwatcher’s RV Park (the closest campsite to the Bosque), to make a simple dinner and go to bed early. I felt ready for sleep by about 6 p.m.! A product, I think, of several weeks of non-stop travel, and of all the sun the day before at White Sands, and on this day sitting by the ponds. Before closing myself in to my Toyota though, I ended my day with the lucky sighting of a roadrunner, truly a symbol of the Southwest.

Arizona/New Mexico – Spring 2024

Starting Somewhere in the Middle – Heading into New Mexico: Silver City, Gila Cliff Dwellings, and City of Rocks State Park

April 2-3, 2024

Hello everyone. I have been on the road for over two weeks now, first down into southern Arizona and then on to New Mexico, a place that I have long wished to visit. I’ve been camping and have had little opportunity (time and wifi) to write any blog posts, but I’ve had two nights in an airbnb in Albuquerque and am finally making a start! I really prefer to start chronicling a journey at its beginning, but here we go, from somewhere in the middle, about to head into New Mexico…

In southeastern Arizona, camped at Chiricahua National Monument, I went to sleep in my Toyota to the sound of heavy rain and woke up very early, in the cold darkness of morning, to the surprise of white all around. Brrrr!

I drove to the parking area for Faraway Ranch, cooked up a breakfast of coffee and toast, and watched the half moon rise over a snow-dusted mountain before me.

Then I was off, driving north out of the park but I didn’t get very far before having to stop and look back at the new snow covering the Chiricahua Mountains.

Ahead of me, the road was clear and the sky was moody, shifting often from dark clouds and splashes of rain to clear blue sky with sun and bright white clouds.

I joined Interstate 10 East, with Elvis’ Greatest Hits playing on the stereo, and passed from Arizona into New Mexico, singing happily along. Then, highway 90 from Lordsburg was a dream of a road, newly paved and scenic as it began to climb up to Silver City. However, shortly after crossing the Continental Divide at an elevation of 6355 feet, that still-moody sky darkened and snow began to fall in great big flakes that swirled about every which way in suddenly strong winds. Yikes! Stereo off as I negotiated mountain curves with limited visibility, and then traffic increased as I neared Silver City, with locals in trucks seemingly not at all concerned about slowing down for the conditions. I stopped, with relief, at a McDonalds, pushed my way through the wind and cold wet flakes to get inside, and by the time I’d finished my order of fries the snow had stopped and the sky was blue!

So I drove back down the highway to visit Silver City’s historic old town. Founded in 1870, shortly after the discovery of rich deposits of silver ore in the area, the town’s historic centre features grand buildings built in the late 1800s.

Side roads off of the Main Street featured many brightly coloured art galleries, gift shops and tiled murals.

One of my favourite street art pieces was a low wall tiled with a collage of car emblems, hub caps, little toy carts, glass marbles, and other fun and colourful objects. It was very creative!

The clouds swept back in, with light drops of rain, so I found refuge in the wonderful Tranquille Buzz coffee shop, decorated with many beautiful instruments. It was definitely the right place to be to recharge for the rest of the mountain drive ahead.

I left Silver City and began the mountain drive up to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument on a series of S-curves that recrossed back over the Continental Divide and then rose to a pass at an elevation of 7440 feet (where light snow flakes were falling out of a blue sky!), before descending in more S-curves along the side of another mountain to a high-elevation valley cut by the Gila River. There are several free campsites near and at the monument but they were all empty and lonely-looking, all except for the horse camp that had several large trailers, pickup trucks, corralled horses, and one lovely mule! I found a spot there, despite my horseless state, and settled in for another night of below freezing temperatures.

The following morning it was so cold! I cooked up my breakfast, all bundled up, but at least the sky was clear, the sun was shining, and there was little wind so I was very happy as I crossed over the Gila River on this pedestrian bridge to begin the climb on a trail up a narrow protected canyon to reach the cliff dwellings.

Interpretive panels on the way up described the local plant and animal resources used by the Mongollon people who built the dwellings and lived here in the late 1200s. I learned that they crafted feather blankets made from a mat of yucca fibres interwoven with feathers and down from wild turkeys. After several very cold nights in my Toyota (it is early April, not even winter!) I was very interested to learn this fact! The Mongollon also created clothing and blankets from furs, often of rabbit which was the second-most hunted animal after deer. Here is my first view, half-way up the trail, of the cliff dwellings ahead.

The cliff dwellings were built in naturally-occurring, south-facing and connected caves, with three large “picture-window” openings that provided views up and down the canyon. Mortared stone walls, roofed with local ponderosa pine logs and planks, divided the caves into various rooms for individual families, storage and work areas, and a large communal space. A park ranger was stationed at the dwellings and he answered my many questions about the people who had lived in this remote and high place.

At the last cave, a somewhat daunting ladder led down out of the cave to the path below.

I descended the trail and stopped for this view down to the pedestrian bridge, parking area, and ranger station. The pale gray line of tall bare cottonwoods marks the path of the Gila River.

After my excellent visit to the cliff dwellings I went to see several small cave dwellings in the valley as well as several pictographs that were created with pigments made from crushed red hematite.

I progressed to the Visitors Center where I watched an excellent film and then viewed artefacts and information panels about the life and culture of the Mongollon cliff dwellers. I was so glad that I had made the effort to visit the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, and as I left to renegotiate the many steep ascents, descents, and endless S-curves of the mountain road, my spirits were high and my heart was full.

Off of the mountain, I headed south on Highway 61. The sky, again, was unsure of what to do with itself – bright and sunny, or dark and ominous?

It was a great drive, with almost no traffic and lots of opportunity to glance all around at the ever-changing scenery. I arrived, early in the afternoon, to the fabulous City of Rocks State park where camping was only $12 per night, hot showers included! (New Mexico campgrounds are the best-priced that I have ever come across!) The campsites are arranged among and amidst giant boulders, many in private little coves of rock, but I chose one on the edge of the campground with views out to a beautiful expanse of Chihuahuan desert and distant mountains.

I enjoyed walking around the entire large campground and on the many small trails that weave between the boulders. By the time I got back to camp, rain was threatening in the distance and there was a rumble of thunder.

Thankfully, the rain clouds were swept away by the wind and by the time my dinner was over, and the sun was beginning to lower in the sky, I was ready for another walk, this time on the Hydra trail out onto the flat expanse of desert.

The sun was setting just as I returned from my walk, and I was welcomed back tocamp by the warm orange glow that decorated the grasses, boulders, and even trees. I watched the sun set, and then braved a rising cold wind to sit on my camp chair for a while looking up at the stars as they slowly revealed themselves in a giant dark night sky. It had been a fabulous first and second day in the great state of New Mexico.

Thank you for reading.

This post is dedicated to my dear brother-in-law, the late Richard H., who loved the outdoors.

With love, from Christine and family.

Ireland, 2023 – Back to Wonderful and Historical Dublin

July 1, 2023

From Athlone it was a quick trip of just a little over an hour by bus to Dublin (there is also train service). I alighted near the pedestrian Ha’penny Bridge and felt immediately energized by the hustle and bustle of Dublin. I crossed over to the south side of the River Liffey, walked through the always busy streets of Temple Bar, and made my way back towards Long Lane Close to stay again with Pearl and her Mam Therese.

I was welcomed by Therese with a warm hug, tea and biscuits, and an invitation to have dinner with her, “a proper cooked dinner, none of that awful travel food.” I accepted gladly, and after tea I headed out on foot to visit the Irish National Museum of Archaeology. Enroute I passed by the lovely and peaceful St. Kevin’s Park and couldn’t resist a walk through to check up on the roses. I felt like I was in “my park” and “my neighbourhood.”

I had visited Ireland’s exceptional National Museum of Archaeology on my first trip to Ireland and I was excited to see that they were still exhibiting some of their magnificent collection of ancient gold artefacts. The gold collars and torcs (below, top two photos) date from 800-700 BC, and the gold lunulae (bottom right) date from 2000 BC! The nine large round hollow beads (bottom left, Late Bronze Age) come from a hoard of eleven that was found in 1834 by farmers tilling land near Tumna Church, beside the Shannon River, in County Roscommon. They would have been strung together to make an enormous and awe-inspiring necklace for a wealthy and powerful chieftain or king.

I spent a lot of time viewing the bone and stone artefacts from the Neolithic Age (having recently visited many Neolithic sites in the northwest of the country), and I was struck by the beauty of two polished jadeitite axe heads from 4000-3800 BC. The stone originated from quarries high in the Italian Alps (!), and it is thought that they had a ceremonial use as they show no signs of wear.

I also spent a lot of time in the “Viking Ireland” section,

and I definitely had to revisit two gorgeous artefacts in the Treasury exhibit, a tiny golden ship exquisitely crafted in the 1st century BC, and an 8th century silver chalice.

There were also exhibits relating to Saint Comcille (a long distance walk tracing his voyages begins in Glen Colmcille, one of my favourite places in Donegal), and to the monastic settlement of Glendalough (a “must see” for anyone visiting Ireland. It is not far from Dublin in County Wicklow. See my post here: https://christineswalkabout.com/2016/07/21/glendalough/). I learned about “shrines”, highly decorated boxes made to contain holy manuscripts. The one below, the “Shrine of the Cathach” held a 7th century manuscript believed to be written by St. Columba. It was one of the chief treasures of the O’Donnell clan through the Middle Ages and they carried it into battle to bring good luck.

After my visit to the museum (there was still more to see!) I decided to walk through Iveagh Gardens before returning to my accommodation. Like St. Stephens Green and Merrion Square Park it was an oasis of green in the city and featured a treed perimeter walk, expansive lawns, large fountains, a yew hedge maze, and a lovely rose garden.

I returned to my accommodation for dinner with Therese and then a quiet evening in my room resting. The next day, I visited the Kilmainham Jail which is the number one top visited site in Dublin according to Tripadvisor. Operated by the Office of Public Works who provide the excellent guided tours, this notorious jail and symbol of British rule and oppression is now an important history lesson. Before my tour, I spent time in the comprehensive museum where there were displays and artefacts detailing the history of the jail and the conditions and circumstances of those imprisoned here, including many hundreds of women and children, especially during the years of the Great Famine, when the prison population swelled. One floor of the museum focussed on the history of political prisoners held in the jail from as early as the rebellions of 1798 and 1803 (the jail opened in 1796). On display were letters, photographs, newspaper articles, explanatory text, and a collection of political posters that chronicled the fight for Irish indendence.

The one hour tour was excellent and was presented in a straight forward, accessible, sensitive, and even-handed manner. We started in the West Wing, the oldest section of the jail, which is gloomy, dark and cold, with no windows, heating, light, bed or chair provided for the prisoners. We heard several stories here and entered several cells and rooms. Later we moved on to the East Wing which was built in the 1860s and some Victorian-era prison reforms were put in place. A key element of the design was to have every cell door visible to the jail’s guards.

We heard more interesting stories and facts pertaining to this wing of the jail and about some of the people who had been imprisoned here.

From the East Wing, the tour moved on to the Stonebreaker’s yard where fourteen leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed by firing squad. A cross in a corner of the yard marks the spot where Joseph Connolly was tied to a chair and then shot. He had been badly injured during the uprising, was transported to the jail from his hospital bed, and was unable to stand. The manner of his execution, as well as the execution of the other rebel leaders, stirred wide public support for the goals of the rebellion and the fight for Irish independence.

I had been reluctant to visit Kilmainham Gaol but was very glad that I did. In a contemplative mood, I left the jail to begin the three kilometre walk back to my accommodation but I was drawn towards the nearby 17th century Richmond Tower which led me into a large and very historical green space that I had not previously known about. You find history in Dublin even when you’re not looking for it! To my left, behind a long high stone fence and iron gate was Bully’s Acre, a burial ground associated with St. Maigneann’s monastery. I read that the cemetery was in use from 606 AD until 1832 and that monks, knights, princes and Dublin citizens of all ranks, including traders, merchants, the wealthy and the very poor, were buried here over those twelve centuries. Through the gate I could see the 10th century decorated granite cross shaft that was associated with the monastery. It is said that the son and grandson of the High King, Brian Boru, were buried near the cross after the famous Battle of Clontarf in 1014. A groundskeeper mowing the lawns behind me saw my interest in the cross and the burial grounds and he kindly unlocked the gate and let me wander through the site for a few moments.

Afterwards, I walked along the paved path, beneath a few scattered afternoon thunderclouds that dropped rain on my umbrella, towards a brightly lit patch of blue sky and the 17th century Royal Hospital Kilmainham with its beautiful formal gardens. The hospital now houses the Irish Museum of Modern Art and I was tempted to enter and have a look but my brain was full and I decided to save that experience for another visit to Dublin.

Continuing my walk home, I passed by Christchurch Cathedral and Dublinia, a museum which showcases Dublin’s Viking-era history. I had visited these two sites on my first trip to Dublin and and I recommend them highly. I would love to revisit them, yet another reason to visit wonderful and historic Dublin.

I returned to my accommodation and was again invited to have dinner with Therese and Pearl, a lovely way to spend my last evening before my flight home. I hope that you’ve enjoyed travelling along with me to Dublin, and to the gorgeous Irish countryside with its historic towns, deep green forests and fields, mountains, beaches, rivers, castles, museums and monasteries, etc., etc., etc., … and even Ireland’s (and Europe’s) oldest pub. Thank you, dear readers, and thank you Ireland!