On the summit of Gulvain - 5.40 pm 10/5/09

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Sunday 10 May 2009 - TGO Challenge Day 3 - Plan - Wild Camp at High Lochan to Wild Camp by Allt a' Choire Screamhaich

Our planned route and statistics for today are shown below:

1 Wild camp
2 Garbh Chioch Mhor (M)
3 Col at 736 metres
4 Sgurr nan Coireachan (M)
5 Path by Allt Coire nan Uth
6 Glendessary
7 Strathan
8 Bridge
9 Col at 436 metres
10 By Gualann nan Osna
11 Gulvain south summit
12 Gulvain north summit (M)
13 Col at 540 metres
14 Wild camp by Allt a' Choire Screamhaich at NN 021 886 (approx 480 metres)

Statistics
22 km
1800 metres ascent
10.7 hours
(3 Munros)

Our full route is here.

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TGO Challenge 2009 - Day 2 - Allt a Choire Odhair to Lochan a Mhaim (NM 906 947) - First FWA

Distance walked: 13.6 km
Metres ascent: 500
Time taken including 1 hour 45 min stops: 7 hrs 25 mins
No of Challengers encountered: 5

Surprisingly, we slept quite well, despite the howling storm that battered the tent. It got quite cool. My watch stopped. The TGO Challenge became a timeless activity. The wind changed. My side of the tent got battered. The storm continued, quieter now. Sliding noises down the tent fabric gave the game away. Snow. We congratulated ourselves on being well prepared: 2 en-suite toilets for this trip - it was nasty outside.


Yesterday's improving weather, and the forecast of a high pressure system taking over, conspired to provide a false sense of security. The traverse to Meall Buidhe didn't make sense, so for the first time (ever) we chose our FWA (foul weather alternative) for today. This meant we could enjoy a lie-in as the estimated time for our FWA was only 5 hours 36 minutes. (You can see from above that it took longer, but no matter - we finished soon after 4 pm anyway.)

We braved the snow and got away by 9 am. How glad was I that I'd purchased new gloves! The Sealskinz were brilliant and cold hands were avoided. There was lots of wet snow to negotiate whilst striking camp.

The descent from our Winter Wonderland to the River Carnach was slow. Slithery wet snow to 550 metres, then steep boggy slopes with occasional rock slides to negotiate.



Once on the 'track' by the river, the bogginess remained, but deeper. We basically sloshed the 5 km to Carnoch, stopping en route for a long brew by a river that needed long stretches for me and Crocs for Sue in order to keep our feet dry. Milkwort and lousewort, together with dame's violet, dog violet, lesser celandine and bluebells were thriving in the wetness. Frogs jumped to avoid the clump of our boots, and a cuckoo called nearby.


Beyond the rickety bridge ('for Wilsey and Margaret - 19 January 1980') at Carnoch we spotted Robert, about 5 minutes behind us. So when we reached Sourlies bothy a bit later we brewed enough for him as well. We hope he appreciated it - he told us of his difficult day yesterday. He had successfully climbed Ladhar Bheinn and got to Mam Barrisdale after 8 pm, by when he had decided that pitching his Akto (tent) in the gale wasn't feasible, so he spent the night in his bivvi bag, with cold wet feet in the howling gale and sleety storms. Not an experience he wishes to repeat!

Mam Barrisdale, albeit over 200 metres lower than our own camping spot, was the windiest place we visited yesterday.

We enjoyed a happy hour at Sourlies, with sunshine and showers, and a visit from three 'Likely Lads' from Arbroath - Donald, Andrew and David - first time Challengers but very experienced Hill Men. They had arrived at Inverie last night and set off walking at 6.30 this morning.

Sunshine and showers continued as we strolled 5 km up the path to this idyllic spot at about 290 metres beside a bubbling brook. It was slow going, being a bit boggy (God built the fine mountains of Knoydart on a foundation of bog - a rather dubious experiment), and we both donned Crocs to cross the river whilst Robert sloshed across, shook his feet like a dog drying itself, and continued on - 'never to be seen again'.


We then caught our 5th and final Challenger of the day, big Bill Grigg, on his 4th Challenge but still suffering the effects of yesterday's long lunch at the Old Forge. We hope he is ok, he was going very slowly but had the satisfaction of immediately re-passing us as we set up camp.

As Sue prepares another fine meal, it continues to be showery and cool. That means sleet and gales at our proposed fine weather camp at 900 metres, so we made the correct decision today. The day may not seem to be 'according to plan' but it is actually precisely according to our 'FWA' plan. Sometimes it's best to avoid the summits, and today was one of those times.

Sadly though, it means we have had no phone signal all day, so the postings will probably all appear at once due to 'circumstances outside our control'.

Remarkably, despite the constancy of the bog, we both kept our feet dry today. Nobody we met, including a number of folk doing the Cape Wrath Trail, seemed to have managed that!

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TGO Challenge 2009 - Day 1 - Mallaig to Allt a Choire Odhair (680 metres) - Socialising in Knoydart

Distance walked: 13.3 km
Metres ascent: 1107
Time taken including 1 hour stops: 5 hrs 50 mins
No of wet feet: 2 damp (Sue)

After the walk back to our B+B I dreamt of a Smart car being blown from the roadside into the path of a car ahead! At least it wasn't a dream about being blown off a mountain!

By this morning the weather had relented sufficiently to dispel our first fear, as we watched from the breakfast room our Bruce Watt ferry being readied for action.

By the time we reached the Old Forge at Inverie we had got to know all of the 16 challengers who disembarked after a not too bumpy ride. A box of Sue's CCS was soon demolished, and whilst nine of us enjoyed the last beer etc we would see for several days, Robert dashed off on a mammoth day's hike, whilst Bill and Brian savoured the attractions of the tea shop. The others must have simply set off into their worlds of solitude.

We set off at noon. The path up to Mam Barrisdale was quite busy, as we met folk returning for lunch back in Inverie. The pub provides sumptuous fare such as 'Loch Nevis Hand Dived Scallops - £17.95', and several Challengers had been seduced by this mouth watering opportunity.

Our own lunch of rather more prosaic seafood (tinned mackerel) was taken at Torcuileainn, an agricultural building with a leaky roof. We were just about to set up our stove outside when the smell of corned beef caused us to explore further. At the back of the shack, on a concrete floor under a sound roof, sat Bill and Brian and a couple of lads on a three day backpack.

We squeezed into the small room and enjoyed lunch and a chat whilst a blustery shower raged outside.

Bill and Brian kept us company up to Mam Barrisdale, from where they headed out of the gale and down into Barrisdale. Meanwhile, Sue and I trudged up the boggy path, following the fence posts for a little too long then heading back up to the ridge and on to the summit of Luinne Beinn by soon after 5 pm.

We almost got a view. The squally showers were gradually fading in intensity, with a cloud ceiling as high as 900 metres at times. We were comfortable in the waterproofs we'd been wearing for most of the day, but it was not a time for hanging around.

The east and south sides of the hill were plastered with slippery snow down to around 800 metres. (On the western slopes it had blown off.). So with a couple of rock bands to negotiate as well, great care was exercised in descending to our home for the night - a windy col at around 680 metres, where it took a good half hour to find a spot and erect the old Nallo on a dry patch surrounded by wetness (including a convenient stream). We are out of practice!

There's a fine view, but no chance of a phone signal. And we aren't really paying much attention to the view, as it's a bit wet and windy outside, the showers having merged into each other. Sue is cooking up a fine meal, as we reflect on our good fortune with today's weather, which was the best for several days around here.

A rare occasion, when our day went exactly as planned!

Later: the Nallo seems to be withstanding a pretty thorough 'wet wind tunnel' test.

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Saturday 9 May 2009 - TGO Challenge Day 2 - Plan -Allt a Choire Odhair to a High Lochan near Sgurr na Ciche

Our planned route and statistics for today are shown below:

1 Wild camp
2 Summit at 839 metres
3 Bealach
4 Summit at 942 metres
5 Meall Buidhe (M)
4 Summit at 942 metres
6 Mam Meadail
7 Carnoch
8 Sourlies
9 Sgurr na Ciche (M)
10 Feadan na Ciche col
11 Wild camp at high lochan at NM 906 963 (approx 900 metres)

Statistics
14 km
1700 metres ascent
8.0 hours
(2 Munros)



Our full route is here.

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TGO Challenge - Day 1 - Time for a Cheese and Wine Party!

We offer our apologies for absence, but we do hope you find our contribution. It may be a little peaty by now!

Enjoy your crossing, Alan, et al.

Hic.

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Friday 8 May 2009 - TGO Challenge Day 1 - Plan - Inverie to Allt a Choire Odhair

Our planned route and statistics for today are shown below:

1 Inverie – via the boat from Mallaig
2 Torcuileainn
3 Point at 275 metres at NG 847 016
4 Mam Barrisdale
5 Luinne Bheinn (M)
6 Wild camp at head of Allt a Choire Odhair at NG 871 001 (approx 680 metres)

Statistics
13 km
1100 metres ascent
6.5 hours
(1 Munro)



Our full route is here.

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TGO Challenge 2009 - 2nd Prologue - Dreiched in Mallaig

The warm waiting room at Montrose station saw us released into backpacking mode, with all other encumbrances left outside Jim and Eileen's house nearby. Such occasions mark the start of 'simple living' for a while, and are always happy.

The 9.18 train, with a chatty 13 year old telling us jokes, gave us a good hour in Glasgow before we sped off at 12.21 to Mallaig, reaching there on time at 17.43.

Blue skies had clouded over, but as the weather deteriorated the day was taken up with meeting new friends and renewing old friendships. Far too many to mention them all by name, but it was good to see Markus (the only Austrian eccentric), as well as a number of the Outdoor Bloggers.

See if you can spot a few 'ole regulars':

The 8 hour journey passed all to quickly, and by the end of it just a handful of us found ourselves staring at the white horses being whipped up by the wind in Mallaig's harbour.

We soon installed ourselves in friendly Springbank B+B, a sort of upmarket version of Cougie, with tortoises in the living room rather than an iguana in the airing cupboard. Alison and Deborah joined us whilst we searched for a weather forecast.

By the time we set off for the Cornerhouse - a de luxe purveyor of haddock and chips - the rain was lashing down. Following our delicious meal, I found the mountain weather forecast, and Nightbird's helpful comments.

Tomorrow: 'gusting to 90 mph' ... 'wind chill up to -17C'. This sort of tied in with Nightbird's interpretation, but as she points out, our presence usually has a favourable effect.

We start tomorrow with a ferry to Inverie. The 'gusts' may put paid to that. Wow - a day off before we even start?!

Adjourning to the West Highland Hotel, we enjoyed some beers with John and Sue, and Geoff and Chris, under a conservatory that seemed to amplify the crashing of the rain on the roof. J + S adjourned smugly to their room in the hotel, whilst the rest of us splashed our way home along the dreich (drenched) streets.

It's extremely wet and windy here, but we are now warm and happy and safely tucked up.

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TGO Challenge 2009 - 1st Prologue - A Wet Trip to Sunny Montrose

Let the journey commence.

A shopping trip en route to Montrose may have alleviated the likelihood of Sue getting blisters and me getting cold hands.

Thanks must go to Josie and Hugh of 'Alpenstock' in Stockport for their last minute assistance regarding our kit. They have the same knowledgable and caring approach as the legendary Bob and Rose.

It was drizzling in Manchester, but once across the border the heavens opened and aquaplaning became a distinct risk.

On the way we were somewhat surprised to see 'Morayshire' pull gently into Lancaster services. The bizarre illusion of this green liveried steam engine pulling into a motorway service station was somewhat dispelled when its trailer came into view, but it was still a highlight of our soggy journey past lush green fields with pink cherry blossom and piebald cows.

Anyway, the old car won its battle against the elements and over 6 hours after leaving Alpenstock we thankfully pulled into Charlie and Fiona's driveway in Inverbervie.

Montrose was visited en route, the town grinning under a blue sky and a wide rainbow.

C + F are brilliant, if somewhat surprised, hosts (our visit was a secret until a few hours ago). Carbo loading is complete, the wine is flowing, and we are well prepared for tomorrow's long journey.

Hic!

PS Thank you to Colin and Helen, Roman (yes, we are looking forward to continuing our Italian Border Route in a few weeks time), Steve, Louise and others for your good wishes. We may need them.

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Ready and Waiting

The staff at the Park Hotel are looking forward to hosting some of their favourite customers...

Stocks of whisky are suitably high.

They are looking forward to Roger's imminent arrival, and after a week or so to his mate, aka 'Father Christmas'.

Perhaps we should just hang around here!?

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The TGO Challenge 2009 - Nearly Ready

Many folk will be starting from the Kintail Lodge Hotel, pictured above before last year's Challenge. It's a brilliant place from which to start.

We head off to Montrose tomorrow to drop off the car and then spend Thursday travelling round to Mallaig to befriend a few strangers (I don't recognise any of the other names starting from there), en route saying hello to a few old friends who we hope to encounter in Glasgow and on the train.

This year's route doesn't cross either of my/our previous routes - we are steadily moving south, and this will be our first encounter with the hordes in Glasgow. Should be fun!

The route has now been penned, and is on view in some detail, together with a kit list, here.

We have no significant new kit this year - just a RAB Drillium jacket for Sue - largely due to having pulled out the gear during the last few hours, leaving no time for replacements. It mostly hasn't been used since last summer's IBR trip. Bob and Rose can expect a bit of business in about 3 weeks' time!

Excluding CCS supplies, we'll each be carrying a maximum of around 14 kg, including two days' food, which should be quite comfy, but we do average 1000 metres ascent each day on our 328 km (205 mile) route. That's if we don't have to resort to our 'Foul Weather Alternative', which given the current state of the weather looks quite likely. CCS may of course be available at obscure and secret locations across Scotland, but as we will be lingering in the west and probably behind most people, we are not advertising any particular supply points. [We may get to eat it all ourselves!!!]

We'll be blogging our way across Scotland (of course) but the 'phone signal will rarely be strong enough to enable images to be transmitted, so they'll be added later. Some days there may be no signal, so bear with us - we'll be doing our best.

Good luck to any readers who are also doing the Challenge. Bon voyage, and see you in Montrose, if not before.

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Egypt, and a six month delay

"We'll put a few proper photos together for the next posting" were my final words on 2 November 2008.

Doesn't time just fly past!

Well, today I've spent a few minutes tarting up the entries (in a very minor way) and adding a few images in relation to last year's trip to Egypt, as promised so long ago.

Including this one, there are just 12 postings with the 'Egypt' label. They can be reviewed in reverse order here, or individually by clicking on the relevant posting below:

Thursday 23 October 2008 - Heathrow Terminal 5 - Gateway to the World!

Friday 24 October 2008 - The Step Pyramid of North Saqqara

Saturday 25 October 2008 - Wadi Digla

Sunday 26 October 2008 - Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Monday 27 October 2008 - Pompey's Pillar and The Catacombs of Kom es-Shoqafa and An Egyptian Wedding

Tuesday 28 October 2008 - Egyptian Taxis

Wednesday 29 October 2008 - The Egyptian Antiquities Museum

Thursday 30 October 2008 - Religion and Boats

Friday 31 October and Saturday 1 November 2008 - A Desert Adventure

Sunday 2 November 2008 - Citadel, Mosques and more Pyramids and Good Food

I have very much enjoyed revisiting Egypt today on this wet Spring Bank Holiday in Manchester, not least for the pleasure of re-living the fine desert sunset depicted above. I hope you enjoy it as well!

Saturday 2 May 2009 - The Kindly Farmers of Cheshire - A Stroll from the Stretton Fox

It was a lovely day, but as Sue was working we could only manage a short afternoon stroll.

We'll get plenty of exercise in a week or so!

We decided to experiment. A new route. It's a 20 minute drive to the Stretton Fox.

The pub, a converted farmhouse*¹ from the mid 1800s known previously as Spark Hall, was heaving with custom.

It's right next to the M56 motorway that has obliterated any trace of the old Roman road. Crossing the bridge over the motorway we soon came to the Ring o' Bells, where a new sign displays an interesting use of apostrophes.

The pub was closed. It would be open at 7 pm tonight. It must be unable to compete, despite its closer proximity to the village of Stretton.

It's an old village, with a narrow pavement beside the busy main road that passes 'Stretton House - 1769-1788', and still going strong!

We were testing a walk from Jan Darling's book 'More Pub Walks in Cheshire and Wirral', from which I have borrowed some of the historical references. 'Turn right over a stile' was the next advice. Our first encounter with the Kindly Farmers of Cheshire illustrated their loving care and kindness towards the crops that were sprouting lusciously in the field beyond the place where a stile and finger post had once stood. So we went past the new farm shop and dodged under the barbed wire fence that separated us from the stile at the other end of the field where the path had been ploughed up.

Across a cart track a finger post pointed clearly to a gate in the far corner of a second field. This one had not been ploughed. It was full of milk laden cows. A farmer was persuading them towards the milking parlour. All our concentration went into dodging the fresh cowpats. The farmer, being Kindly towards his cows, which were obscuring our correct exit over a stile, studiously ignored us as our incorrect route obliged to clamber over gates and negotiate more barbed wire and a deep ditch.

An overgrown stile by the beautifully named 'Noggin Cottage' led beside fully fledged hedges to one of many concealed ponds that litter this area.

Our route led beside another hedge to reach a road at Bentley's Farm. A Kindly Farmer had chosen to block the path with an electric fence and a slurry pit - after all, slurry is essential for crop growth around here. We found a way round and proceeded down the lane to the Birch & Bottle.

Saturday afternoon. It was shut.

The 18th century properties beside the lane to Fogg's Farm were mainly in fine condition, with lovely gardens. Beyond Fogg's Farm the path led to Antrobus Golf Course. From afar, it looked as if the golfers were having a picnic, but as we got closer and moved our attention on from a gorgeous chestnut horse we discerned that these were not golfers at. The golf course was full of anglers, with a fine selection of ponds to satisfy their every taste.

There were more fishermen than golfers today.

A mother coot and her newly hatched child were busy in the weeds.

The route description through the golf course was quite complicated, but times change. Now a good gravel path leads easily clockwise around the perimeter of the course to an exit onto Reed Lane in the far corner. We paused to look back at the quiet scene.

This quiet lane led us below swooping buzzards and past prolific forgetmenots into New Occupation Lane.

Some barns built here in 1940 by the War Agricultural Committee now flourish as private dwellings. A left turn took us along a sort of dyke across Whitley Reed, which provided peat for fuel in Roman times. Much of the area has now been drained and cultivated, but there are still rough areas - reserved for walkers, of whom we saw no others today. Gorse, heather, nettles, reeds and brambles flourish in such 'rough'.

Past more ponds and across a sandy racetrack (racehorses must train here), we drew gradually closer to the roar of the motorway traffic before heading west towards woodland that was once part of Stretton Moss. There are marlpits hereabouts, where in the 19th century the clay and lime mixture was dug out to be used as fertiliser. As we headed along a narrow path beside the wood, a Kindly Farmer of Cheshire roared up in a winged tractor. Reversing beyond the edge of the field the wings were unfurled and we stopped abruptly as a thick spray started to belch into the atmosphere. We paused whilst this farmer, Kindly as ever towards His crops, belted off up the field in a cloud of modern-day fertiliser spray.

We were completely invisible to all the farmers we met today.

The approach to Moss Hall was marred by piles of rubble.

But once past this blot on the landscape, the sunlit oilseed rape gave a pleasing image enhanced by the backdrop of a darkening sky.

From here it was almost an easy walk past a large slurry pit and down a long lane back to the Stretton Fox. It would have been very easy if the Kindly Farmer of Tanyard Farm, who had recently planted his precious crops in a field across which our footpath passed, had not ploughed up the path.

Luckily, closer to home the paths are better walked and some of the Kindly Farmers of Cheshire are a bit better behaved!

Here's our route, should anyone be interested. It's 10 km (6 miles), with virtually no ascent, and it took a little more than two hours. On this dry day, trainers were adequate footwear.

*¹ In the 19th Century, Liverpool was a leading UK port, handling ship loads of cattle from Argentina and Canada. Dairy farming was dominant in this area, with fresh produce being sent to London to be sold. The farmhouse was built on 'Spark Field', named after a small variety of trout that was found hereabouts. The Stretton Fox stands beside the site of a Roman road that ran from Wilderspool to Northwich, then on to London. The name 'Stretton' meaning 'the town on the street', dates from this time.

Swine 'flu, a fine camera and the TGO Challenge

Now, these topics aren't related, but they are current. 

Phil's entertaining entry on:

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Don't Panic!

is here.  It's well worth a read.

Want a good camera?  Have a look at Bill Lockhart's blog for his first impressions of what looks like a nice piece of kit.  A 'trifle' expensive though.

Bill's 'Visions from my world' video is well worth viewing.  I won't embarrass myself by adding an image to this posting, I'll leave you to click on Bill's images, which are in a different league.

The TGO Challenge.  It has come up as our next trip, so I have to busy myself over the next few days finalising our route, buying train tickets, sorting accommodation, printing some maps, gathering provisions, and throwing some kit together - I hope there's no need for anything new, as I suspect it wouldn't arrive in time.  I just hope the Toughprint paper turns up.

So these pages may go a little quiet for a few days - but I do soon hope to provide some route details.

Wednesday 29 April 2009 - Deepest Cheshire, from the Drovers Arms, Over Peover

Here's another good old English name for you, Mike.  Actually, the Drovers Arms is situated half way between Over Peover and Lower Peover (aka 'Superior' and 'Inferior').  The 'o' is pronounced as an 'e'!

We arrived half an hour early for this evening walk, so with plenty of time to sample the 'Black Sheep' ale. 

Andrew had been inexplicably passed in a lay-by. He is usually in-situ at the start point, enjoying a beer.  "Attending to important business", I surmised, or "reccying the route".  (Andrew was tonight's leader, and he likes to be well prepared...)

We were greeted, entirely unexpectedly, by Ian C - one of my old UMIST contemporaries.  He works nearby and had made good use of the Drovers 'Early Bird' menu to fuel himself for his first appearance on one of our walks for several years.

Andrew lumbered in and downed some ale whilst breathlessly explaining "...eating my tea...important business...reccying the route...".  Retirement sees him as busy as ever, bravely multitasking whilst fervently attempting to keep all his balls in the air.

He led off into a field.  "Keep low" he advised, "as soon as they spot us the six horses will gallop towards us."  He had done his homework - they did just that; they just wanted to be friends with us.

The route took us along quiet lanes in the late sun under a darkening blue sky.  Richard had 'joke fever' - it's a shame I can't remember any of them (well, on second thoughts!), and Jenny and Andrew had developed strange walking styles.

The hedgerows and woodland paths now bulge with garlic mustard, greater stitchwort and yellow archangel, as well as the violets and anemones that have accompanied us over recent weeks.  The woodland areas have swathes of bluebells, and in the fields the dandelions are nearly over.

We discovered that Ian had joined us simply to escape from his mother in law, and that Andrew knew the area well - he kept darting off the main paths to avoid boggy sections that he blamed on 'The Hunt'.

Past extensive glass-houses full of chrysanthemums we strolled, under huge trees with noisy birds - buzzards, crows and pigeons, near the converted barns that Andrew so despises, and beside a country residence with a helicopter and more friendly horses outside.

Dusk fell, over lush woods and Cheshire fields, some deep with growth, others sporting brown scrub and a tree-laden skyline.

Luckily the fading daylight and the crescent moon provided sufficient light for the torch batteries (yes, we had one torch between 6 of us) to be utilised in Andrew's failing GPS unit, which seemed to hold the key to avoiding a night out 'lost in Cheshire'!

The Drovers Arms was dark and empty when we returned, but a barman appeared to serve us before locking up as we left at 10 pm.  As last week, we were the only customers after returning from our evening walk, and the future of some of these pleasant country pubs is starting to become a worry.  They need more business.

Tonight's 8 km route with minimal ascent (it's the Cheshire plain, after all) is shown below.  It took about 2 hours.

Our evening walks programme is here.  Anyone is welcome to join us.