Roaming freely since 1952
It has been a busy few weeks here at reindeer house with with plenty of new calves being born on the hillside. We thought we’d share a few photos of the lovely new members of our herd. As long term readers or followers of our social media pages will hopefully have seen, we ask that you don’t identify any of the mothers if you know them. This information will be going in our adopters newsletter in June. Enjoy…
Getting a trot on
The Everest Marathon
I packed and unpacked many many times as you can imagine but left with a very civilised 13kg rucksack with everything I needed… I hoped! Having never done anything like this before I was a bit of a fish out of water but what’s the worst that could happen? Alex, my brother, dropped me off at the airport in Inverness to fly to Heathrow where I would meet most of the team of folk and organisers taking part in this adventure. When I got there I had a bit of time to spare so I went and grabbed a coffee. While sitting there I clocked someone in the coffee line who looked suspiciously like another runner and surely had to be on the same trip. He was wearing some serious gear with a fancy running rucksack and water bottles on each strap, straws sticking up ready for quick access… he looked ready to compete! And here’s me in my chequered shirt, comfy travelling trousers looking ready for a leisurely holiday. It was this point I text a couple of friends questioning whether I should be on this trip, What have I signed up for!?!?
Shortly after, Sally (fellow reindeer herder), found me. It was Sally who introduced me to the idea of doing the marathon so ultimately she is to blame for all this ? I pointed out the other runner, told her how much I was bricking it, but in her usual bubbly, positive self she said ‘it’ll be fine… you’ll be fine’. The two of us headed to meet up with the rest of the group and set ourselves up for the two long haul flights. We arrived into Kathmandu Airport. It was absolutely buzzing. The smog levels were unreal, felt like I needed a buff over my mouth the whole time. Our hotel was a little piece of paradise in amongst the chaos of Kathmandu. We had time for some dinner and a shower but I think everyone was feeling the need to go to bed, knowing we had a fairly early start.
The next morning we were allocated into our groups. This is where Sally comes into it, she was the yellow group leader so she got our group together in the hotel garden and we did the tedious but necessary introductions. First up was McKenzie, he was from the North of England. McKenzie was one of those people who, although dealt a harder card in life, really was an inspiration to everyone by picking himself up and ‘taking the bull by the horns’. He took on adventures for various charities supporting causes close to his heart. Now this is where first impressions were blown out the water because it was McKenzie who I saw in the coffee line only hours before and when I got to know him, he couldn’t have been more different from that serious looking, coffee drinking runner in Café Nero! Then we had an Aussie couple Travis and Kelly. They were setting off on a worldwide adventure and going for as long as money and time would allow, starting with the Everest Marathon… One hell of a start if you ask me!
The next group of people were fellow Celts… the four Irish! Tom, John, Frank and Daithi are all friends from a running group back home. As well as their great banter they were just the most genuine lovely people who I spent a lot of my time with while in Nepal. I wont big them up too much or they’ll think I liked their company, and I’ll never hear the end of it ?. Also in our group was Chris who is an English guy now living in Thailand, he was here to be a marshal on race day having done the marathon in the past. He was a real rock in the group and had a heart of gold as well as lots of good advice for us.
Steve was one of the oldest competitors, but this meant nothing in this type of event as he was certainly fitter than most of us and has completed some amazing races including an Iron Man. If you don’t know what an Iron Man is, google it, because it will blow your mind! Christian came from Guernsey… You can’t get much further from my Cairngorm home. He was a really great guy and always so positive. Even though Nepal dealt him the mean card when it came to tummy troubles he never moaned and always had a smile on his face and a toilet roll handy ? (Sorry Chris!)
Bobby was our token Yank! A 23 year old that really has been there, done that. He was completing his last marathon on every continent… what an achievement at such a young age! I spent a lot of time trekking with Bobby being a similar pace oh and not to mention kicking his ass at card games (he may say otherwise but it’s not true!). Sam lives and works in London… again couldn’t get much further from my life but its amazing how different our lives can be yet we are brought together in this adventure and get along so well. Working in the world of computers and technology I’ll never forget trying so hard to understand a conversation he was having with a friend during a trekking day about some software or app and my brain failing to understand any of it… I just don’t have it when it comes to anything technical! Sam was always game for everything, a real good sport!
Shauney was another Scottish lassie and my tent buddy… Do you think they planned that?!?! I couldn’t have asked for a better person to share this adventure with. She is the youngest person (aged 22) to complete the Everest marathon and having done some epic long distance races in the past already had some great stories. I’m not sure I would have taken on such a massive adventure when I was her age so I really admire what she has achieved. The best thing is she only lives over the hill and is a horse trainer… Future reindeer herder comes to mind!
Next are father and son Ross and Lachie from New Zealand. Ross is a mountain runner back home so this was his adventure and Lachie was coming along to be a marshal on race day. It all changed slightly for Lachie and having been strong during trekking days he decided to give the full marathon a go. Read on to see how he gets on! Mark and Ulla were a couple from Northampton who are good friends with one of the Everest Marathon doctors. This is how they came to be sat in this circle of crazy people. Mark was to take on the marathon and Ulla was there to marshal. The two were such a positive couple and so lovely. They were actually the first ones I met back in Heathrow Airport when I was super nervous about the whole adventure and they were so relaxed and calm.
Ali wasn’t here as a competitor or marshal, she was here learning the ropes for taking on the organising of the Everest Marathon in the future so she was constantly jotting down notes and off with the Nepalese organisers trying to get her head around the ins and outs of the whole thing. Nishma was our group doctor and has been the doctor on the Everest Marathon before so was all ready and set for the challenge ahead. Such a bubbly lady who always had a smile on her face and great advice. Couldn’t have asked for a better person to look after us and she had skills when it came to card games! Then last but not least, Sally. Some of you may already know Sally as she has been a seasonal reindeer herder on and off for about ten years. She is the most positive, smiley person I know. Having her as our group leader created such a great atmosphere and I really feel our group gelled so well and looked after each other which was also down to her great leadership. I wouldn’t have taken part in this amazing adventure and met these incredible people if it wasn’t for Sally, so she’s to blame… I mean she’s to thank! So as well as our group there was the red group. I won’t introduce all of them or we will be here all day but I will mention Rich and Dr Mike who we adopted as honorary yellow group members over the course of the adventure. Both great guys, game for everything and super strong in the mountains!
While we were still in Kathmandu we all took part in a fun run. We all hopped onto a bus which took us out of town to the top of a hill (thankfully) ready to run down in our costumes. We had Elvis, 118 118 man, Peter Pan, a penguin, four Irish Leprechauns and many more costumes. Everyone made a real effort to dress up. I wore a reindeer onesie which at the time seemed like a great idea until the Nepal sun came out and it turns out running in 25 degrees gets rather hot! As well as the fun run there was an excursion to the Monkey Temple and also other iconic spots around Kathmandu. This then brought us to the morning we left for the mountains. It was all getting rather real now… eek!
We hopped on a tiny 16 seater plane and flew to Lukla. The views were spectacular looking over to some of the worlds biggest mountains. Now this runway is renowned for its shortness. Luckily I couldn’t see it from my side of the plane until the last minute. It certainly made my stomach turn slightly but there was nothing we could do bar hope the pilot was on course, which he was. It helped that the weather that day was glorious so no turbulence to contend with. Once we landed, we grabbed some lunch and various instructions from our leaders and headed off on our first trek together as a group. We had about 4 hours walking that day passing yak trains, some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, Sherpas carrying the most incredibly heavy loads, many tourists, plant life I’ve never seen, traditional houses and hamlets, children running to school (which at that altitude, walking was tough enough for us), suspension bridges, and many more amazing things. What a beautiful country and the colour from prayer flags and the Nepalese clothing just brought it all alive.
Over the next two days we trekked to Namche Bazaar which is the main village and last proper civilisation for most trekkers and climbers before heading onto other trails and Mount Everest itself. It was a lovely little place with cafes, bars and shops selling curios and souvenirs. Also for sale was lots of outdoor gear which was branded names but not branded prices… We had a couple of days in Namche Bazaar getting any last minute essentials but more importantly acclimatising. It is really important for your body to adjust slowly and properly to altitude or you can make yourself really sick. Some folk in the group were already experiencing some symptoms but luckily I was OK, so fingers crossed it stayed that way. From Namche we did a couple of treks for good views but also to help with the altitude then after a few days we headed off. This was for real now. We had our lovely Sherpas, a herd of yaks to carry the gear and lots of nervous but excited folk ready for this massive adventure ahead. We still had two weeks until the marathon itself, which at the time felt like ages away but its amazing how it seemed to fly by.
On leaving Namche we discovered the red group was very well trained and all had their assigned number so when we were all due to leave they would shout out their number to make sure everyone was there. Needless to say we were rubbish and when put on the spot I’m not sure any of us remembered which number we were. So later that night, during our nightly meeting with Sally we decided we had to do better therefore we gave ourselves a letter, starting with A, B, C… etc and with our letter we had to think of an animal. So here goes… I think this was all the animals in our group and what ended up being our morning chorus before setting off on trekking days to make sure everyone was there – Ass, Baboon, Cat, Donkey, Elephant, Ferret, Giraffe, Horse, IBEX (this was Bobby’s animal and always said with great volume!), Jaguar, Koala, Lemur, Meerkat, Nightingale (this was me), Orangutan, Pufferfish, Quail, Reindeer (of course), Snake, Tiger and Unicorn. It took a few days to perfect but it sounded awesome when we did get it right. Peter, the leader of the red group said he’d buy Sally a beer if we managed so I think he needs to dig deep cos we definitely got there!
From now on we were camping. We would arrive at camp every day to our tents already set up and our Sherpas starting our dinner. Our kit bags would arrive and we set up camp for the night laying out our sleeping mat and bag then change into our evening attire (I had two sets of clothes, daytime and night time… that was it!), park ourselves in the lodge and crack out the card games. This happened most nights. Some folks would read, go for a wee walk, sleep and now and again Sally had organised a quiz so it was a real social time all round. Ulla had a birthday while we were there and amazingly the Sherpas managed to bake a cake. How? I have no idea but it was delicious. After dinner the Sherpas heated up water for us which we would stick into our water bottle and put in our sleeping bags. Worked as a fantastic hot water bottle especially when camping in the minus’s. Ice would form on the inside of the tent, that’s how cold it was.
Our first few days after leaving Namche took us up a valley towards Gokyo. We camped at a place called Machherma for four nights which was great, it meant we didn’t have to pack up camp daily. One of the days we just did a walk up and run down for nice views and acclimatising. Then on one of the other days we headed up towards Gokyo and Gokyo Ri which meant we were gaining a lot of height. This was a big day and not everybody opted into doing the bigger walk but from the top of Gokyo Ri there was the most magnificent views of Mount Everest. The walk was super tough as we reached almost 5400m but every step was worth it. Bobby had a beer from one of his sponsors which he downed at the top… not sure how but I put it down to having 8 years on me ? The blue water lakes were just incredible and we had great weather to top it off. Saying that it was pretty chilly up there. On one of our other days it was meant to be a rest day but Bobby, Sally and I decided to go for a wander, taking us back to Gokyo because it had a good bakery. We took a massive cake order from both yellow and red group and headed off on our ten mile round trip… things we do for cake!
As days went by we covered lots of ground trekking and most of us acclimatised well. Depending how some people were coping with altitude meant their trip was altered but on the whole everyone was doing amazingly. Once dropping down again in altitude some folk decided that was as far as they would go and would meet the group again at the end of the marathon back in Namche Bazaar. For the rest of us we were starting the marathon route in reverse, trekking it over a number of days. It was crucial at this point to know where we were going as the next time we would see it would be on marathon day itself. There were a few big climbs and drops again as we made our way up the valley. This was also the main route to Base camp and Mount Everest. We stopped at various lodges along the way and camping overnight. We even went to hang out with the monks in one of the monasteries in Tengboche. We passed many yaks and Sherpas and the further up we went the colder it got. One of the coldest nights was in a place called Pheriche a couple of camps before our last night in a tent.
We reached Lobuche, this was our final two nights camping and start of preparation for marathon day. It was a bleak wee place and the lodges were cold at night. When we were back in Namche Bazaar I bought myself a yak wool blanket. I think its safe to say this was my best purchase and every night I wrapped myself up in it and wore it like a skirt in the lodges. It was so toasty warm and some of the group commented on it being surgically attached to me… it wasn’t far off it that’s for sure! We had a rest day here where we had the option to walk up Kala Putar giving us great views of Everest but a few of us opted to go to Base Camp instead. In 2016 a friend of mine summited Everest and while he was out there I would hear of his adventures and obviously he spent a lot of time at Base Camp so it was nice to go to the area I had heard so much about. Base Camp is also one of those places in the world you hear people talk about so now I have ticked that off the bucket list I’m pretty delighted. The same day we also passed Gorek Shep, this was to be the start line on race day. The first three miles was going to be tough though as it was mostly boulder field. This part a lot of people were dreading but I’m afraid to say it was the one part of the whole race I enjoyed the most. The rougher the better for me as I’m not exactly a built long distance or fast running, I am however built for hills and rough ground whether it be up or down so this part was fine by me, it was the flat runnable bits I was rubbish on!
The last health and kit checks were done the day before the marathon in Loboche and this was where we sadly had to leave Sally as she was to marshal this first check point the next morning. Really I feel she should have been allowed to come to the start line with her group. By this point of the journey we really had got to know everyone in our group so well and with Sally being our group leader it was a shame for her not to see us on our way, however, this wasn’t hers or our choice and seeing her smiling face, 3 miles into the marathon was also really nice… a real boost! That afternoon we trekked to Gorek Shep once again and stayed the night in the lodge there. It was pretty chilly and the yak blanket was out again for sure! We prepped our kit bags, got some food inside us and all hit the sack nice and early, ready for a 6.30am race start. Poor Shauney, my tent buddy, fell ill and she couldn’t manage any food that night. Not only that but the sickness kept her from resting properly before the race. We made sure she had some sugary fuel through the night but that was real bad luck as she was definitely one of the strongest women competitors in the group!
We all got up around 5am, had some porridge and tea for breakfast and also just to warm us up. The lodge didn’t exactly have central heating. We got onto the start line for 6.15am, all absolutely freezing and leaving our down jackets on for as long as possible. Minutes before 6.30am we reluctantly took our jackets off in preparation for the start whistle. Then… We were off! The Nepalese runners were wearing hardly anything and they shot off at the speed of light leaving all us international runners behind. We plodded on but at 5,140m even plodding felt exhausting. Although you make some really good friends during this adventure, come race day I was always going to run my own race and if that coincided with someone else of similar speed then great but I wanted the experience to be my own however it panned out. I reached Sally after the 3 miles of rough boulders and she was our first check point. I did a reindeer call from afar so she knew I was coming. A warm drink and hug from her was welcomed and we carried on our merry way.
We had another few miles before our next check point which was Chris in Dugla (4620), again it was so nice to see a friendly face and a bite to eat. By this point in the race we were still seeing a few of the other runners but as the race went on folk dispersed more and more and I think this was the last time I saw the front runners of the international field, they were well and truly off ahead of me after Dugla. The next part of the race was all very runnable, this is where I’m not so strong but I plodded on. Where I gained places in the rough sections I definitely lost here, which was fine, everyone excels in different terrains. Next check point was Pheriche which was where Dr Mike was based. We were now 7.5 miles into the race and it was still pretty cold, all my layers from the beginning were still on and weren’t coming off anytime soon. From here Bobby and I ended up running at a similar pace. He was much quicker on the flats though. It was really nice running with someone by this point and as we ended up trekking together most days a familiar, friendly face was definitely a boost! We ran together for the next 7 miles, through check point number 4 in Pangboche and onto checkpoint 5 in Tengboche. This was where we visited the monks and they had good coffee from our visit there a week previously. It took quite a lot of will power not to visit the bakery on route! We were given some rice pudding and another drink before the steep decent into the valley, knowing we would have to climb out of it afterwards.
It was also this check point that Bobby and I ended up on different paths but I knew I would see him again somewhere along the way. During the decent there was a yak train coming up so I stepped off the path and decided to use a wee path cutting the corner. Big mistake… immediately after stepping off the path I rolled my ankle. Gahhh!!! I could have kicked myself. I walked it out for a bit and once I got to the bottom of the valley and crossed the suspension bridge it seemed to sort itself out. Or at least it wasn’t hurting quite as much. It was down here I saw Lachie (the Kiwi who came to marshal the race but ended up running it). This was the first I had seen him since the start line. He was a couple of minutes ahead of me so I didn’t get to chat to him but I was so pleased he was going strong. The next check point was after the big climb and 17 miles in so by this point I’m only a few miles off the furthest I’ve ever run. It was here that the marshal told me I was the first international lady through, which as you can imagine totally shocked me. I felt pretty good about it (who wouldn’t) but I was well aware I was getting to a point of the race where I may get tired quicker than some of the other ladies who have done lots of marathons. But what will be, will be. This race was always just going to be an adventure for me whatever the outcome so I plodded on with no pressure.
The next 3 miles seemed to go on forever. It was quite flat and very runnable, which by mile 18, 19 and 20 I wasn’t really feeling the running love anymore. Also by this point I hadn’t seen any other runners for quite some time and it was getting quite lonely. Usually when I’m home and out running I have the dog with me and having spent the past 2.5 weeks trekking there is always someone to chat to so this was probably the hardest part of the race for me mentally. The next check point was very welcomed, it was Ulla and she was the smiley face I needed to see. This check point was actually at Namche Bazaar, mile 20. Namche Bazaar was where the finish line was, right in the middle of the village, however we still had another 6 miles to complete which was a real kick in the guts so off I set on the 6 mile Thamo loop. The only plus side to doing this extra 6 miles was I got to see some of the other runners again which really helped the moral. The loop meant we ran out for 3 miles, turned around and then ran back the same way so all those folk in front of you passed you on their way back. So, half a mile into the loop I see Franck running towards me. Franck is from France and he was always the strongest trekker and I was really gunning for him to do well in the marathon as he absolutely deserved it. So as we pass each other, we exchange a high five and he heads onto the finish line. The next friendly face was Rich, then Alistair and the fourth international runner was Chris from Guernsey. He was the first from our yellow group so again a delighted high five exchange as he goes onto finish. Theses 3 miles seemed to be going on forever but being back in amongst some friendly faces definitely helped! I reached the turning check point. It was here there was some local Nepalese marking off the runners as they went through. They clocked that I was the first international lady through so they tied a prayer scarf round my neck and I wore it as I ran back to Namche. About ½ – 1 mile on my way back I pass Kim. This was the first time I’d seen her the whole race and now I felt like I needed to try and hold my position or the lovely prayer scarf they just gave me would be hers. We exchanged our high five and I just had to hope she was as tired as I was. On my way back I now knew this was the furthest I had ever run before, and I’m not going to lie I was pretty knackered! But even if I walked the last couple of miles I knew I was going to finish so there was definitely comfort knowing this. I passed Bobby who sadly had been struck by the sickness everyone had a few hours before. He said he was OK and would see me back in Namche. Then I passed the Irish guys. Screw the high fives by this point it was hugs all round, but they weren’t for holding me up they wished me luck and told me to go get first international lady. To be completely honest I would have been delighted to have a blether by this point, it was just nice to see them, but I plodded on. Every corner I turned I hoped the next would be Namche Bazaar… Then finally there it was! The steep stony steps, narrow streets and locals ringing bells shouting ‘Runner’!!! As I jogged through the street towards the finish line I couldn’t quite believe it was all about to be over. It was all quite overwhelming but I was definitely ready to have a sit down! Through the finish line I went in 6 hours, 56 minutes and 51 seconds!
We were told as a rough guide to how long we will take was to double our marathon time and this would be pretty accurate, however I couldn’t do this so I was delighted with my personal best! Seeing the others who had already finished was really nice and hearing of their stories along the way. Lachie who wasn’t even coming to do the race finished a few minutes ahead of me, also getting a personal best as it was his first marathon too so he was super happy, and looked way to fresh… or at least fresher than me! We then waited at the finish line for our other friends to come in. Kim was about 15 minutes behind me, but looked like she could have done another few miles, no bother! Then a few more came in over the next hour. The Irish weren’t far away, however it turned out that Bobby fell really quite ill, staggering, being sick and generally not in great form. The Irish group clocked this on their way back and they helped him back to the finish line. It was a real shame the illness got Bobby mid race but finishing alongside his good friends must have been pretty special too. He needed to see the doctor right away but soon got himself sorted out. I was now waiting for Shauney to arrive. Knowing she was so ill the night before I was really keen to see her finish. Sam from our group ran with her the whole day which was absolutely incredible of him and the two of them came in a couple of minutes apart. I absolutely take my hat off to that girl, she completed that race having the worst night and illness. I’m not sure I would have managed in her circumstances. We then welcomed home Mark who was still looking so strong and Frank, the last of the Irish to come through. Unfortunately he also wasn’t well but considering lack of energy and illness he plugged through and completed it. So out of the 46 who started the race, 40 completed the full marathon. The rest finished at the 20 miles mark when we first reach Namche Bazaar so everyone did amazingly. A massive well done to all runners. Of course we had the support of the check points along the way which did heaps for moral and food and drink where necessary so a massive thank you to them as well. Sally and Chris who were the furthest away check points were the real heros of the day as MacKenzie fell ill very early on in the race and they helped him home by walking but he was so weak that he had to get on a horse to get back to Namche so the real gold medal goes to them and the Irish team for helping others.
I think we were all ready for some comforts now after a pretty gruelling day so we headed to the Irish bar (of course!) for food and beers all round. It was, as expected, a fairly tame night but catching up with everyone on their day was really nice and everyone experienced a really different race ultimately ending in their own massive achievements! I was shocked, overwhelmed, delighted… all the emotions, as I really hadn’t set out for any great achievement, I was just in it for the jolly and adventure so to bag first international lady was as much of a shock to me as everyone else. But I couldn’t have done it without the support of the amazing yellow team and Sally so really they are all to thank.
The next day was a rest day in Namche Bazaar and of course a bit of retail therapy… AKA buying presents for friends and family, and myself. My legs today were pretty exhausted and sore but a few celebratory beers later helped ease the pain. That afternoon Bobby organised the worlds highest beer mile, Google ‘beer mile’ for details, but at 3000+ meters and sore legs there was no way I was going to survive this so I watched from the side line. The next day we had to walk 14 miles back to Lukla where we were going to catch our flight the following day back to Kathmandu. This was the hardest walk I have ever done. My legs two days after the marathon were the sorest they have ever been. Stepping down was the worst but in general the body was just exhausted. We plugged through and made it to Lukla but was very happy to see a bed that night.
The flights from Lukla go in small aeroplanes so we were split into 3 groups to get back. Due to poor weather conditions the 2nd and 3rd group unfortunately didn’t get back to Kathmandu that day. This included me, however that is the way the cookie crumbles and it was out of our hands. We pushed hard the next day to get on one of the first flights going and much to everybody’s delight, we got back… Woo Hoo! The hotel seemed so luxurious compared to when we first stayed there. A hot shower was welcomed by everyone and a change of clothes meant we all transformed from that grotty hiker back to clean holiday maker. All the men were suddenly clean shaven again, they were hardly recognisable! As we missed a day in Kathmandu due to flight delays we all rushed around getting some extra shopping (more yak blankets), had a few more celebratory beers (can they still be called celebratory beer by this point?) and headed back to the hotel for the presentation of our certificates. The food and celebration was great and it was nice to have one last night with everyone before we all went our separate ways the next day. One beer of course leads to another which apparently leads to drinking card games in the hotel rooms so our heads the next day were a bit worse for wear… When in Kathmandu!
So the adventure comes to an end, and what an adventure it was. We all caught our various flights back home. A few kilos lighter for most people as when you spend time at altitude inevitably you lose weight. Some folk lost a stone, I only lost 4kg, which was enough that my trousers looked a bit silly on me! The last of us said our goodbyes at Heathrow airport, I blagged a lift to the Lakes District where I then jumped into a reindeer lorry going back home to the north of Scotland. 12 hours later from Heathrow and after walking the reindeer back onto the hill after their Christmas tour all my family and friends were there waiting to welcome me back. Dogs went mental having not seen me for 3.5 weeks and after two days travelling it was sooooo good to be back. Especially back into my own bed!
So although this amazing adventure has come to an end I am left with the most incredible memories and lifelong friends out of it. Already there are plans to visit folk and a reunion up here in Scotland later in the year. This of course has to be based around a race of some sort so the Dramathon (marathon around the whisky distilleries) seems like the most apt one to pick which is happening in October. Already a good few folk are booked in to do this so its going to be a great weekend, I cant wait!
The Everest Marathon is a charity set up to help the people in rural Nepal. As runners we were asked to fundraise to take part in the race. Friends and family have been super generous, as well as adopters from our reindeer support scheme and the general public passing through the Reindeer Centre and I managed to raise £2,431.23 which is just amazing so THANK YOU all so, so much.
Here’s some more photos of my amazing adventure and friends along the way.
Fiona
Group shot with Nepalese runners too.
Mid April here has a definite ‘calm before the storm’ feeling. The area has quietened down as the school holidays have finished and all is peaceful on the reindeer front…but it won’t be for long. At the start of May, all hell will break loose.
Calving is nearly upon us. Although we know exactly which females ran with bulls during the rut last autumn and should therefore be pregnant now, it’s not easy to tell with a reindeer, and it’s really only into April that bellies start looking that little bit more than just well padded. Scanning them like farmers do with sheep is obviously completely impractical, so all we do is to keep an eye on the possible candidates and watch for rapidly expanding tummies. Literally within a couple of weeks reindeer can go from looking exactly the same as their non-pregnant chums, to looking absolutely enormous! As I write, in mid-April, we’re in the middle of that stage, and every day someone will remark on a particular reindeer’s sudden portliness. The weather has finally warmed up too, and with the reindeer still having their full thick winter coats as well as extra weight to lug about, they are looking like they are starting to find it all a bit of an effort, and there’s lots of huffing and puffing when the herd move from place to place.
By the time you read this, we’ll have moved the herd across to our hill enclosure, and will be doing a bit of sorting out. Non-pregnant females will go back out onto the free-range to spend their summer there looking after themselves, while male yearlings will be split from their mums and be moved across to join the other male reindeer at our farm, near Glenlivet. Pregnant females will stay in the hill enclosure until they’ve calved, and then will head out to the hills to join the other females, leaving us to bring male reindeer across to the enclosure from the farm, to duly entertain all the visitors through the busy summer months.
Once bellies give away obviously pregnant reindeer, then the next clue is an udder starting to form. Reindeer don’t have huge udders like cows do, as no arctic animal wants a frost-bitten udder, but instead have much smaller, fur-covered udders and produce smaller volumes of milk, but much richer in fat than that from a cow.
As many of you probably know, all the staff here take part in a calving bet to pick who they think will calve first. Winning doesn’t really matter; it’s not being last that is most important, as a cold swim in the loch awaits the unfortunate loser (as told by myself and Abby on a previous blog: The Calving Bet. So from now on until the start of May, there will be a lot of inspecting bellies and peering between back legs to be done…
Hen
N.B. Details of which reindeer are pregnant will be kept under wraps by us until our June newsletter for our adopters has been published – so don’t ask us whether so-and-so is due to calve this year! If you recognise a reindeer in the photos above, keep it to yourself…
As it’s my turn to write a blog, I thought I would do something a little different. Here at the Reindeer Centre in Glenmore, every time I look towards the hillside and enclosure, my eyes are always drawn to the daunting shape which stands boldly behind it. These are the Northern Corries of Cairn Gorm. On a clear day in the Glen, whether you’re here to see reindeer, walk, ski or simply escape into the space of this beautiful place, the horizon of towering cliffs and steep slopes might just fill you with awe as it does for myself. It’s for that reason that I’d like to tell people a little bit about what lies on the reindeer’s doorstep and where they have the opportunity to go now the time has come for them to explore the free range.
The Northern Corries are what make up the North West side of Cairn Gorm, Britain’s 6th highest mountain at 1245m high. There are 3 corries in total that sit side by side to one and other, each having it’s own individual character. A coire (corrie) or cirque is an amphitheatre like, bowl shaped valley formed by glacial erosion. The head of a coire is usually very steep with cliffs and rock faces. Below these, a steady downhill slope carved by the glacier that would have once existed.
As one of the most iconic spots in the whole of the Cairngorms National Park they are also popular with people, in particularly Coire Cas. This is the most eastern of the 3 corries where the ski centre and funicular railway is. It’s over 50 years since the first chairlift opened to skiers and it’s grown in popularity ever since. Our reindeer have been known to wander here every now and again but during the winter months they tend to keep their distance from the busy ski slopes. However, they have often been seen licking salt off the road to the main carpark! Interestingly, other animals such as mountain hare and the ptarmigan also use the busy slopes as protection from predators such as the Golden Eagle and Ravens who, like our Reindeer usually keep away the busier areas.
The central coire of Coire an t-Sneachda is the most dramatic. Here the cliffs can be up to 200m high and below them, a huge boulder field with rocks the size of cars that have been crumbling away from the cliffs high above for thousands of years. During the winter, climbers and mountaineers can flock into the coire if the conditions are good as it is one of the most reliable places for this style of climbing anywhere in the UK. For our reindeer, I could imagine there is actually a lot of food for them in the coire with lots of boggy areas where lichen would thrive but over the years. Unfortunately for them, Sneachda has also got busier and busier with people and it’s become a place where the reindeer spend less time other than the odd spot of grazing.
The final and most westerly coire is Coire an Lochain. This is another steep sided coire where more giant cliffs lie at the back. It is also home to the highest loch or lochain in Scotland at around 920m. What makes this coire special is that it’s thought to have had the UK’s last glacier as little as a few hundred years ago. Remnants of this are still visible all around the coire, but the most obvious sign of past glacial activity is the Great Slab, a glacial moraine of rock that sits proudly just under the upper cliffs.
Climbers and walkers do regularly venture into Coire an Lochain but not in the numbers that the other two coire get. Being a little quieter, this is the most popular of the coires for the reindeer. Similarly to Coire an Sneachda, the coire is much wetter than the plateau with many small burns and boggy areas, meaning there is more lichen and other foods for them. The females and calves have been found there a few times recently. On the whole though, the reindeer don’t spend huge amounts of time here and usually pass through to higher, more remote places in the summer months.
If you are planning on exploring the Northern Corries in the coming year summer or winter, keep an eye out for some of the herd. You may be lucky to bump into some of them in one of Britain’s true mountain areas.
Joe
On Thursday 22nd March Tilly and Fiona set off on their journey to the north of Russia where there was a World Reindeer Herders council meeting. This was to be held in Salekhard which is a town at the bottom of the Yamal Peninsula, and also where you find the Nenet reindeer herders. Here are a few photos from their weekend away, we will write a more detailed version of events in our newsletter in June.
There will be a more detailed write up in the next adopters newsletter so keep your eyes peeled!
Burns Suppers celebrate the life and work of the Scots poet Robert Burns. More commonly known as Burns Night the suppers take place on or around his birthday, 25th January and are effectively a second national day in Scotland. Here at Reindeer House we just love any excuse to get together and eat some fantastic food with some great company! For those of you that don’t know about the Burns Supper tradition here’s a brief overview of what we got up to last night at our Burns Supper, along with some tales of our reindeer named Burns, seeing as this is a reindeer blog after all!
Robert Burns was born in 1759 in Alloway, Ayshire and lived until he was 37. He is known and celebrated worldwide for his poetry much of which was written in the Scots language or Scots dialect. Whilst many of his poems were of the Romanticism style he lived through a period of political repression. His work often reflected or commented upon this and some considered him to be a radical and revolutionary which perhaps helped give him such a huge following during and after his lifetime.
The poem and song “Auld Lang Syne” is sung all over the world on Hogmanay and is one of Rabbie Burns’ most famous works. Other well known work by him includes “Scots Wha Hae”, a patriotic song which became an unofficial national anthem for Scotland. It was written in the form of a speech from Robert the Bruce before the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 where Scotland defeated England in Battle. Romantic work included (My Love is Like) “A Red, Red Rose” whilst “Tam o’ Shanter” and “To a Mouse” reflect on his upbringing as a tenant farmer. For us though at Reindeer House his “My Heart’s in the Highlands” seems most appropriate!
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.
Farewell to the mountains, high-cover’d with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart’s in the Highlands.
If you needed further persuasion of Robert Burns’ stature then did you know he won a contest run by STV to be called “The Greatest Scot” of all time in 2009? It is a rather impressive feat to have beaten Mel Gibson (William Wallace) to the title don’t you think? Perhaps he was aided by some of his extremely impressive nicknames that make him sound more like a cross between a rap artist and a boxer:
– The Bard of Ayrshire
– The Ploughman Poet
– Or just plain Rabbie Burns
Burns Suppers have been taking place for over two centuries with the evenings format barely changing over the years. There is usually a general welcome followed by the “Selkirk Grace”
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.
Supper usually then begins with a soup dish such as Scotch broth or Cullen skink before everyone stands for the “Piping” of the haggis (this is exactly how it sounds). We stand whilst the haggis is brought into the room by the cook whilst a piper plays a tune such as “A Man’s a Man for A’ That” written by Burns. Before you can eat the haggis though, you must first address it! “Address to a Haggis” is a poem written to a haggis with the opening line of Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face” (translated as Nice seeing your honest, chubby face). At last we can eat the haggis! Served with neeps (swede) and tatties (potatoes) our meal last night was delicious! The evening concludes with an often amusing “Toast to the Lassies” and a reply for the laddies before a vote of thanks is given and everyone stands to sing “Auld Lang Syne”.
As you can see we had a fantastic evening, but back to the reindeer!
As well as giving us an excuse for a party at the end of January, Rabbie Burns is of particular importance to us because we have a reindeer named after him! This year our calves were named after authors, writers and poets so we obviously had to name one Burns. He has turned out to be one of the biggest, strongest and healthiest calves of the year. He is extremely tame and bold and quickly became quite a cheeky chappy. We have him marked down, along with Dr Seuss, as being one of the biggest characters of the next few year but hopefully neither of them will misbehave too much in the following years as young bulls like Fergus did.
When he came in off the free range in late summer with his mother Gazelle he had broken one of his antlers and it was growing over his face making it difficult for him to feed. We called out the vet who cut away the antler from his face and after a short while with a bandage in the shed he recovered well to become the strong healthy calf that he is. We are interested to see next year whether his antler will grow back in a more “normal” direction and shape or whether the pedicle from which the antler grows has been damaged and Burns will perhaps always grow one antler in a funny shape and direction.
Chris
Here’s a wee round up of day two of our 65th Anniversary weekend…
After a good night’s kip we were all up bright and early (well, early at least, not sure about the bright!) for another day of fun, this time over at our Glenlivet hill farm. We have a second base there, about an hour’s drive from the Reindeer Centre, where some of our male reindeer spend the summer months, and which also gives us access to the Cromdale mountains for brilliant winter grazing.
Hen and myself headed straight over to help Tilly set up at the farm, collecting some fallen branches covered with lichen for visitors to feed to our reindeer on the way. We arrived to find everything already looking quite organised, but the first big job was to move some of the reindeer from their normal daytime area – a sloping field with access to a large airy barn – down to the garden ready to meet their adopters. Hen was primed with a list of which reindeer had someone coming to see them, and we both made our way through the reindeer, who were munching away at their breakfast, popping head collars on the first 10, who we distributed between the various helpers we had, before we led them down the yard and let them loose in the fenced garden. The reindeer thought this was thoroughly exciting, and Blue in particular went leaping and bucking off down the hill! We went back for a second run, and a partial third run, before leaving the shier and older reindeer to relax in the peaceful barn for the day.
By now, much to my delight, Aye Coffee had arrived to provide me with my vital caffeine intake for the day and were setting up their van, Derek was prepping the meat for the BBQ (low food miles indeed!) and Alan had moved a group of the Iron Age pigs down to a pen near the garden for the day, which they were cheerfully rooting up. Alan then quickly made himself scarce, not to be seen for the rest of the day (probably busy running up a hill somewhere!). The first adopters were arriving and the drizzle was just starting to dry up. There was a roaring fire going in the BBQ hut, which was the perfect antidote to any chilly fingers.
As adopters arrived, we tracked down reindeer for them and made introductions. October is peak rutting season, so all of our young bulls were in a separate pen, and we mostly headed in ourselves and brought adopted reindeer down to meet their adopters at the gate, to save anyone accidentally getting caught between teenage bulls who were full of hormones!
In the garden, everyone was handing out lichen lollipops, and the reindeer were very relaxed – by the afternoon most of them were lying down fast asleep between groups of visitors. Tilly had arranged tractor and trailer tours, but had underestimated their popularity, so the first tour was one tractor and trailer, but by the last tour there was a progression of tractor and trailer, landrover, and quad bike and trailer! Despite our slight lack of organisation with them, everyone seemed to have a blast and most people who wanted to go on it did (possibly with the exception of myself!).
By 4pm, the BBQ was finished, the coffee van packing away, and the last adopters were heading home. There wasn’t too much to do except pack away the information boards, run the reindeer from the garden back up to the hill, lead the herd up onto the open hill for the night, and feed the bulls. And then, most importantly, head out for a celebratory meal ourselves! (Thanks Tilly!)
We certainly had a lovely weekend, and great to meet so many people (old friends and new). We hope you all enjoyed yourselves too. We’ll do it all again for our 70th (once we’ve forgotten how much organisation it all took…)
Andi
Back in 2012, when we got to the 60th year of the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd, we thought we ought to mark the occasion in some way. Therefore, in the October of that year, we ran a special weekend aimed at all our amazing reindeer adopters, who show us so much support from year to year, and without whom we couldn’t continue in the way we do today. As the weekend finally rolled around, the sun shone, the adopters flocked our way and everything ran like a dream. And somehow, somehow, the stress of organising such a big event (bang in the middle of the run up to our hectic Christmas season) faded into the past… So in March this year, when Tilly announced that as we were 65 years old now we should do a similar event, I blithely said “Ok Tilly! Whatever you say, Tilly.” More fool me.
About a week later, I realised that I was going to have to be in charge of the organisation. The Sunday at the farm could mainly be left to Tilly, but the Saturday here at Reindeer House was going to be mostly my domain – whether I liked it or not – with Andi as my trusty sidekick. Heather organised the 2012 do, but isn’t working here anymore; Fiona would be far too busy organising the annual Christmas tour; and all the other staff have started here much more recently. Damn. Even just choosing the weekend proved problematical. It had to be October, but the ‘usual’ weekend clashed with the Aviemore Half-Marathon, and another clashed with the Craggy Island Triathlon, where half the staff decamp to each year. The weekend before, at the very beginning of the month? Tilly’s first grand-child would be due then… It would have to be the 21st and 22nd (ironically, the baby then resolutely refused to put in an appearance until 2.5 weeks after his due date, meaning Tilly’s son Alex had bigger fish to fry by the time we got to the Open Day. Granny Smith (haha) is delighted though).
The spring and summer passed in a hectic haze of the usual reindeer related activities and millions of visitors, and we managed to get the Save the Date cards out, and then the general info out with the June newsletters. Thankfully Heather had done a great job of organising everything the first time around and much of the stuff was still filed away on the computers here, just need updating a bit. As time passed I started to get more and more twitchy, and in the final couple of weeks was starting to sweat a little. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not always the calmest under pressure! I started making lists, and delegating left, right and centre, but gradually it all started to come together. It probably helped that I had a couple of days off in the week running up to the event, although I did insist on working on Fri 20th to save everyone from a day of answering the phone the find a squawking Hen on the other end, worrying about whether such and such had been done yet! But everyone here was absolutely awesome, and I needn’t have worried at all as everything came together perfectly. In fact I was barely needed…
We opened at 8.30am on the Saturday, and started off the day with a Hill Trip at 9am, followed by another at 11am. All the reindeer who had visitors coming were in the nearest part of the enclosure (the ‘Bottom Corridor’), which made life easier without having to trail around all over the various parts of the enclosure to show everyone ‘their’ reindeer. Kota, the breeding bull on the hill, still in full rut mode, was just over a fence with his girls and ensured that everyone got to see just how impressive he was as he grunted at anything that moved, peed on his legs and charged about…and tried to climb the fence once or twice. Eeek. Thankfully he remained the right side of the fence all day long.
Down at the Reindeer Centre, sleigh training demonstrations were in full swing, and everyone could try their hand at lassoing, Sami-style (not on a real reindeer but rather on a skull mounted on a post!). We had set up a little marquee beside the shop to provide some cover in case of awful weather, so lots of people parked themselves in there with a tea or a coffee and caught up with old friends, or made new ones! Visitors could also walk to Utsi’s Hut, the wee cabin in the woods built from the crates the first reindeer arrived in back in 1952, and Fiona did a special hill run in the afternoon up Meall a Bhuachaille behind Reindeer House, with everyone guessing her time for a donation towards the Everest Marathon Fund. Overall, there was a lovely atmosphere and it was all very relaxed, with people pottering around and just enjoying being here. And the weather was relatively kind to us too! It was mild, not windy, and only a little bit of rain at times…
In the afternoon we trialled an ‘Open Hill’ system where visitors collected their tickets and maps, and made their own way to the hill enclosure, to be met by a herder on the gate, and a couple of herders in with the reindeer who could show them who was who and answer any questions. This seemed very popular too, although the weather deteriorated a bit as the afternoon went on.
And then on to Tilly’s talks at Glenmore Lodge! She ran one at 5pm and another at 6pm, and both went very well apart from some technical issues with the powerpoint, meaning some of the photos didn’t show up. This probably made the 6pm talk a little smoother, as at least she was prepared for the issues! Tilly also played a wonderful 20 minute film made in the 50s for the BBC about Mikel Utsi, the man who started it all, bringing reindeer back to their rightful home in Scotland after a 2000 year absence – thankfully the technology gods were with us for this one and it played fine!
So all in all it was a wonderful day, but most thanks must go to our wonderful reindeer adopters, who give us so much support from year to year. We all went home exhausted on Saturday evening, but the fun didn’t stop there as most folks met up again the following day over at our farm, along with a few new faces too who hadn’t made it to the Saturday. But the blog does stop here, as Sunday’s write up can wait for another week!
Although first here’s some more photos…enjoy!
Hen
Paintpot (and LX) meets one of his adopters! Photo: Martin and Barbara Butters
The reindeer all take turns throughout the year to do a two week spell in the paddocks and this time it was Fergus’s turn. We planned it so it was around Mel’s birthday, as being his adopted mother two years ago we thought she’d like a wee visit from him. We didn’t tell her he was here and when she got back from work we brought him round from the Paddocks to the back of the house where all the reindeer-related outside prep happens. He acted as though he had never left and bee-lined straight for the feed sack and lichen bucket!
Mel was of course delighted but he did not stop there. He had a wee jolly into the garden and as cars passed they certainly took a double take. Then he cottoned on that the house door was open. As a calf (collie dog sized) Fergus would regularly come into the house but we weren’t sure if he had out grown that. Turns out he hadn’t! He was straight in, having a good look around. He drank out of the dog bowl, and he visited (what used to be) Mel’s bedroom as when he was a calf he used to fall asleep on her bedroom floor. Tiree and Sookie, our dogs took it all in their stride and totally accepted that their old friend was back to visit. Neither animal was bothered by one another.
He spent about 3-4 hours just helping himself to feed, going into the garden to graze the grass and coming into the house and falling asleep on the living room floor. Ruth, our newest recruit at the Reindeer Centre, was totally surprised after spending most of the day on the high tops checking our free ranging herd, when she came home to find a reindeer in the living room. Needless to say her face was a picture.
Night time came and Fergus had to go back into the paddocks with the other reindeer. I doubt this will be the last time Fergus will be in Reindeer House. It’s a good job we aren’t too house proud!
Fiona
Times are a-changing and we thought we’d keep all you lovely readers informed with who is working here at Reindeer House. People have left, people have arrived, but the reindeer herding goes on…
So here goes:
Imogen and Abby (aka The Fierce and The Fluff) who both worked here for a few years have left in the last couple of months, moving on to new places and new adventures. We miss them both greatly (and their banter!), and for all of you out there who knew them as herders, we know you’ll miss their characters too..
Ruth is our newest member of staff, who joined us during May. As a redhead she has gone through so much sun-cream since arriving that we’ve decided there should be a redhead grant from the government to cover the cost of this, so you can wish us luck on this venture. Ruth has a fantastic knowledge of the plants and animals of Scotland, and makes tours out to see the reindeer a whole new learning experience for both visitors and others herders!
Olly is back! Olly has worked at the reindeer centre on and off seasonally over the last few years, but is finally here to stay (we just can’t keep him away). Known for his flamboyant shirts and braces and excellent (and probably early-morning-sleep-related) comments, Olly is just great. Full of enthusiasm, knowledge, practical skills and creativity, Olly keeps us amused and is an excellent man to have about.
After having been here only four months Morna has proved she can handle the most difficult of situations. She wears many hats – equally skilled with hammer or pen, paint brush or calculator. Her calmness is appreciated by the reindeer who are at ease in her presence and us herders appreciate her love for life. Growing up on the Orkney Isles she is at home in wild places (but whatever you do don’t start a snow ball fight with her as she is likely to hurt herself).
Dave has been here now for just over a year, so is a well-known bearded face at Reindeer House. Our only resident New-Zealander, Dave has worked on his Scottish reindeer call to make sure the reindeer can understand him, which makes us all chuckle here at the Centre. Dave never seems to get fazed or frazzled, and is one of those genuinely lovely people who calms the rest of us down simply by being around, and visitors seem to come away from the hill trip in a much more relaxed mood than they began in. And although he has been here for over a year, the secret finally slipped out that Dave has never mixed a bag of hand feed…
Hen and Andi have both been here for a good number of years, and make sure everything runs smoothly here at the Centre. They are in charge of everything from our whole reindeer adoption database, to creating new road signs, to making sure the reindeer get the right amount of food, and to keeping us newbies in line. As Hen has been confined to crutches for the next few months, she is currently being our office-extraordinaire and we are all on orders to take photos of the reindeer down so she can keep up with how they are doing. Andi has taken up the slack of the missing Hen’s ID knowledge on the hill, and is providing a fountain of knowledge and tips for who is who. Andi is the herder to go to for all our stupid questions, and keeps us in line with her patience and loveliness.
Catriona is the oracle: our accountant, organiser, keeper of records, and all other hosts of jobs that need an experienced hand. She has been keeping the reindeer centre in line for longer than a few of us have been alive, and I’m not sure how the centre would work without her.
Sheena is a friend of the Reindeer Centre and has been around for over 25 years. She works on and off, filling in days here and there. She is the master of badge-making and incredibly full of energy at all times.
Stella and Ann are our long-term regular volunteers. They have helped out in many a sticky situation, have known the Reindeer Centre and all the staff over the years, and never fail to cheer us up with an odd packet of jaffa-cakes or biscuits turning up on the table.
And last, but of course by no means least, come the rest of the Smith family. Tilly and Alan, the owners of the company, are kept busy both here at the Reindeer Centre and over on their farm, working with not only reindeer but a whole host of animals, including Soay sheep, Wild Boar and Belted Galloway Cows. Over on the farm there is also Derek and Colin (brothers of Alan), and Alex (son of Tilly and Alan). Emily is Alex’s wife and, showing the reindeer centre to be a true family business, also works here for the odd day here and there.
Fiona, as many of you will know, is the backbone of the Reindeer Centre. Along with her brother Alex, they make the first native Scottish reindeer herders and her knowledge of the reindeer and how to work with them is long-ingrained. Fiona ensures that the whole of the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre organisation runs smoothly and the reindeer are happy and healthy all year round. Fiona also takes on much of the behind-the-scenes work, along with the hectic job of organising the whole of the Christmas period…
We have too many volunteers and occasional staff to mention by name who turn up and massively help us out on a weekly basis, but who without, many jobs would go undone. So a big shout out to them all, for their fantastic help over the years. And of course, there are a whole host of others, family and friends of the Reindeer Centre, who work on and off or just help out, and are there to cheer us up if the occasion arises!