Couch 18

Nothing much on the hiking scene in the last few weeks. Been in at work over the weekends prepping for classes, so that's put a hold on things. Out to the Cairngorms in a couple of weeks time, but even that's causing problems, one pal can only go on a Saturday, another can't, and the final one is working on effects for his new movie.

We've all heard about the 2 A.U. lads who recently lost their lives in the Cairngorms. I've given up reading the drivel that's been written about the loss of life. I think - no, I know - I'm taking it more personally because I've been hiking in the region over the past 2 years. Maybe it's just the revenge of the couch potatoes, the people that seem to accept deaths on the road as a fact of life, but if people are caught out in bad weather, that's stupidity. I made the mistake of looking at the Scotsman's forum - maybe that's why I've had 2 nosebleeds in 12 hours?

Anyway, as to light relief. I 'won' both volumes of the Munro Show on eBay (20 quid plus postage in total). They're on VHS, so I've taken a dvd copy to protect the tapes. I'll have a film night soon, and we can all enjoy this cultural landmark show - and the blue-screen rapping opening sequence.

I've cut down on my intake of OutdoorsMagic recently, as I've been doing more painting for my wargaming. It's a matter of focus. Being male, I can't multitask properly, so split things into projects. Easter's project - the Wainwright Coast-to-Coast. 2007 wargame project - the German civil wars at the end of WW1. If I have time to paint, I'll paint, if I'm in the mood to read, I'll read Wainwright's book and think about the ground underfoot.

Gear 7: Petzl e+Lite

Nice wee torch from Petzl. Collected from sorting office today after ordering it from Bob and Rose at Backpacking Light.

The plastic ball-socket allows the LED light to be rotated dependant on how the lamp is secured to kit or worn with head-strap. Stated time of 35-45hours, distance not as far as my Tikka, but smaller and lighter using watch-batteries. Lamp settings are dim white, bright white, white strobe, red strobe and bright red. I'm looking forward to trying it on my next trip out.

Couch 17

Been a quiet week. The skin on my feet has been peeling off the blisters to reveal lovely new shiney skin beneath. Picked up the Harvey's maps of the Coast-to-Coast route. It's so big it takes 2 maps, though they are only printed on one side of the paper. It'll be to make folding easier.

No C2C books in Aberdeen, so ordered via Amazon. Got the Trailblazer book by Henry Stedman/Jim Manthorpe, and, of course. "A Coast to Coast Walk" by A Wainwright. I couldn't not get that one!

Went to the MCofS meeting on Thursday. Exciting stuff. Some problems about changing to a company, legal issues, and issues concerning voting procedures. I thought we'd entered a timewarp when block votes was mentioned and thought Mick McGahey was going to be quoted. I'll stick to Markism. Bought a couple of dvds co-produced by the MCofS: "Winter essentials" and "Water hazards in the mountains".

Got an email through from a group who hiked the WHW and Great Glen Way to Inverness. You can find their blog here. They raised over £1000 for SCOPE. Shiney. Nice to see different stopping places. Reading the blog, I'm glad I missed the midge-season.

My new iPod arrived. Been listening to podcasts on it. Been watching movies on it. Being me, I dug out the oldest movie I possess: Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", from 1927, to put on the iPod. Of course, being me, I now find that "The Battleship Potemkin" is 2 years younger. Ah well.

I noticed that some of the links I put to YouTube are now dead. Both were to clips that had been cut to music, rather than dvds recorded from the TV. I guess it's part of Google's clean-up. Hmm, I wonder how they are getting on with their copying of in-copyright books? Anyway, it just means that some of the links in the blog for the WHW will be dead. In an alternative universe, I'd go and point to new links, but I have neither the time nor the inclination.