eBothy Blog

North East winds in late November, freezing level around 650m. That could only mean one thing on the west coast. Clear air and snow! So I dragged my stuff together late on Friday night ready for the off early Saturday to catch the morning light on the path up to what’s probably my most favourite mountain, Blaven. I wasn’t disappointed by the soft light and the muted colours on the way up the path but I couldn’t see any sign of snow lurking in the mists shrouding the summit but I had my fingers crossed for some of the white waiting to be discovered.

I’ve just found out my winter climbing log book is fine for Winter ML so this season I will mostly be concentrating on nav, nav and lots more nav! There was snow down to about 2000ft this morning on the Knoydart mountains but it’s all mostly gone in a blur of west coast drizzle and very low clag. Ideal navigating weather! It’s starting to get near the time when you can get ready for the real winter arriving. You can get some nasty conditions up there, what with storm force winds and driving snow but without white outs and cornices at this time of year, so it’s an ideal time to “get the winter head” back on and get used to just how wild it gets. The general opinion these days is less snow but much more wind so what does fall gets blown into dangerous lee accumulations leaving you to contend with a mixture of avalanches and iron hard neve and ice, not to mention bare rock to blunt your crampons. (more…)

So, most people think we’re trying to save the planet from frying. What are we saving it for though? More of this? The Human Race is like an ensemble of warring factions down a mine. Every so often they stop to shore up the roof, to stop it falling on their heads. Then they continue with their warring, exploitation, bullying and destruction. Who is going to tell the oppressors to stop, once we’ve “saved the planet”? We’re not “saving the planet” to allow them to continue with their criminal, morally corrupt regimes and violence towards ordinary people. I thought the first picture was touching. A destroyed and abandoned child, its destiny dictated in the womb by a violent and destructive regime, being cared for by a woman with a heart of gold. Why save a world as rotten as this?

A few months ago I took the plunge and replaced my old trusty Buffalo Bag with a Rab Quantum 250 Endurance. Lots of bloggers helped me with information so I thought I’d reciprocate with a small review of how it’s performed so far. I’ve used it at around 750m in the Mamores, at the top of the Glenshee road, next to the Kingshouse high on Rannoch Moor and on my mum’s floor! And the overall impression? It’s a very warm bag. Too warm for me in summer I think. In the Mamores I almost sweated to nothing in the night, despite a gale force wind hammering the tent all night but the bag started to work for me at Glenshee, as autumn approached. The night at the Kingie I was toasty warm even though I woke to the hardest frost of the season in the morning. It was a real scrape to get the car clear and the tent folded like cardboard but I slept warm all night with a silk liner. (more…)

This morning I went for my hilly (150m) 10K run round Letir Fura. Fantastic sunny morning with very little cloud, lots of blue sky(e) and sea and the Cuillin rising in the distance. A nice cooling, light northeasterly kept me from overheating on the way out. It’s a superb little circuit, just the right length at 1hr 20mins (it is hilly and very steep in places on the hill track) and the views are always superb. The last climb up to the summit bench is always hard but that’s where you pop out of the forest and the Sound of Sleat and Knoydart burst upon you. Out of this world! Feel so good after this circuit. Really must do it more often.