Traveler’s Journal
When: 7 p.m., Thursday, March 22
Where: Sequim High School library, 601 N. Sequim Ave.
Cost: Suggested $5 donation (adults); 18 and younger, free
Presenters: Tim and Mardi Guthrie
Presentation: ‘Scotland, North Coast 500’
A couple of years ago, my wife Mardi came across a description of the North Coast 500 trip around the far northwest of “mainland” Scotland. Having been stationed in Germany twice and crossed the channel a number of times, we had always loved our travels in Scotland better than anywhere else in Europe.
So we booked the flights and started arranging a basic trip plan and booking B&B lodgings around the 500-mile loop. The fact that a good one-third of the trip would be on single-track road with pull-outs enhanced the fun factor for me as driver, especially since on single track there is no right side of the road to drive on!
There are no cities of much size up there, but boundless beauty in huge open panoramas along the seaside and among the hills and mountains of the rugged west coast.
We learned that there is good reason this area has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage GeoPark. After landing in Glasgow I drove along Loch Lomond (on the Bonnie Bonnie Banks of … ) and headed west for the ferry to the Isle of Mull where we played a short round of golf on one of my favorite little country courses.
Next we ferried/drove across to spend a few days on the Isle of Skye hiking some crowded and some very empty trails, always with spectacular surroundings. The tragedy of the Highland Clearances was very evident in the ruined croft villages we explored and explained thoroughly in several museums both on Skye and elsewhere in the far north.
Then as we headed up the first part of the official North Coast 500 the driving days got shorter, slower, curvier and much narrower, and more unbelievable vistas opened before us one after the other. And the skies opened above us!
Scotland is said to have two seasons: Winter … and June.We were there in June, but nonetheless experienced as much liquid sunshine as the radiant sort. Golf played in 25- to 30-mile-per-hour winds with horizontal rain is an entirely different sport than that in which we dabble locally!
Taking two full weeks to travel a route recommended as a five-to-seven day trip allowed for exploring smaller and out of the way sights and locales.
After a few castles, multiple lonely long sandy beaches, and despite some rather unproductive searches for a decent salad in the land of “we are not rabbits after all” Scots folk we were out of time, but wanting to “go around again” as young children are so often heard to chant.
I look forward to sharing images and recollections from this trip with all who come to share in the experience.
About the presenters
Tim and Mardi Guthrie have lived in Sequim for 10 years since retiring from the U.S. Air Force. Tim’s previous life record for living in one place was a whole four years. Mardi is still trying to overcome an entire childhood and youth spent in one town.
Twenty years of military life afforded them many opportunities for travel around much of Europe, and joining their kids on school or church mission trips got them over many parts of Central and South America, Mozambique and Dayak longhouses in the jungles of Borneo.
Tim is a family doctor at Jamestown Clinic, and Mardi is a recently re-retired nurse.
Both Tim and Mardi love travel, especially when long hikes at altitude — Nepal, Macchu Picchu, the Andes, the High Divide Loop right in our backyard — can be included, and are always fascinated by new vistas, cultures, languages and (especially Tim) strange new food.
About the presentations
Traveler’s Journal is a presentation of the Peninsula Trails Coalition with local adventurers sharing their stories and photos with you. All of the money raised is used to buy project supplies and food for the volunteers working on the Olympic Discovery Trail.
Admission is $5 adults, youths 18 and under free. Shows start at 7 p.m. in the Sequim High School Library at 601 N. Sequim Ave. The seating is chairs and some people bring their own cushions.
Each year the dream of a continuous trail from Port Townsend to Forks gets a little closer. In 2017, about 200 volunteers put in more than 9,000 hours of labor on the trail.
One selected photo enlargement will be given each week as a door prize.
Call Arvo Johnson at 360-301-9359 for more information.
