Balblair Woods, and Foxy

Today hiked Balblair Woods, Maikle Woods. A lovely circular uphill... forest paths and gravel roads. 

 There were tons of mushrooms, I started photographs half way through. We had fresh locally picked chanterelles for dinner two nights ago in Bonar Bridge. Saw those here as well.

We came upon two huge horses, just tied to trees, muching on hay. 

No one in sight.  

No one. 

Aha. These horses pull the logs felled on the hillside in the forests too steep and windy for trucks. 

A view spot over Kyle of Sutherland. 

What is a "kyle" you ask? 

Well, in our desire to understand Scottish names for bodies of water, I will look it up. 

A kyle is a strait, a smaller body of water connecting two larger bodies of water. 

The viewspot was disappointing, said my guide Mike. 

They should cut down those trees to let us see the kyle fully. 

He's going to look into who to tell. Maybe the Queen, next time he sees her. 

He also thinks that "green" is not the best color to choose for waymarking trails. 

Too camoflaged. 

It's okay to make the post green, but the stripe should stand out. 

There's dozens of other colors, such as red, blue, orange, yellow, purple. 

Why ever choose green?

Logs.

Logged row. They only log one row of trees per quarter mile of path. 

Here's guide Mike with one of the hard-to-see green stripe waymarking posts. 

And the gorgeous Kyle of Sutherland beyond. 

Now at Royal Dornoch. Want to get a good shot of the signature hole, number 14, called Foxy. 

It's a sly little vixen.

So I am at the footpath, looking south over #3, and you can see golfers on #14 green. 

Looking north over #3 green, towards the holes on the hil. 

Down the footpath I go. 

Oops, got to snap these thistles. We are in Scotland after all. 

I'm standing on dune on east side of #14, looking towards the green. Golfers are on the green. You see all the movement, all the undulation especially on the right side of the fairway. 

As I think I was disturbing the next group of golfers (his tee shot literally soared over my head, which was a really bad tee shot), I walked through the dunes to the beach.  

Looking north.  Then south. 

Back at Foxy, #15. The threesome are hitting approach shots. 

Back up on my footpath above the course. 

One last look. 

A daisy. 

My mother's favorite flower. 

Always think of her when I spot one. 

All good things must come to an end...