598 - Glen Roy Reserve
Today I got to drive on the wrong side of the road in a Mercedes c300e AMG.
And no, we didn’t reserve that car. It was chosen for us- like some kind of contorted joke from destiny itself.
See, back in July when we booked our trip to Scotland, we’d settled on a mid-size SUV rental. Nothing fancy. But as luck would have it, we received a free upgrade. And it wasn’t until I was sitting in that Mercedes that I realized the true implications of “driving on the wrong side of the road.”
To put this into context, let’s take a quick look at my mileage over the past six years. As of 12/12/24, I’ve driven over 200,000 miles around North America- for travel photography and delivery driving. I wasn’t just born on American roads- I was raised by them, molded by them.
And now you were asking me to drive backwards, while traveling 70MPH in a new Mercedes with my girlfriend? This couldn’t be real.
I had no one to blame but myself. Truthfully, I hadn’t give this an ounce of thought since we booked the trip, other than “I’ll figure it out when I get there.”
Well, here I was. Time to figure it out.
I stepped on the gas and we lurched forward, then I slammed on the brake. Alright, sensitive pedals. That’s a check.
Maybe doing a couple laps around the parking lot would be in my best interest. You know, get a real feel for that thang.
And two laps later, we were on the open road. Next stop, the Isle of Skye- which was precisely four hours northwest of us. Yep. We had about 10 hours of driving scheduled in the next four days. We weren’t going to waste an ounce of opportunity in this bloody land of sheep.
It honestly wasn’t that bad at first. We got a few fingers from the local residents, but that’s par for the course. It wasn’t until we hit the single-lane roads in Glen Roy Reserve that things got a lil’ hairy.
The thing was that I kept finding myself veering into the shoulder, because my body naturally wanted to be positioned in the left corner of the road. This meant that Alara would often find herself driving over dirt, and would quickly remind me I was inches from flipping the car.
I vividly remember one turn in particular where a semi-truck was coming in the opposite direction, and left the smallest gap imaginable for us to squeeze through. I gripped that steering wheel for dear motherfucking life.
It didn’t help that I was oogling over the landscape like a pooch in a hot-dog fair. The country looked like nothing I’d ever seen before. Lush, rolling hills encapsulated the land, speckled with angsty sheep and lonesome properties. It was the complete opposite of Colorado mountains- vivid, moody plains of existence.
The weather constantly switched between overcast and clear, and the sun fought for every opportunity it could get to shed light across the land. It was time for me to stop looking.
In one particularly desolate patch of land, I swerved the c300e onto a dirt shoulder and hopped out. I did some quick fantasy math in my head and calculated that I had precisely 5 minutes and 4 seconds before the light was gonna disappear behind the clouds again.
I grabbed my camera and started running.
Ah man… it felt good to be chasing the light again. And knowing I had a new pair of Vans on that I was about to ruin in the mud made it feel even more nostalgic.
My subject of choice was a solitary tree growing on a rough patch of boulders with the mountain backdrop. I’d sniped this scene from the road about ¼ mile or so back.
Here was my first take:
“Lord of the Swamp”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 500 ~ 24mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/5000s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
I always say the first shot’s the best. There’s something about that inital gut-reaction that’s so visceral. My second interpretation of the scene was a slight variance, featuring some nearby rocks:
“Amongst the Stormy Mountains”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 500 ~ 34mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/2000s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
I like the balancing of the foreground in this composition better, but prefer the subject matter of the initial shot better. The blue pond of water adds a comfortable amount of contrast for me. Somehow it always boils down to that,
I stole a look down at my black Vans, which were holding up surprisingly well given the dank pit of mud I was walopping around in.
Alright. One more photo. It was only a matter of time before my shoes ended up underwater.
This last photo intended to encapsulate the vastness of the field. Sits nicely as my desktop wallpaper at the moment:
“Boulder Problem”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 500 ~ 24mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/2500s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
My calculations ended up being roughly 3 minutes and 19 seconds off. The lords of Scotland had graciously gifted me a couple extra minutes of light. And for that, I thank them.
Back to the AMG.
Our next stop was at rainy medievel castle. Stay tuned, lads- this next one’s gonna be hot.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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