eBothy Blog

It seems the season for rants, so I’ll rant some more and with good reason as the wild camping debate should be placed in context and to set the scene, Salmond’s boys have just come out with possibly the most ridiculous case of double standards I’ve ever seen, hyperbole aside. They’re refusing to ban snares on the grounds and I quote:

“the control of animals, such as foxes, through snares, helped maintain Scotland’s world-famous £240m shooting industry”

240m quid? That’s peanuts. At around 430m, walking is worth almost twice that to the Scottish economy. The shooting fraternity are a minority sideshow in economic terms up here and the only reason it’s “world famous” is Scotland is the last feudal playground in Europe. Most other countries have shaved off their forelocks and sent the lairds packing. Here, have gun will shoot, wherever one pleases. However, the numbers speak for themselves and we can wild camp in Scotland. South of the border it’s a different story. Walking doesn’t seem to be as big a contributor to the rural economy. So presumably there are less mouths to shout out against opponents. There are less chances to air common sense views. (more…)

They’re at it again. Moaning girners are complaining that the wild camping petition will flood the hills with yobs and neds who will destroy the wildlife and landscape. Well, I’ve got news for you lot. The hills are already full of yobs and neds, usually employed by the same landowners who are doing all the finger pointing at law abiding walkers. As if wildcats weren’t endangered enough, some ponce has killed one and used it as bait. Reports on the radio said the carcass was also surrounded by snares. This sort of thing is all too common on estates, where anything that doesn’t have monetary value is worthless and without profit and must be destroyed, as it impinges on the profitable parts of the business, such as pheasants, grouse and deer. Hold on, isn’t that a ridiculous generalisation of landowners? I’m sure only a minority indulge in such illegal practices but they sure as hell give the rest a bad name by association. Landowners? They’re all the same!

Exactly the same accusation is thrown at wild campers. They’ll destroy the land. The wildlife will be disrupted and disappear. Jings, crivvens, help ma boab, we must oppose wild camping at all costs. Well, this story proves you can say exactly the same thing about the landowners. So we can cancel that term from both sides of the equation and get down to some less knee jerking debate.

Time and again we’re told that countryside access is all about give and take. Well, if some halfwit is going to claim I’m breaking the law by camping overnight in the wilds, while he slices up the endangered wildlife, I’ve only got one thing to say. “Eat my fist, pal!”

I noticed over on BG!’s blog he posted some pics of wild camping to inform the Wild Camping petition. So I thought I’d join in with a pic of my Akto on Braeriach. I camped at around 1100m and had a herd of reindeer for company all night. This is what wild camping is all about. Let’s hope our southern stravaiging friends get their way.

I’m reading Killing Dragons at the moment, a superbly readable, entertaining and humourous account of the development of mountaineering in the Alps. I’m up to Whymper and Tyndall, having started with the greats of early Alpine exploration, Balmat and Paccard when they first climbed Mont Blanc, followed by Saussure and watched from afar all the time by Bourrit. The characters come alive in the book and you get a feel for what it must have been like to be a mountaineer in those far off days, of quaffing champagne on the summits and sleeping rough where there are now Alpine huts. But it also got me thinking about what it is to be a mountaineer. (more…)

Jings, crivvens, help ma boab! Winter has returned to the highlands after the fortnight of superb weather. I was returning from a meeting in Stornoway, with the ferry rolling its way over the Minch but with the gale force winds coming from the west it wasn’t too bad a journey. I stopped off at the Loch Glascarnoch dam for a wee walk to stretch the legs and despite the violent wind and battering hail/sleet/snow, it was remarkably calm on the dam as the wind was forced up and over by the sheer sides. On the way up I’d stopped here for a walk and watched a raven collect nesting debris. No sign of it today though. I can see why!

Also noticed the Cairngorm AWS feed:

Coming back through Strath Bran, I noticed several knolls had “sheep drifts” on their lee slopes. A dozen or so sheep were sheltering from the horizontal sleet behind each knoll and the loch was boiling with great clouds of vapour ripped off the surface and twisted and flung high into the air. A wild day indeed.

Today is the last day of the more or less fortnight of fantastic, sunny, clear weather up here as apparently there is a cold front on the way with much rain to come. So I thought I’d do a detour along the loop road on the way to work this morning. Here are some of the pics.

The clag has lifted today and the sun is actually warm. In fact it feels just like a summer’s day, with light winds and brilliant sunshine. The gorse is fragrant and the trees are full of birds. Alpine conditions in the hills are being reported, with clear, sunny, settled weather, for the last two weeks away from the west coast, with iron hard snow and rockfall later in the day.

Thought I’d so some more bothy/tent/tarp music to while away those dark winter nights. The first one speaks for itself. “When this bloody war is over” is the version by Rab Noakes on “Standing up”, only a little bit more stompy. “Stompin’ on the tappahammock” is from a Stefan Grossman book and I just love playing this over and over again. “London apprentice” is another Ralph McTell tune.

 

 The streets of London [2:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 When this bloody war is over [1:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Stompin' on the tappahammock [2:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 London apprentice [1:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With Darren’s wild camping ePetition gaining strength, I thought I’d chip in with some music. Every folk cause needs its tune, so here’s my awful contribution to a piece of folk history in the making. It’s called “The Pursuit” and evokes scenes of wild campers scattering into the night, hotly pursued by the Sheriff’s officers. There aren’t any words as I can’t write songs, or more accurately, I can’t write songs for public consumption! If anyone feels brave enough to put words to it, be my guest.

 

 The Pursuit [2:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The forecast was for low cloud and clag on the west coast, with increasingly better weather forecast the further east you travelled. So I packed the ‘sac and headed for Cluanie, listening to the radio on the way with Lord Cameron of Neish giving the advice to head east to avoid the weather and good advice it was too as the base rose higher and higher the nearer I drew to Cluanie. I parked at Lundie and headed up the old military road past the mast and on up the frozen hillside, heading for Carn Ghluasaid. (more…)