Camping in the Glen

On Friday we all decided that we were going to go for a big hiking and camping trip on the Isle of Arran. We packed our backpacks full with our tent, sleeping bags, food, clothes (with our waterproof jackets of course), cooking supplies, etc. We even packed the kids their own little backpacks so they wouldn't feel left out.
We took the ferry at 3:15 from Ardrossan to Brodick. These ferry's go to all the different islands in Scotland, so signs inside the boat were labeled in both English and Scottish Gaelic. The ferry only took about fifty five minutes to get across and we were on our way.

The day was absolutely beautiful and surprisingly warm, we just hoped that the wind wouldn't be too threatening but threatening enough to keep the midges away.

It took no time at all to hike up to the start of the Glen Rosa trail. There was a traditional camping area with facilities where people normally went to go camping, but we felt the need to hike the full trail and camp along it during the night so we could finish it in the morning.

The trail kept going and going and we saw some suitable dry flat areas that we could camp at but went by them and thought that we would be able to find some more good areas further up. Unfortunately we didn't find a suitable place, the ground kept getting wetter the further we went into the glen and the trail came to an end where it had been washed out by the river. We had no choice at this moment in time to turn back and head for the places that we had spotted before. It grew darker on our way back, so Paul put on his headlamp and the kids and I had flashlights. The kids loved the full day of hiking, there's something about kids and nature that go together. They were well behaved, started using their imaginations and saw many things they had never seen before.

A three inch long caterpillar we saw along the trail
Hiking with the darkness falling upon us gave the glen a different feel to it. The moon was high in the sky giving us a good amount of light, different bugs began to emerge, as well as a frog which I mistook for a mouse at first that gave me a bit of a fright(it was getting dark, okay). My son was making stories about ghosts even though he could not tell us what a ghost was. We looked behind us at the mountain and noticed a couple of lights far up the mountain which we assumed were campers, how they got there we don't know because it was at least a couple miles past the point that the trail stopped for us.
Trecking along with flashlights actually reminded me a lot of girl guides. The kids enjoyed that part of the journey the most. Soon enough we got to the point to put up our tent, the kids held the flashlights and Paul and I quickly put the tent up. It was really simple to construct and in no time we were all ready for a good night sleep.... however, it didn't quite end up that way. The kids fell asleep before the wind picked up. Our tent held up great, but there was a cover at the top of the tent that would not stop flapping, no matter how much we got out and tried to tie it down. On the bright side, if we didn't get out to deal with the tent we would not have seen all the stars and how amazingly bright they were. With all the opening and closing of the tent, we let a lot of midges in. Midges are as tiny or tinier than a fruit fly but they've got bite! I saw one on my arm and thought it was a fruit fly, then went to flick it away when it bit me and hung on until I had to brush harder at it. They're nasty little things and unlike most mosquitos, they like to go for the mouth, nose and eyes.
Anyway, at some point we finally fell asleep.

The waterfall near our campsite
We woke up and took down the tent, then walked a little way to a bench and cooked our porridge for breakfast. It was nice to sit amongst the scenery like that with our little portable cooking stove. we couldn't see too much of the mountains though, because the clouds had rolled in overnight.

We made our way out and along the shore to a play park for the kids, in which we all dropped our bags and hopped on the seesaw, to the relief of Paul and I's backs and legs. Despite the long hike, the kids were still filled with energy in the play park and even more so when we sat down at a picnic table for an early lunch of steak and guiness stew as well as chicken and dumpling stew.

When we saw the ferry coming in from Ardrossan we got some chocolates from the little shop along the way... I got one that looked like a frog because it reminded me of the one off Harry Potter when his frog chocolate jumps out the window...
Our next camping excursion will most likely be in an area more sheltered from the wind.... that camp site at the beginning of the trail might have been a little more ideal after all, when we went by that area the wind didn't seem so strong... we'll see for next time.