Di-h-aoine

A well, early start, early finish today. Got the usual idiots speeding past me this morning as I drive 30mph in the company car in a 30mph zone. As bad on the way back down the road. Driving behind a lorry doing 50mph, and the lass in my rvm had her head at 90' looking for a spot to overtake. I honestly can't say that it's got any better in the last 7 years of making the run regularly. I can point out the places on the road where cars have crashed, and people have died. Usually the same place that some eejit decides that their job, meeting, dinner, will not wait another 5 minutes. Call me a sanctimonious git if you wish, but I'm tired of people risking there life, or worse, risking my life. When did life become so cheap? Or is it the reverse postulation; when did people think that their life had so much value that it was to be placed above everything else?

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Site updates. As well as playing around with YouTube and the logos, I've signed to http://technorati.com and just used it to find Northern Trip's blog from back home on Lewis. Which then pointed to a webcam site from Newton in Sy, and then to the BBC island-blogging site.

Found the WeatherPixie.com thanks to that. Not as cute as Carol K, though.

Followed Andy Howell's instructions and now have a pro-account on Zooomr. Found this photo posted, so will have to look for more of the same.

And finally got the site analysis working (Google Analytics), and got the stats in for the first day's viewing. 22 people visited yesterday, half from OM (from a link I posted), all from the UK. 11 people spend an average of 2 minutes and 32 seconds reading the main blog page. Exciting stuff this. 3 people were on dial-up. One had difficulty pronouncing the word Usagi, and Metric Kate was wearing a dressing gown when viewing the rose picture. Gosh, these reports are detailed.

As this is my blog, I can leave out emoticons. You figure it out.

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Report in on the lewis wind factory, no surprise, "Councillors voted by 18 to eight to support the plan. The final decision rests with the Scottish Executive." [info on this industrialisation of rural communities at BBC News]

And the loser is...

CNES, formerly, WIIC, formerly WIC, formerly Sellafield (no, that was someone else), are meeting today to decide the fate of proposed wind factories. I doubt that William Hill's are taking bets on the outcome of that one. Gosh, the council get money if they approve the planning permission, and don't get money if they reject it. Hmmmm, conflict of interest? Hopefully the Exec get involved to get some common sense into the equation, rather than begging for projects from the first snake-oil salesman that comes along.

Will it make a difference to global warming whilst countries like the US are belching out pollutants? Yes, in the same way that switching off power to the tv and pc will make a difference.

Will it damage income from tourism? Yes. Who wants to visit a spoilt industrial landscape? Never mind, there's always Norway and countries with similar access and wilderness.

Will it stop me visiting the folks? No. But we discussed the eyesores across in North Lochs that we could see from South Lochs.

Should people Photoshop out the turbines from their photographs? No. If they are there, show people what the scenery really looks like, not what it used to look like.

But, wth, it means cheaper electricity, a spoilt landscape for the decreasing rural communities (remember communities? they used to exist in the urban environment ages ago).

Do I have any facts to back up any of these speculations? Nope. But by the time the cooncil vote through their r.t.r.m.nt package...sorry, far-sighted plan for the future of energy generation in Scotland, it'll be too late to say, "I told you so". I'll be happy to be proved wrong. I live in a democracy. We have local councilors, governments, elections, etc.

Info/news: [CNES][MWT] [SyToday][BBC]

Test Logos

Just testing a few images. Nothing to see here folks. Just some (parody) work Mike did for me. All set to blogger upload, medium size.
1. Transparent Gif.

2. Jpg, white background.

3. Jpg, matching background (Edited to set up for hosting on zooomr).

For the Ladies

To all the ladies, especially those on OM, thanks for the advice over the last couple of years. Best wishes to PW wherever she is. Good luck to all those prepping for the TGOC or the skills weekend.

As to female friends and workmates, thank you for just being there. Even in silly hats and scarves. Dore - don't rush back to work, make sure you're well first.
x

Rose photograph from 'WelshLady', under the Flickr licence.

Food Quiz

Only achieved 7 out of 11 on the "Don't gross out the world" food quiz. Strangely got the Scottish one wrong, but the Japanese one right. Usagi Yojimbo rules.

The "Outdoors Leurve Test" across at OM is fun. Last time I was out hiking with a woman of the opposite sex, I almost took her eye out a few times with my trekking pole, as I turned to point to something. Or follow the flight of a bird, helicopter or shiny glowing butterflies (the last one was a manga reference).

Subscribed to a few relevant channels across on YouTube, if anyone's bored and wants to go round the houses.

Speaking of YouTube, I found this by Yazoo. brings back memories of a pre-summer when we were finally 6th Years, and could lounge around the Nicky's 6th year hut if we didn't have classes. This was the record that was played to death. Shame that the Flying Pickets killed it. Then the hut burnt down IIRC. Ah, where does the time go, and the waistline come from?

Over-run

Memo: need more 20mm WW2 Soviets. Especially ATs and LMGs. Air support would be nice too. Or a decent escape route.

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Despite posts like that (blogged from a wargaming table), I am only 'lightly nerdy'.

Another Manic Monday

Someone sent a suspicious package to a building near my work. It turned out not to be dangerous. I felt sorry for the folks who had to deal with it. As it wasn't an explosive, it didn't even make the BBC News main site, but was hidden in the regional stories. A bomb disposal squaddy had the job of picking up the packet and taking it to the X-ray machine in their van. [BBC News story]

Spent the evening adding some more clips to YouTube. Just clips I had on the pc from the last couple of years. Nothing death-defying (i.e. interesting).

Watching George "London backpacker" on YouTube, gear reviewing 3 packs. I've subscribed to his channel, makes life easier. [blog] I'd picked up on this from Andy Howell's blog, but I can't get the Steve Perry video working, hopefully it is a temporary issue. Only 4 exclamation marks when he mentions my handle, so obviously not mad yet.

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I'm thinking of joining the MBA, as I feel obliged to them for providing me with warmth and shelter.

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Recorded a "first glimpse" piece for YouTube. It's about 6 minutes long. Still being processed, but will appear here when finished. Probably naff, but it saves me typing - not that I feel driven to write about the contents of outdoors magazines. Just a passing fad.

Valued Landscapes

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to withdraw all subsidies and support to on-shore wind farms in valued landscapes. Deadline to sign up by: 23 February 2007 – Signatures: 981

<<http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/WindTurbines/>>

We agree with the need to find methods to prevent climate change affecting our environment but this must be done with the full support of the public. No attempt can be successful if it destroys the very environment that we hope to save. We call for support for renewable energy projects that are NOT divisive in nature. We call for greater subsidies to small/personal micro-generation schemes such as solar heating. The major mechanism for reduction in CO2 and other greenhouse gasses must be responsible cooperation with the public, NOT imposition of unwanted areas of policy that threaten many households. On-shore wind farms may (when subsidised with public funds) provide large profits to multi-national corporations but their contribution to CO2 reduction is small when weighed against the savings that are possible IF the public feel that they are part of the solution and not having to fight against it!

Deep Frise

No work done today. Office door was locked, and I couldn't be bothered tracking down a janitor. So I took my new gps usb cable home and returned to looking for videos to put on YouTube (link to AktoMan channel).

Played around with Windows MovieMaker, dropped the sound on wind-locked movies, and added credits. Gosh, was it really 2005 when I dragged myself up my first Munro.

New cable works well, and I've imported data from the gps unit into memory maps. I seem to have lost some 'tracks' though. I had backed up some of the overlays, but I wasn't religious about it.

Discovered a feature of the Windows XP Media Center called "Windows Dancer". It is scarily sad. Chanel's my favourite (phrase works best if said in a hillbilly accent). Speaking of which, the "drive through Alabamy, provoking the natives" piece on "Top Gear" was seriously scary. And then to have a lawyer come after them for mis-representing a car they gave away for free because they got the wrong year of the model (1989 instead of 1991, or something).

If anyone's interested, Wikipedia still has a lot of un-detailed Munros to be written about. That surprises me. But then, I've had a run-in with them in the past.

Item found on YT today: "Beyond the Bothy". The link is to part 1, the other parts are listed.

Sadly, there was a fatality in Glencoe on Saturday, and the MRT/SAR teams were out looking for three separate groups over the weekend. Link to BBC News. No doubt the papers will go on their usual rant, ignoring the fact that there will be a greater number of deaths on the road this weekend. Care need be taken in all circumstances, but no-one suggests charging road accident victims for the cost of the emergency services. Humanity! Sometimes humans need to be reminded what the word means. My sympathy to the families of all who lost loved ones this weekend.

Bimble to Bob Scott's

I said 7.30 for 8.00am. Mike came round to the flat at exactly 7.30am. It's a Mike thing. I had already breakfasted and had packed my gear the night before so I wouldn't forget things. That just left the bacon rolls and thermos of coffee to make and pack.

Leaving a wet Aberdeen, the snow started, and got worse the further up Deeside we drove. The plan was to got to Inverey and walk down Glen Ey to Altanour Lodge, and have a day out. This plan was scuppered when we couldn't even get parked at Inverey as the car park lay somewhere under deep snow. Quickly inventing a plan that didn't involve gear shops in Aviemore, we parked at the Linn of Dee and decided to head to Bob Scott's bothy then decide whether to push on for a photo op at Derry Lodge.

The car thermometer showed 0'c, a couple of degrees warmer than the Met Office forecast, but a biting wind had been forecast on the MWIS site, and we were dressed for that. I was also carrying a lying-up-kit of tent, sleeping bag and cookset, plus extra layers. Mike was travelling light in his favoured flecktarn German Army gear. Don't be put off by people and the kit they can afford, it's goretex, warm, and his boots are by Salomon. Look at that face, he's someone you know you can trust in an emergency.

Two skiers went by, and we said our "hellos". It was the lass' first time, and she made a snow angel when she fell later. But she recovered gracefully, and handled the descent to the bothy without removing her skis.

Leaving the forest and entering the open of Glen Lui, the gusting wind caught our backs. This would make walking back to the car 'interesting' on our return.

Tabbing it up the track, there was not much to see in the way of wildlife, but the drifting snow would occasionally make interesting patterns. Oft reminiscent of sand dunes seen on tv. A few deer were seen off to the west, and the odd cowering bird. It was a day to admire running water, ice and snow.

I was toasty wearing my winter gloves and hat, merino leggings (and boxers) under my Montane trousers, and t-shirt, fleece, and Montane fleece-lined jacket. The smartwool socks and Scarpa ZG65s worked well in these conditions and my feet were warm. Only on the return did I need to add a buff (sorry WD) to keep the driving snow away from my mouth and neck.









I didn't bother checking my watch, as I was having a great time in the snow. About noon, we reached the bothy.









Inside, in the warmth were the two skiers, as well as some 5 people who'd stayed overnight. Bob's was just too cosy. There was even background music [1, 2]. Taking our time to finish the coffee flask, sarnies and absorbing the warmth, we had already decide just to head back to the car and visit the gear shop in Braemar. We kitted up and headed south, noting that 45 minutes was all it took for the blowing snow to obscure our footprints.


Mike ambushed me on the way back, when it took me a few seconds to realise he was recording our chat. It enabled me later to obtain this, the first, and possibly last, delve into YouTube (if it all works properly).


We returned to the car, drove to Braemar and had a civilised time in the gear shop. Mike was won over by the free coffee, while I looked at the Paramo Cascada trousers and pondered. I bought one of their mugs, and a book.

We did try getting to another gear shop on the way back to town, but it had locked up early for the afternoon, despite there being someone lurking in the shop. They didn't come after the custom, so we went away. Hey ho. Nevisport had phoned to say that the gps cable had come in, so I'll collect that on Sunday.

All in all, a nice day out in conditions that would have kept me away last year. Besides having kit do deal with it, it is also about having the correct state of mind. Billy Connolly wasn't 100% correct - but I'd never say that to his face.
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PS: Some of the photos here are Mike's, the rest are mine. Don't steal our photos and pass them off as your own. It wouldn't be nice. And you will go to your grave knowing that you did things to other people that weren't nice. Why go through life with that burden on your conscience? It will niggle at your soul, keeping you awake at night. You'll be in a job interview and won't answer a question properly, because it was about copyright and you suddenly remembered what you did to me and Mike.

Sluggish Friday Night

Ah, the rock'n'roll lifestyle continues. Tonight I have been mainly backing up my system, packing for a daytrip down Glen Ey on Saturday, and watching TV. Nice bit about the launch of Vista, good prog about the last duel fought in Britain, and then the pilot of "Welcome to Strathmuir" (it won't get a 2nd chance with me, life's too short). I'm tempted to track down a book on the code of dueling and keep a copy at work for the next time someone insults me. Maybe Cicerone could publish one? Ice axes at dawn??

Back to packing, and taking emergency LuK* just in case weather turns nasty. Just valley walking, but the forecast is cold and windy, so merino leggings under windproof trousers are in order. Heading down to Altanour Lodge, ESE of Carn Bhac, and then back to Inverey. If weather too bad the back-up plan is coffee and gear shops.

*LuK = lying-up kit. Tent, stove, warm food and makings, sleeping bag. Foil bag lives in my first aid kit permanently. Extra layer and gaiters in case heavy snow.

Gear: Lynx Weekender

Picked up a "Lynx Weekender" pack from Asda last night. I was after some smellies, when I noticed the pack. Price is short of a tenner, but may be worth holding out for the sales. Useful things for hikers are a rucksack size deodorant (and shower gel), and a click-open folding toothbrush. It was the toothbrush that caught my attention. 4" long when folded, it flicks open to twice that length, and doubles as a useful back-scratch.

Trail: March 07

As we're into March, the cover has lost it's snow and is replaced by a walker traipsing down a scary rocky slope, with cliffs over his shoulder, presumably across a valley. Gulp. One of my Grandfathers was a Sgitheanach, and would be ashamed at my woosiness.

Bit of a couples thing going on (but wasn't Valentine's Day back in February?) I'm confused ;-)

Reviews of a couple of new pieces of gear, and then the "must have" section.

"The Mission" is a tale that I've just started reading after skimming through the contents. How could I not, after the Chandler-esque opening paragraph:
It had been three years since Scotland last tried to kill me.

I'll leave others to take contention with the 'riles'...sorry, 'rules' entitled "Don't assume light is right". Cheap and heavy ain't often right either.

I imagine TGO Challenge folk, or anyone heading out overnight in the Highlands, will find the notes useful.

Next is a top 10 of Britain's greatest wildernesses. Nice to see the Hearrachs getting a mention.

As ever, "The Knowledge" is packed with information. I still have a mental image of Alan Hinkes' dramatic escape. Reminds me of a scene from "Ice Cold in Alex". One piece of 'knowledge' is on a tarp, and its defence against insects - I did wonder how tarp and bivvy users cope with ticks.

Crib Goch article has me thinking that Claire Maxted has a death wish. I look at the photos and think of 3 points of contact, and yet she's bounding over them as if sponsored by Red Bull. I'm such a wimp!

Detailed reviews: Jane Grimshaw on women's overtrousers. Graham T on solar panels. No doubt the next thing will be wind turbines...hmmm, part of my brain's going off on a tangent there.

Fitness academy. Used & abused. The Aonachs.

Routes are under the "between the peaks" strand. For, I think, the first time, I can say that I've already been on 2 of the routes. Wayyyyyyy.

Now, I must have missed seeing the YouTube link to the magazine's video clips. There is a note on how to join the readers' polls (p7). Bloggers not listed on Webwatch.

----and now (drumroll please)----

Trail Gear Guide 07.

Not only an introduction "why...are worth every penny", then between 1 and 4 pages of what to look for if buying the item before you even get to the listings by manufacturers.

If that's not enough, there is "other stuff" in there too.

But...more photos of youngsters balancing precariously on rocks. I just want to say "stop it, you'll hurt yourself, lass". I do worry so ;-)

Oh - and on page 108 there are instructions on how you can get your own photo on the cover of Trail.

Real Life: Anna Radosz

Got told about Anna from a colleague of mine who took over the evening class from me last year. Wee Oscar was born when the class was on the October break, and I was off on the WHW. I got transferred to work with a November start group.

Cancer sufferer Anna Radosz could have as little as eight weeks before her body succumbs to the disease.
The only treatment available in Scotland is likely to have only a 10% chance of success.
So the 27-year-old and her partner Daniel Smajdor have embarked on a desperate race-against-time to raise money for possible life-saving treatment in the USA.
They need £10,000 for Anna to undergo pioneering genetic therapy at the world-famous Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
...

Anna had been fit and healthy all her life until she became suspicious about a mole on her arm around three years ago.
It was diagnosed as a malignant melanoma and removed.
However, last summer - when Anna was six months pregnant with Oscar - spots returned to various parts of her neck, throat and arms. Doctors at ARI broke the crushing news the melanomas had returned. They were removed, but Anna did not have chemotherapy until after the baby was born in November.
...

Then came the bombshell from doctors last month. A CT scan revealed Anna had tumours on her lungs and in her brain.
Because there were so many small growths in her brain, surgery was not an option.
Even with chemotherapy she has only about a 10% chance of surviving a year. Bravely fighting the tears, Anna said: "It could be a year. It could be six months. Maybe even less.
"There is a possible treatment at a hospital in London, but they will not take me because my condition is so advanced.
"So I went on to the internet and I've discovered this gene therapy in Boston is my only hope.
"They have said they will take me as a patient. But we have to get the money. We're determined to do it. I want to live to see my baby grow."
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Quoted from the Press and Journal, link to full story (5 Feb 07).

I only heard about this today, and am still taken aback by it.

Bob Casts the WildeBeat

I listened to the new BobCast interview on my iPod in bed last night. Yeah, I know I'm sad, tell me something I don't know. Good interview. I haven't heard the other one when Bob chats with Trailcast, as I only caught a few of those shows, but have listened to a lot of WildeBeats.

At the time of writing, the podcast is on iTunes, but hasn't yet been updated onto the BackpackingLight.co.uk zone.

Steve Sergeant explains how he got into podcasting, where he hopes it might be going, what equipment he uses, and just how much editing goes into his shows. The gents then talk about surveys and listeners and their backgrounds.

I won't mention Steve's lilting musical tones as they were missing from the Skype-based interview. Did I miss them because they weren't there? Or was it down to the transmission/recording medium? Accents are strange things.

WildeBeat reminds me of the sheer size of the USA, and the differing terrain their. It is a Big Country.

I'm off to add Jim Metzner's "Pulse of the Planet" to my podcast list.

Piling on the Pylons

"A public inquiry into plans for a 137-mile power line through the Scottish countryside has begun." Full story at BBC News

I've already stated my thoughts on this sort of development in earlier posts. The companies want to do this in the cheapest way possible, and don't care about the damage to tourism.

Strange that although technology in other engineering fields has advanced so much since the original pylons were built, that power transmission technology hasn't improved so that the old pylons, or pylons as small as the old ones could be built. But then, I don't know about these matters, and have to trust to the experts of the power companies who will have considered all these options.

Oh, it's a dilemma. But that's why we have government enquiries. So that independent experts can discuss matters in a democratic fashion, and come to the best decision for the country.

Here's a sample solution - have one 'backbone', the A9. Make it dual carriageway all the way, with real junctions, and run the pylons down that backbone. Just 'scar' one main route, rather than ripping the country apart because it's the most direct route, or whatever reason they give for it.

Bag Test

You know you've reached an important point in your life when you read something like this and find it interesting!

Never mind, new series of "Life on Mars" starts soon. Nice to see the difference between the series 1 trailer, and the series 2 one. Acting's less wooden :)

If you're after fun, there's new UK adverts for the Apple Macs here. Good interview with Bill Gates on BBC's "Click" - he didn't use the words "Apple" or "Mac" or "OS X" once in reply to the interviewer who used them when talking about Vista.

Dave's End2End

"I'm, so Dave" Land's End to John O'Groats, without a clue.
Sorry, but I missed this one, picked it up from John Hee's blog. Sounds like a lunchtime read to me. Dave says on Day 1:

I haven't prepared much for this. I haven't definitively decided on a route. It's been a spur of the moment decision to attempt a forgotten long-held ambition. I've jacked in the day job in the hope that the time that this walk will take will allow me to think about what I'd really like to do with myself. As far as fitness is concerned, I've done some walking, and I've done some running. I've consulted the excellent website of Mark Moxon and I've purchased the book by Andrew McCloy. I've got the gear. I've got the time. Everything else I'll discover on the way.

I'm listening to The Steve Merchant show on BBC6 - where Dave's on after 4.15pm. I can honestly say I've never listened to BBC6 before. He's about 1:20mins into the show on the player.

Dave commented on Mark Moxon's LEJOG walk website. There's a whole different world out there!

I'm off to try the route file from Mark Moxon's site. I've seen that Google Earth allows more fun things than just zooming in on places, but I've never got round to working with it. As ever, too much to do, too little time. Or the expression I picked up last year: "you can do anything, you just can't do everything".

Stridingedge.net

Stuck in at work overworking to get things ready for the new block. At least I can look at photos like these from Sean at StridingEdge.net. And at least it's a unit on problem solving, so will be fun (by the time I get finished with it) - hmm, wonder if I can legitimately get the little darlings to plan my C2C?

I must stop using my evil laugh and grin; the lass who sits next to me at work is getting worried. Muhahaha.

Bowie's "Lets Dance" album playing through iPod/laptop combo. Scarpas on, "Keep on trekking" t-shirt under shirt, and Montane Verso over chair. Chill in the air - I must work faster, as I'm getting too comfortable in here. Got a pile of painting done last night, and have only 8 more infantry, and a mortar crew to complete; hopefully tonight. Nice to get something personal done at the weekend.

Tidying up

Found these links to follow up - they're taking up so much space on Outlook, I thought I'd just put them here until I got round to following them up.

• http://www.ray-way.com/
• http://www.backpackersclub.co.uk/
• fear or anxiety discussed on OM
• http://www.ramblers.org.uk/INFO/paths/coasttocoast.html
• http://www.backpacking.net/
• Survival manual

No, I'm not untidy, just organised in multi-dimensions.

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Oh, got a message from the MCoS that my membership card had been returned as "unknown at this address". Strange that. I hadn't moved, and last year's got through okay. Sounds like the Post Office doing their normal sloppy job - wonder what caused it this time? Might explain what happened to the stuff I never got before Christmas. Makes me proud to be British. I wonder if the Queen has these problems with her Post Office? Maybe she should look into it - I mean, they are her representatives on Earth. God bless you, Ma'am; now go and put some flames up the @rses of your staff rather than having the managers give more excuses and putting prices up again - none of which improves the service from the schmuck who can't deliver lots of post in limited time cos the number of posties have been cut back. As ever, the solution is simple - focus on the core business.

Later deliveries means I rarely see a post office worker on the streets to say "thanks for delivering the post". No sense of community. No wonder service declines. Now, why's that a radical thought?

YouTubing Again

Just back from watching HillwalkScotland's YouTube video of a trip round the Luss Horseshoe on the west side of Loch Lomond. Good piece, and interesting presentation. Something for the future, I think. Unlike some people who just jump in and do it. Let alone this kid, who isn't sat in front of a games console - he'll hurt himself, but WTH, didn't we all at that age?

TrailTube 2

Just noticed a few more YouTube videos from Trail. Is it me, or does Graham Thompson's voice remind you of anyone?

On the subject of YouTube, I must be knac...fatigued, as I found this hilarious.

Nothing to do with the outdoors, as I'll be stuck in at work this weekend prepping for the new block and finishing off paperwork, but Andrew Glazebrook's modeling work is great. Samples on his blog.

TGO Marches On

Well, as January comes to an end, the March edition of TGO arrives on the mat. Makes sense. Gone are the snow-capped peaks, now replaced by desert-hiking in Jordan.

Editorial: Cameron's organising an ultralight mini-expo at the Backpackers' Club AGM in Northumberland in April.

Main features: National Trails. Excellent. I think I'll be coming back to that one time and again.

Reviews:

• Women's 50 litre packs (so why are many 60 litres plus?). Anyway, always good to read on the trends and advice on what to look for.
• Knives/pocket tools. I don't know why, but I've never been a fan of the Swiss army knife. I find multitools big and clunky. There is a wee SAK in my emergency kit, but I just have a 'Oddities' pocket-knife in by pocket-kit. The Gerber Revolt has been assigned to KP duty, or opening the mail.
• Judith Armstrong (the other one) talks about gear for her Alpine challenge. Bob's interview.
• Chris Townsend reviews lightweight cooksets - he didn't review the Snow*Peak that I use, so I'm in the huff ;-)
  In truth it's more a comparison piece between materials.

Colin Prior actually mentions his hikes out, rather than the thoughts and technicalities of his stunning photos.

Others: great photo of the ruins at Petra; some pages on Snowdonia; Jim Perrin's recollections always need a proper read; Mike Harding continues to drop French into his musings (is he secretly educating the readership?).

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I dropped into Nevisport this afternoon and ordered up a proper USB cable for my Geko unit. Thirty notes on a cable! It's only a cable! It's not even shiny :(

Being my usual cunning self, I took the opportunity to suggest to the boss that a course on cable-making might be interesting to the general public. Something the students could make money at on eBay.

Sadly it meant turning down Big Kev's soon to be eBay'd mapping gps unit. Even at a tempting price, I just couldn't justify it to myself (or the bank manager). I too must get round to eBaying my unused gear.

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Summary of March...err, January. Got out once, but at least it was an overnighter and tabbed 15 miles down a glen I'd passed but never been down before. Also, the overnighter was in my first shared bothy - having had Rowchoish to myself on the WHW. New boots worked well, nice and comfy, and I've been wearing them around town (and even in to work on one snowy day). A lot of spare time taken up with technical problems with PC. Hey ho.

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And finally: was the closing sequence in "Open all hours" an example of video-blogging?

201 USB woes

Ach well. Why is life never simple? Hardware won't talk to software, or the cable isn't the correct cable, or the drivers weren't correct. It's just a sodding GPS system, why is this a problem for the computer tech people?

Just imagine if batteries for cameras and torches were as bad as mobile phone batteries? "I'm sorry, but we don't stock the battery for the Canon X2 camera. We can order them in for you?" End result, unhappy customer.

No-one in tech-land seems to be bothered with long-term customer satisfaction as battles for non-standards seem to be just another way to rip money from the cold dead hands of the investor in technology.

Quite frankly, I'd have had a more productive evening digging the Silva compass out and spending the time on improving my compass skills. Say "goodbye" to the diktats of sloppy technology. Run free from the Heath Robinson-dom of modern computer systems. If cars were still run the way that computer systems operate, we'd have steering systems from the 1920's controlling rocket-engines, with 20 miles of fuel in the tank, but the next compatible filling station is 30 miles away. Information may set us free, but incompatibilities in technology steels too much free time.

Firefly Day

Being a sad git, me and a mate, Mike, had a "Firefly" day. We got through 10 hours of the series, finishing at "Ariel". That leaves 6 more episodes and the "Serenity" movie. At one point the dvd player had to be switched off to let it cool down. Honest.

Then we caught the end of "Star Trek: First Contact" on tv - no contest.

If you've ever played "Traveller", you'll love "Firefly". ST had "Row, row, row your boat", "Firefly" has this!

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Started the day trying to getting the USB-to-Serial connector working, but Memory Maps does not pick up the Geko gps unit and times out. I've asked on OM if anyone's able to help.

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Letter came today from Cancer Research UK.

West Highland Way 06

Thank you very much for raising donations ... giving us a total of £203.08 raised through your event...

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Burns' Night

Happy birthday to the National Bard, Mr R. Burns. We humans don't change in emotions, and his work, like so many of the previous generations speaks across the ages. Here's a few that people may be less familiar with.

 

---My Heart's In The Highlands [1]---

1.
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birthplace of valour, the country of worth!
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Chorus
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer,
A-chasing the wild deer and following the roe -
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go!

2.
Farewell to the mountains high cover'd with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below,
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods!

 

---I'll Go And Be A Sodger [2]---

O, why the deuce should I repine,
And be an ill foreboder?
I'm twenty-three and five feet nine,
I'll go and be a sodger.
 
I gat some gear wi' meikle care,
I held it weel thegither;
But now it's gane - and something mair:
I'll go and be a sodger.

 

---Epigram On Parting With A Kind Host In The Highlands [3]---

When Death's dark stream I ferry o'er,
(A time that surely shall come,)
In Heav'n itself I'll ask no more,
Than just a Highland welcome.

Is this an "Oh dear" too?

Am I sad in the fact that it is snowing outside, which gives me an excuse to wear my Scarpa ZG65's to work. As they're the dark coloured ones, they go quite well with my dark "George at Asda" suit. Bounding up the stairs from the 1st floor to the class on the 6th (honest).


Got some photos of from the 6th floor window of a snow-covered Aberdeen. Only the phone-camera, so probably won't turn out well, but I'll add them below when I get home.

Oh dear: Valves!

Just caught myself looking at this site that came in via a OutdoorsMagic forum, and finding it interesting. Yup, sat at work between classes and looking at various gas fittings and canisters/cannisters. Then the realisation catches up with me. Do I care? Nope. Some people find football scores interesting. Yawn. Maybe they have a vested interest in it. So, I suppose that I now have a vested interest in things like the disposal of gas cans - in a safe and environmentally friendly manner too.

YouTube Trail

Trail Magazine has a number of short videos on YouTube. They can be found here. It's like the magazine, but the pictures are moving, and speaking at me!!! The wonders of modern technology.

Watching a cute wee film starring Ian Holm on TV: "The Emperor's New Clothes".  Napoleon escapes from St Helena and ends up selling melons on the streets of Paris.

Speaking of Youtube, it's amazing what's on it. I found this, and it was taken in the early 90's when a mate of mine was working with the range team there. I'll need to go through looking for a hobbit-sized civvie.

The Thief of Time

Well, found some great photos from The Boy Hope's online gallery. These ones are from his 2005 expedition to the Lairig Ghru and surrounding peaks. The view from the top of the Bod is stunning - sounds like a bad chat-up line!

Back to get the marking done for tomorrow's class. Yes, I know what the time is, but I haven't had the chance so far today. Getting new system unit working, retrieving files from backup (then moaning to myself that I may have lost the originals of the WHW photos). Hey ho, c'est la vie.

One advantage is that I can now watch Totoro on my iPod. And the live version of the closing theme. I still think it's the cheeriest d@rned song I've ever heard! Well done Miyazaki-san.

I'd rather be hiking

What a waste of a week. My home PC's been playing up. A conflict between my iPod and reality. 3 evenings later and the majority of Saturday (except for a fun visit to the local PO sorting office), and I have a system that runs well enough for day-to-day tasks that don't involve iPod or external devices using USB2. By 6pm last Saturday I'd hiked 15 miles and was back at the car. By 6pm this Saturday, I'd rebooted the PC at least 15 times and scowered the Web for solutions and installing fixes; and finally admitted that my system worked, but it was a good time to get a new system box. Subtly different from being defeated and having to buy a new PC.

As to the P.O., well, the lass at the sorting office refused to go and looksee if there was any parcels waiting for me from before Christmas, as they would have been returned to the sender by now. I had no outstanding delivery cards, so had collected all I was due from the sorting office. She refused to give me a "lost parcel" form, as the parcel I was waiting for (and confirmed that had been sent to me before Christmas) wasn't lost, as it would have been returned to the sender if I hadn't collected it; so it was now the sender's problem and not mine. I've notified Dave, at Caliver Books to see if he has received the parcel back (which he won't have, as he would have said).

Last Saturday - cold, wet, low cloud cutting off dramatic scenery, some hooky river crossings, muddy tracks.

This Saturday - centrally-heated flat, modern digital radio/TV channels, snacks and tea/coffee on the go, trying to fix software problem and ignoring the pile of marking and prep I have to do for work.

I'd rather be hiking.

BackpackingLight.COM Podcasts

Weird Darren's just mentioned that BackpackingLight.com have now got two podcasts on their site [link]. I'll add them to my iPod when I get the system up and working again. Got a nasty error 1418 message in iTunes. Fixed it, but lost access to my USB2 card - with access to various external devices. More time lost fixing PC problems. Hey ho.

Centenary of AW

It would have been nice if the powers that be designated the Coast-to-Coast a National Trail on the centenary of AW's birth, but I don't suppose politicians have that much foresight these days.

Anyway - good excuse to sit down with the AW-featured C2C DVD and some maps and go "oooh".

I wonder if there'll be a mention of him in Coronation Street? Not that I watch it.

Petition

24 hour flew

Breakfast of coffee and porridge the left bothy at 9am. I was outside all packed when I remembered that I hadn't signed the bothy book. I made the terrible decision to just crack on rather than step over and disturb the bodies in the bothy. Walking towards Derry Lodge, I pass an Akto pitched in the trees. I feel slightly guilty for choosing a warm bothy instead of a spacious tent.

---

Luibeg Bridge.
Been walking for an hour and a half. Spotted another tent, some big orange TNF affair above the Derry Fords. Saw 2 deer, young ones, about 10m away - I wouldn't have seen them but they started moving. Only saw one small unspecified black bird. Heavy shower, light rain continuous. Nothing to see above low cloud. Speckled snow on the hills. River is in spate, which may cause me a problem in Glen Dee, as the map shows the path intersecting a number of streams.


---

Got to the start of the Lairig Ghru. Was passed by 2 climbers who'd camped out last night and were heading up one of the ridges (if the weather was okay). Saw a few deer grazing on Creagan nan Gabhar, but nothing else. Had a fine view of the hills below the low cloud, highlighted by the snow. Like a living Wainwright sketch. Bod an Deamhain pictured above. Before I turned south down Glen Dee, one of the guys from last night (and his dog) came bounding up from Corrour Bothy. So, I wasn't the first out, and I hadn't even noticed that there was only one dog in the bothy that morning.

---
Headed down to Glen Dee, and, apart from crossing some streams that were in spate, and the driving rain, there wasn't much else. Some good work has been done on the path (photo taken looking north):

Elsewhere, the work had been submerged by water, or hadn't started. It must take the teams years to do a stretch like this, and their efforts are much appreciated. Got to White Bridge just after 3pm.
---
10 to 5 on Saturday, and the GPS says 24.5km (15 miles) tabbed since yesterday, and it's not even 5 o'clock. Hence the title. Heavens still falling. Getting changed out of wet gear in car park toilets. I'll need to apply Nikwax to the Salomon gloves, as they started frothing. I'll also need to organise the names of waypoints - I've too many in the Cairngorms and they are starting to cause me problems when I come to pick them out of the list.

Boots did well, but I can feel some dampness in the socks - checked later and no blisters. I don't know what the expectation is for Gore-Tex XCR, but the boots were getting rained on from above, and having to cope with ankle-deep puddles and streams.

Found it difficult to get the e+Lite comfortable on my forehead, but it was handy to have. I didn't get the feeling of losing my peripheral vision like I did with the Tikka. But I found that to get the torch low enough to see what was in front of me, it started to shine off my nose.

New leggings were warm, without feeling over-warm in the bothy. Car thermometer read 3'c, but I didn't feel it on my legs - though I was wearing overtrousers as well as Montane Terras.

High wind, bothy night

By 9.30 i'd crossed the Lui water and was tabbing it to Bob Scott's bothy. I'd planned to pitch the tent, but the rising wind was putting paid to that idea. A chap i'd met in the car park was heading there too, so the race was on. Past eyes reflecting torchlight back, switching torch to the red lens for that demon effect. With a clear sky but high gusts, i had a fine walk in. Turning off the track to follow the bothy path, i could smell woodsmoke before i saw the light from the bothy. Circling the bothy in case pitching was still an option, went into an 8+2dog bothy with roasting fire and chatty company. About 3 extra came in during night and stayed. I think 2 more popped in and left. (Written from my bit of floor below kitchen platform, friday night)

Clearing the Cobwebs

Bag packed last night - almost as much as for the WHW. Extra clothes just in case. MWIS says that the wind will die down to 20/25mph for trekking on Saturday. Staying low, not going out of the glens, just up Glen Lui and back down Glen Dee in the Cairngorm National Park. Test out the new Scarpa ZG65s.

I seem to be the only one happy about the gusting winds just now - I want to see how the Akto copes. I'll find some shelter in Glen Lui and stop out overnight. If too bad, I'll see what's going on in Bob Scott's Bothy instead.

Fought off the urge to go out to the nearby gear shops in my lunchbreak. I must be coming down with something! Got some marking to do, then one more class, some paperwork and offski for an all-too infrequent trek in the wilds. Woo hoo.

BG BloGs

New Year's resolution? Don't know, but OMer, Bearded Git, has started his blog up on Live Spaces. Some stunning lake photos and photos from ridges that just scare me to look at them.

Escape to, or, Escape from?

To sacred hills, woods and groves, 
To sacred trees and shrines 
Do people go, gripped by fear.
But they are not safe refuges, 
Not the best refuge. 
Not by going there 
Is one freed from all suffering.

Part of yesterday's vacana that I pondered about last night after a couple of days back in the granite.

Earlier I'd seen a teenage girl, not even breaking her stride, kick out at a telephone box. "Two days back in the city, and I'm already annoyed by the way people behave". The 20mph speed limits in the city centre haven't made any difference, don't seem to be enforced, and just seem to be money wasted on signage. Do I want to escape from this, or escape to somewhere where people have more respect for their surrounds and society?

People have talked about the spiritual nature of the wild places, and tying it in with beliefs of old (actual or re-invented). I usually just have more time to think about things when I'm out walking - it's not the places, it's the lack of distractions. Then I often find that the big hills, river crossings, or walking carefully over scree, helps me get things into perspective, and the worries shrink away.

"No-one took the minutes of the team meeting before Christmas...so what, there's a golden eagle hovering. Oooh."

In the same way that the chav kicking a telephone kiosk doesn't care about me, neither does the landscape. It doesn't provide a stunning valley for me to appreciate because it gets some sense of pride in return, it is just nature, geology, erosion, weather, wildlife - in the raw. Uncaring in the main, or in the case of wildlife, just trying to get on with life (which it'll do once the sodding humans have gone past).

So, in the words of the adage "wherever I go, there I am". There is no escape from feelings, but the wild places allow me to get some 'head space' to put them in to perspective, show how unimportant some things are, and how important other things are to me. The estimated times in trekking books are never enough for me when I'm solo, as I can stand for 10 minutes just watching a herd of red deer retiring into a forest, noting the way that the stags watch the threat (me on the other side of the glen). I'll watch a bird flap from one rock to another and wonder what it's going after as there are no insects around. I used to be able to 'people watch' in the urban environment: now I just get annoyed by the attitude of most people, so I can't do that any more.

I mainly get annoyed by my own attitude.

To me, the urban environment is uncivilised and wild; many of the inhabitants are soulless beasts, hunting goods in the shops that never make them happy.

Humans are spiritual people. We can't help but take our beliefs out into the world. That doesn't make the wild places spiritual places, just places that people go to get in touch with their problems or memories.

I caught a petal fallen from cherry tree in my hand.
Opening the fist
I find nothing there. *

C2C recon 1

One podcast I listened to on Saturday was the TGO Show nr 7. All about Alfred Wainwright, and included a piece about the Coast to Coast. There's a campaign underway to have it designated as a National Trail [link]. 2007 is the centenary of AW's birth, so it would be nice if the powers that push pens got it together for that.

Also from TGO, in the magazine this time, a mention of "The Original Coast to Coast B&B Accommodation Guide". Some information from the 2007 edition is reprinted on the web with permission of the author, Doreen Whitehead.

I'll need to get a planning weekend set aside and start planning it. Only 2 things concern me. One is the transport to and from the trail head/foot, and the second issue is the access laws in England relating to wildcamping. I simply can't afford to pay for accommodation unless there is really no alternative. A fall-back position would be to tackle the Southern Upland Way, or maybe Offa's Dyke. But I don't know about either of these trails at the moment.

Gear 9: Scarpa ZG65 XCR

Well, no surprise when the reconnaissance visit turned into a purchase. By my inaccurate bathroom scales, the pair of size 45's weighs in at 1.6kg. Coy Starnes at BackpackGearTest weighed a size 45.5 pair at 1.45kg in 2005.

The US site has better pictures of the boot. The colour is the dark version, "Anthracite", they call it. Gore-tex XCR lined, with vibram soles.

The gent in the shop measured and checked my feet, listened to what I was going to trek with them, and came up with recommendations. By this stage, I'd been round 3 other shops in Aberdeen, and looked at what was on offer. The only other one that tempted me was the Brasher Supalite.

At home, I finally managed to fish out the superfeet from the old Scarpa SL's and install them in the ZG65's. A couple of podcasts later, I had finished an extended walk around the block in them. Nice and comfortable. I'll wear them on urban treks to get them worn in.

January Sales

Ah well, how quickly the break flew by. Didn't get a chance for walking on the island (weather, family duties, sleeping). Swinging by work today (email account locked out, so hope I still have a job to go back to).

Decided to get a pair of Munro-bagging boots for 07, a good excuse to trail around the gear shops in Aberdeen. See if any of the local OMers have left me anything. With my usual timing, TGO will probably have a review of lightweight boots in next month's issue ;-)

No boot preferences, just something as comfy as my Terrocs and lighter than my Akto. I'll keep saying to myself that today is a recon visit. Honest.

Ploughed through my 18 months of TGO and Trail, "Backpacker's Handbook" and OutdoorsMagic. Nothing definitive. Not keen on buying footwear over the Net as I can't try them on first. Also not happy about trying out things in shop and then going online to get a cheaper deal. If online shops want to set up a fitting service, no problem, but I don't like using 'real world' shops for that purpose. Yup, I'm a mug, but an honest one (blame my Teuchter upbringing for that).

PBP: AT podcast

Just listening to the Practical Backpacking podcast interview with Appalachian Trail through-hikers Joe White and Bryan Wolf. The podcast (PBP Episode 19) can be found here, and the lads' blog is here. The interview was at about 1,000 miles into the walk, about 90 miles away from the half-way mark. Never having been there, these sorts of figures reminds me just how big the USA is!

They have some stunning photographs in the 'Kodak-EasyShare' albums. I'm amazed at how similar to Scotland some of Maine looks. The gents are heading from the North to the South, from the Fall over the Winter, aiming to end at Georgia in February 07. Seems odd, but it must be spectacular to walk through New England in the Fall. It'll be interesting to read how weather affects the southern stretches.

A good 'lessons learnt' podcast.

New stuff: they mentioned Mountain House foods, which I'd not heard of before.

Foot rot and wee men

Is it just me, but I'm using the weight of my tent as the cut-off weight for my footwear, as I browse the Net looking at boot reviews. I know my Scarpa Aus2 are heavy, but they're heavier than my Akto! Okay if you're walking in the rocks and need the protection.

Unpacked my down sleeping bag as it has been scrunched up for a week now. Watched the MCoS "Water hazards in the mountains" dvd last night. Good advice, and well-illustrated too. The 'before' and 'after' shots of a section of a river makes the point clearly that you need to take care.

I've spent time walking up and down river banks in the Spring and Autumn, looking for the safest place to cross. On one occasion, giving up in the failing light and camped out, crossing the river the next day as the light showed how dangerous the 'best' place to cross was that I'd found the night before. Don't let fatigue and the desire to stick to plans trick you into thinking that 'best' is 'safest'.

Read some of the "Gurkha Highlander" overnight. I like the comment from one of the squaddies, seeing Glen Feshie in the Cairngorms:
"This is very beautiful...Why don't people farm here? It looks good. There should be a village here."

Feshie/Geldie moor in Summer 2006.

Thinking on my Feet

I'm thinking of upping from the Terrocs to walking boots (but I've not mentioned that on OM yet), as I took my Scarpa SLs home with me for winter walking, as I don't think ... okay, I know that ... my trail shoes won't keep my feet warm, no matter how good the socks are.

The SLs fit well, but I've never had a good walk from them. Big and clunky. One of the things about the Terrocs is that I can feel the ground - like a good pair of trainers. With the SLs, it's like being in a car. If I can get a boot that gives me that freedom, I'll be a happier bunny.

Not having access to gear reviews in magazines, or outdoor shops, I'll hold off on this until I'm back in civilisation. In the meantime, here's a taste of the atmosphere here from the late, great Rikki Fulton. And more local humour from Tormad Maclean (translations required for non-Islanders), and Norman not in drag.

The Prevailing Wind

Catching up with various blogs on Boxing Day, I come to Andy Howell's, where the topic of wind farms has been raised by a comment from Calvin Jones.

Comments from Calvin Jones include:

• I believe that walkers should be with environmentalists and yes that means with wind.
• There has been increasingly vocal opposition to wind farms and associated works throughout the UK. Mainly by people who “don’t want to see the countryside spoiled”. Such an anthropocentric view of the countryside is just the sort of ignorant and harm full attitude that really does threaten our lands real beauty.
• When a wind power project is proposed near your home, will you protect your most treasured land and support wind?

My democratic position on this is that business is out to make as much money from wind farms as possible, scourging the landscape and saying that anyone who is against them is short-sighted. People in the Hebrides were in favour of windfarms, but then the proposed turbines got taller and taller as the venture capitalists got greedier and greedier. The landowners own the land, and refuse to allow small local developments to go ahead.

If the power is required in the central belt, why not build the windfarms in the central belt instead of scarring tracts of the landscape of the Highlands? That must make both economic, environmental and social sense? But the NIMBY voters of the central belt won't be happy bunnies; better to upset some Teuchters instead.

It should be quite simple to have 'energy miles', like 'food miles'. Draw a circle around a town or city, and say that x% of the power used by that area must be generated by that area. Most houses will have loft insulation by now (heck, that project's been going on for years), so scale it up to domestic solar panels.

So, I'm in favour of community wind farms (local power for local people), incentives for solar panels, responsibly sited tidal and wave power, geothermal power. And whilst countries like China, Russia and America keep belching out greenhouse gases, it will make little difference to the changing climates. But at least make a little difference and can try to hold back the rising tides and be a shining beacon to the world. And where humanity builds a tv where the 'off' switch really means 'off' .

Christmas

Presents: The "Gurkha Highlander" book (party of Gurkhas walking from Mallaig to Stonehaven). "Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk" dvd (recon for Easter). "Grizzly Man" and "Gripping Yarns" dvds for my imagination. Three 50ml miniatures of malt (for my thumb-flask), and a box of Edradour fudge (yummy). Some nice lining socks. Family know I'm happy with my kit and like shopping for it, so I got some money too. I love my family (especially after a 2 hour long dinner). Scrummy.

New sites listed on OM, from the Scottish Avalanche Information Service:
SAIS Lochaber
SAIS Northern Cairngorms

Kept two Chinese HOST visitors happy watching the Munro Show last night. They couldn't get over that someone as thin and spindly as they were could climb such scary hills. They'll be looking out for An Teallach from the ferry tomorrow. Also for views like this:

One asked if I take my camera with me hiking. "Yes" and "always" was my reply. I'm a 'point-and-click' photographer, but I like keeping a record of what I've seen. And sometimes I get lucky and really like what nature has allowed me to photograph.

Oh, and having never read it in its entirety, the last few paragraphs of "A Christmas Carol" were a shock for me, especially the bad pun about abstinance and not being bothered by spirits. Well, here's the text file from the fine people at Project Gutenberg (keeping the spirit of the Internet alive). Merry Christmas, one and all.

Winter

Nae very romantic, blogging from a ferry queue in Ullapool, but it passes the time of day. As does hitting the outdoor shops. There are 3 I like to peruse.

Northwest Outdoors sells lots of gear, from wynnster to paramo and a fine coffee shop to sit in whilst justifying your new gear.

Next is the Ullapool Bookshop. It has more hiking and scottish history books than Waterstones in Aberdeen. Great selection and the epitome of a bookshop.

Lastly, the Ullapool Hardware shop - they keep the names simple here - has a reasonable selection of outdoors gear. Socks, flasks, fishing gear, etc.

So, a 'life is good' t-shirt and 2 scottish history books are now mine, all mine, my precious bookses. Yes, my presentses they are...

Couch 22

Mad Jim's posted some photos from the OM meet that I missed on Saturday. I'd be too scared to tackle that snow anyway.

Suite 1: Morven (including the killer ducks of Braemar).
Suite 2: Beinn Bhreac and Beinn a'Chaorainn.

Very impressive, chaps.

Now, off to update iTunes to handle the kafuffle over Bob's Outdoors Channel/Station whatever he's renamed it to stop the sodding lawyers having a go. In the meantime the streets are coated in broken glass and cars are hooring up 20mph-limited streets. Priorities? Humbug!

Picked up a pair of merino260 leggings in Tiso's. Actually, I bought them yesterday, but looked at the chest measurement instead of the waist size. So exchanged them today. They had a copy of "Sacred Summits: John Muir's Greatest Climbs" for 2 quid instead of £8.99, so I splurged out on that. That works out to be over a 10% discount on the whole shopping. Honest.

Couch 21

The new "The Angry Corrie" is available online. Always worth a read.

Day out:Quoich-Fhearnaig-Lui

Just back from a day out. First hike since October! How sad is that? Very sodding sad, that's how.

As I was heading into the Cairngorm NP with a mate, and the forecast was cold, with the chance of snow flurries, I packed survival gear just in case. Obviously the Akto was in there. I packed my big Scarpa SL's in case I needed them when we got there, but took (and wore) my Terrocs instead.

Parked at the Linn of Dee car park and road-walked round to Linn of Quoich. Snack break by the "Punchbowl", and noticed the flowers left by the bridge in memory of the poor wee lass who drowned there earlier in the year. The day was cold, even though we were only at around 400m. I'd already changed from my Sealskinz to new Aspen cold-weather gloves. Walking north-westerly, the wind was in our face.


Climbing up the path over the Quoich Water, we caught a stunning view of the snow on the peaks. Having already driven past a snow-capped Lochnagar, this wasn't a surprise, but was still stunning.

We pushed on to Clais Fhearnaig, where we planned to stop for a lunch. The snow-capped hills delayed us slightly, as we kept stopping to take photos. Two walkers passed us heading south, from their "Hellos", FJ reckoned they may have been German or Danish. She has more of an ear for that sort of thing.


A black&white spaniel (I think) came bounding over the heather of the Clais, followed by another dog and then a couple. More "hellos" and the dogs did their sniffing-investigation-bounding thing. Nice, well-behaved and non-intimidating behaviour. Even though I'm a cat person, I can appreciate the boundless enthusiasm of a dog in it's element.

As to other animals, we'd seen some stags when in the car, and a couple of female deer when on foot. Later on that day, a hovering-flying thing (kestrel? hawk of some sort), and a flight of black birds (not geese or grouse). I'm hopeless at bird-watching, if you haven't already guessed.

Stopped for lunch at the Lochan and got the Micron out. Took ages to boil 0.6 litres of water for cuppa-soups. I didn't time it, but the heat lost by stopping was not regained by drinking the warm drinks. Definitely needs a wind-shield. I'll take one next time.

Pushed on and into Glen Lui. A slight diversion to Bob Scott's Bothy to leave some presents for the OMers who were basing their weekend there. Although we didn't meet them, a gentleman called Neil was stopping there for a brew and meal before pushing on to camp overnight and then to the Lairig Ghru and Aviemore on Sunday. We had a brew too, rested up, repacked gear and headed back to the car. It was noticeable that the Micron took far less time to heat the same amount of water than outdoors. From the guest-book, Geoff had already headed off to Aviemore on foot, and we read about the heroic rescue of an entangled stag by a Dundonian hiker.

While Akto-spotting at the bothy, I went out to fix a tent that had blown down. Turned out to be be a perfectly OK hooped bivvy. My bad. Still, first one I'd seen in 'real life'.

Tabbed it back to the car in falling daylight, and kept our night-vision as a Landy went past. Far better chance of seeing things without using a head-torch. We were rewarded on the way back to the car by seeing 2 stags rushing away from us across a stream.

Stopped off in Banchory at the chipshop by the river, polished off a fine meal, then headed home.

Summary - 14 miles/23km. A fine day out. 0900 - 1630, including stops.

No blisters. Terrocs behaved well again. Had to keep feet dry as no drying in the weather at all. I had Sealskinz waterproof socks and liners with me in case needed. New jacket was nice and warm (temperature around/just above freezing).

For my legs I wore HH leggings and Montane Terra trousers. Any colder and I'd have added another layer. For snow walking, I reckon I'd really need some dedicated cold-weather trousers, or warmer leggings (or both).

Forgot to put on lip-salve and lost my camera's retaining clip. I'll put that down to still being groggy after fighting off the cold.

Gear 8: Montane Verso Jacket

Out in the Cairngorms at the weekend. Forecast from MWIS is cold at height. Not going up high, just walking up Glen Quoich and across to Glen Lui. As the forecast is cold, thought I'd better upgrade from my Columbia fleece softshell to something warmer. Decided on the Montane Verso as I have a Montane jacket already so trust the brand.

Something I noticed is that jackets tend to be quoted as "warmer" or telling you what it's made of, e.g. "60g provides thermal insulation of 2 TOG" or "155g of 95% Goose down at 800+ fill power". Why no comfort rating, like they have on sleeping bags? I know there are difficulties with sleeping bag ratings, but at least they are a guide. There were 4 coloured leaflet tags with the jacket, none tells me what temperature the jacket will keep me warm at (not even under 'laboratory conditions'). The chap in the shop can tell me, and a search on the Internet or query on OutdoorsMagic, but not the information sheet.

Bit out of it when in the gear shop, as the cold's been building up over the last few days - today I was at the sore eyes and feeling groggy stage, with intermittent sniffles.

Got a wee box of goodies for the OMers on Saturday. If I don't meet any, I'll leave it at Bob Scott's Bothy.

Couch 20

Booooooo.

No, not for England losing at the cricket, but for Bob's venture into podcasting on TheOutdoorsChannel.co.uk being taken off the air because of a letter from US lawyers.

He hasn't said who's sent the hounds in, but I'll be boycotting them anyway as I'll have to waste time rejigging iTunes. Typical bullying attitude from business lawyers. It'd be nice if Bob put in a claim for the new stationery, etc. Y'see it's not just a matter of a new web address, it is a whole pile of effort.

So, why does it matter if a US company has a similar name to a UK one. Just look at Apple.com and Apple.co.uk, not similar at all. BBC.com used to be owned by a US legal firm until the BBC (the good old Blighty Broadcasting Chaps) paid about US$375,000 for the address. Not sued, but paid.

Y'see, TheOutdoorsChannel.co.uk was a spin-off business by Bob, not typosquatting (like gooogle.com). I've also checked iTunes, and there's no-one with a similar name on there.

So give a thought to poor Rose, who won't see her man much over Christmas, as he's slaving away over a hot keyboard, with only the heat from the CD-burner as he has to cut back the pennies to pay for the rebranding because of some US company flexing it's muscles.

So, a hearty "boooooooooooo" to the US lawyers and the ne'r-do-wells who wish to bring their own brand of legal morals to our sceptred isle (which isn't sublet from Cuba).

Couch 19

I've been mainly working and painting wargames figures this week. My boxed set of "Weir's Way" came through from Play.com - about half price in their sale. Which was nice. There are some clips of it on ScotlandOnTV.

In amongst the paperwork, there are letters from the MCoS and NTS, so I guess my annual membership is in need of renewal.

Bought a pair of warm winter hiking gloves today. In the first shop I went to, I got met by a security guard, her arms crossed. Now, IMHO, there are 2 types of security guards - this was one that made me feel like a potential criminal. So, I walked out and took my custom elsewhere.

Let me explain something. I don't like modern crowds. They are chaotic, arrogant and self-centred. I don't need that agro when I go out shopping. So, even if I start out in a happy mood, by the time I get to the shops, I'm often not a happy bunny any more.

Gear bought: Salomon Aspen GTX gloves

Weird Darren's blog is worth popping over to. Just leave your buff at home.

Off to the Cairngorms for a day's trek next weekend. So busy, that it takes 3 weeks of emails to organise one day out! Never mind, hope to get out a couple of times over the Christmas break (hence looking for warmer gloves).