I got up early this morning as normal. I like to make sure I have plenty of time and I usually arrive places at least 10 minutes early. I sat with Austin and two of his friends at breakfast. I have no idea at all what their names are. I have learned something about my memory of names during this trip. I remember names through the memory of the image of their named spelled out. When someone tells me their name and it is not a name that I can spell in English I have no chance at all of remembering it. With the number of non-English people on this trip, there are many people's names I have had to ask many many times and still cannot remember.
I was leaving at 10 to go to the Trossachs and hike. At breakfast Austin asked me about this and told me they had told his bus that both of the groups were leaving at 9, instead of one at 9 and one at 10. This was at 8.40. I immediately left breakfast and went back to my room to gather my things and run towards the bus. I made it in plenty of time, but they did both indeed leave at 9. It was supposed to be announced on the bus, but no one bothered to on ours. I am quite grateful that I sat with an inquisitive and helpful group at breakfast, otherwise I would have had no idea.
Now if you'll remember, I was rather irritated about the whole Trossachs sign-up ordeal, what with how I had to fight and only managed to get the very last available seat. Well, in my own little vindictive way I got complete retribution. Those same people that were sitting up there signing up numbers and numbers of people were the same ones that obviously paid no attention to what the trip was going to be like. We were warned that it was actually going to be a hike. That you shouldn't wear shoes that you don't want to get quite muddy. That the trip would involve some steep bits towards the end. For instance, take the girl beside me for example.
"I really hope these shoes don't get too dirty, I just bought them before I left." (She is wearing white tennis shoes.)
"Are you kidding me? They are going to be brown. We are going hiking in the mountains. In SCOTLAND."
People just don't listen. Apparently a lot of them thought it was going to be a nice path all the way up the mountain, which wasn't the case. To be honest, it was unlike any hiking I'd ever done. We were in a group of about 100 people. Once we got to the real trail, well, there wouldn't have been a path, had 100 people not tread on it before me (I was at the end with all of the BYU or BYU+ as the group of us that chooses to associate the most with the BYU people have been deemed). There was more mud than I've ever seen for such a stretch, but I guess that is what you get with the weather. We were told by the hiking guide before we got off the bus that we were likely to experience all four seasons, and he was right. At one point I could see my breath, and at one point it was uncomfortably warm. Be sure to check the pictures from this trip, as they should be brilliant if they capture even half of what I saw.
It was only a 2 mile hike there, and then 2 miles back, but it took 2 hours both way due to the size of the group. The short hike was an all day affair, as the bus ride there also took about 1.5 hours there and then 1.5 hours back. It was totally worth it though, I would much rather see the wilderness and nature of an area than the urban part if given the option, and tomorrow I will have a chance to see a bit of the city anyway.
Though I lost sight of my feet multiple times beneath the mud the dry sanctity of my socks was never violated. I was probably one of about 10 in the group of 100 that had actually worn proper footwear and had such a nice foot haven. I felt no pity for them.
After returning to my housing I found a shower on another floor (many people had gone hiking on my floor and thus there was a large shower queue...only a floor up and on the opposite shower there was no queue). I went to check out the Ceilidh (a traditional Scottish party) after getting washed up. I took advantage of the free drinks and watched a few dances. Not only were my feet tired, but there just wasn't anyone there that I wished to dance with. If my girlfriend or anyone I was closer to had been there I would have loved to try it, but not with the people I didn't really know all that well. This is neglecting the fact that the only shoes I had were hiking boots. All in all, it was fun to watch for a few dances, but I don't regret the fact that I skipped out pretty early. I can say I went to one, even if I didn't dance.
Tomorrow we'll see what the city of Edinburgh is hiding.
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