Arthur's Seat Run

So yesterday, I decided that it was so nice out that I would take a run out to Arthur's Seat. There is an old building that I have always seen from a distance but have never actually walked out to go see. I decided that yesterday was the day to do just that. I ran from the flat to Arthur's Seat and through the valley between Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags. The old building was interesting to see and it overlooked a small lake. This small lake had hundreds of birds swimming in the water with about 80% of them being swans. It was really neat to see! I ran down to this lake and around it and took several pictures of the swans that were being fed by some man who had a bag of bread crumbs. I would also like to note that he was feeding these swans directly in front of a sign that specifically said "Do not feed the birds." I guess he didn't "see" the sign...

I have started studying for the Veterinary Public Health examination that is coming up in 4 weeks' time and the material is not too difficult to understand. Basically, it's determining whether or not to locally reject meat or totally reject meat based on the the pathology that the meat has. We have practical sessions each week where we have hands on learning with real examples from abattoirs. On Friday, I pulled my very first rabbit maxillary incisor. I also gave an intraosseous injection to the rabbit, flushed the nasolacrimal duct (which is quite difficult in a rabbit as their duct is TINY!) and performed a spay. I also forgot to mention to you that these procedures were performed on deceased rabbits. Was great experience though. We have our avian practical tomorrow where we learn about air sac intubation, ET intubation, blood sampling techniques, surgical procedures, etc. So that should be a lot of fun.

Well, that was the update since my last post. Nothing exciting has happened since then. I did go to a birthday party this weekend that was a lot of fun and I also went to the farmer's market last weekend and had a fresh pulled pork sandwich that was delicious! I will try and post the photos from yesterday's run soon. Hope all is well! Talk to you all soon!

Ben Nevis!

So a couple weekends back I decided to attempt climbing Ben Nevis (tallest mountain in Britain) with a buddy of mine. The elevation is around 4400ft. The day that we decided to go the forecast was predicted to be 60-70mph winds with whiteout conditions in the early morning and clearing up in the late morning. We left Edinburgh around 5am and headed up to Fort William (where Ben Nevis is located). Once there, we prepped ourselves for the climb. I basically wore my ski clothes and had also brought my goggles as I wasn't sure if it was going to be snowing or not, and with the wind the way it was predicted I decided to bring my goggles. We began the ascent with no problems (my knees were doing great this time around). At around 400 meters up we ran into the typical Scottish rain, which was no good if the temperature was going to drop at the top. Not a good combination of being wet and then walking into freezing temperatures. The rain stopped at about 600 meters up and it started turning into ice/snow/slush coming down. The trail was maintained quite well and we walked by several groups of people. As we increased in altitude, breathing became more and more difficult and the trail began to collect snow. Further on, we encountered snow covered trail and ice as well. At about 900 meters up, the trail was all snow and the wind really began to kick in. I would say at this point the wind was about 45-50mph. We kept on pushing and eventually the trail disappeared and we decided to head up and make our own trail and follow the compass. As we did, the conditions progressively deteriorated and the white out conditions began. I would say that we were about 1100 meters up and the wind was about 60-65mph now. I was getting blown over and losing my balance constantly. The wind hurt my face as it was blowing snow so hard that it felt like a sand blaster was abrading my face. We finally reached a cairn that was about 4 feet tall. For those of you who don't know what a cairn is, it is a pile of rocks used to mark a trail. We knew we were in the right spot for the trail at that point. However, the wind was persistent and the visibility seemed to be getting worse so we made the decision to turn around.

We were unable to pick up our tracks from the original route so we had to head west and intersect our trail somehow. The entire descent we were battered with strong winds and had to maneuver around icy rocks and loose snow. There was enough snow, however, that we were able to slide down on our rear ends. The snow slopes were quite long as well. I would say that on average, we would slide down about 50 yards at a time! Which definitely makes descending easier and much more fun! We reached a point where we had to walk alongside a waterfall (or on top of it at some points where it was partially frozen). At one point, I was sliding down alongside the waterfall and when I went to push my hand up, it sunk down through the snow right into the small frigid stream below. We finally made it down to the main trail and I was so happy to have reached firm ground that wasn't icy or rocky! After an hour of descending via the main trail we arrived at the car park and were soaking wet! We changed and went into the pub that was near the car park. After we enjoyed a nice pint of lager we headed back to Edinburgh. That is our story and here are the photos of the climb.

Ben Nevis, Scotland - February 2012