Munros and Other Walks

  "I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature’s loveliness."   John Muir   This book contains 10 different essays by John Muir which cover a time period of around 30 years. This is the first book I have read by Muir and overall he does well to describe the different hikes and travels he took part in. The essays were published in different magazines or journals in the States from around 1870-1904. The first 2 cover his adventures in Alaska before moving on to Hollow Hill and Mount Ritter. It's with the Ritter essay I found myself becoming more interested in the journey. Some of the essays can be difficult to get into and it's a credit to Muir and his writing style that stuck with the stories. There are some essays which describe the flora and fauna of the landscape that I just wasn't in to. I had perceived the book to be more like a description on different hikes which, the Mount Ritter one is and I feel is the highlight of this book.  "No other ex...

  Book Review A couple of months ago I had sat down to try and catch up with the nightly news cycle. The channel, however, was showing one of their other programs called "Interesting Moments in History" which usually a sign that it is anything but interesting. Dissapointed and about to give up there was a piece about an African in Greenland. Intriged, I watched the 5 minute segment and by the end I had purchased the book online.  Synopis The book follows a young man from Togo who decides, after reading a book on the Eskimos in Alaska and Greenland, to visit the country and to live with the Inuit people. His journey takes him through Africa and Europe to Greenland, a journey of 8 years in total.  The book doesn't spend too much time on the journey getting there, and after about 3 chapters Kpomassie has arrived in Greenland, where the rest of the book takes place. Kpomassie strength here is to reflect the true hardship and nature of the Greenlanders. The book mainly takes p...

Forclaz Trekking Trousers Review Until my walk up Beinn an Lochain I had used the same walking trousers for the best part of fifteen years. However, stepping over a large stone I heard something rip and when I looked down there was a gaping hole down the inside leg of my trousers. I made do with a pair of waterproof trousers over the ripped ones and still managed to complete my walk, but I knew that a visit to an outdoors store would be in order.  In the past I have a used many different hiking trousers, including the ones that zip off a the legs. In my youth I would have gone for one of these as to purchase both shorts and trousers would have cost too much. However, zips tend to get stuck or fail at some point so you end up trekking with trousers with half closed zips. This time I had decided to go to Decathlon, my kids had got outdoor gear and despite their attempts to destroy the clothes, it had held up well. The most important aspects of buying new trousers were, light, ha...

Free Solo Review I remember years ago being asked to go to the cinema by a friend. The film we ended up seeing was Touching the Void. I swear that I had completely soaked my shirt watching the film, through sheer and utter terror of what was happening to the two unfortunate climbers. As they say history repeats itself as I'm once again enthralled and feeling the tension as the climax of Free Solo starts to take hold. This is despite the fact I already know how the story is going to end.   This documentary follow Alex Hunnold as he attempts to free solo El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The term free soloing meaning climbing without safety ropes. Now this type of climbing isn't new however, this wall happens to be 1000 m high. The free solo event of the film takes place during the last 20 minutes of the movie. The film does a good job of building up the challenges of tackling such a challenging climb, which seems impossible in certain sections.  The structure of the do...

Mountain Review  With lockdown still currently in progress I've found it just as busy at home with work. I'm lucky not to have lost my job or to have been furloughed, so I'm not complaining. As a teacher I can still run classes online. I've been especially busy making instructional videos to go along with more complex theory work.  I've been meaning to catch up on some outdoor related movies and documentaries. One of which, Mountain, released in 2017 resides in my Netflix cue. The movie run time is just less than 1 hour 20 mins. I grabbed a chance between home schooling tasks to check it out.  Lens Flare The movie is certainly one of the best shot documentary's on the outdoor world, one now pretty much shut off from all of us. The movie covers the early days of mountain exploration, the need for city dwellers to escape the concrete metropolis for wild adventure. The film covers the conquest of Everest, and indeed the worlds highest mountain features a few times...

Review If lockdown has enabled one thing, it's the chance to catch up on some reading and tv watching. This particular book has been sitting on my shelf for the last couple of years, but it is only in the last couple of weeks that I've gotten around to checking it out. As always, I haven't been paid to give my thoughts and my opinion is entirely my own, whatever you think of it. Bothy The book outlines the location and amenities of all the bothies that are placed around Scotland. A bothy is a simple house structure, usually made of brick, that is free to stay in overnight. It usually contains a raised platform for sleeping and a fireplace for cooking. It's a basic structure for staying in if your hillwalking over  couple of days. They are vital in the winter, if climbers or walkers get caught out in bad weather conditions. Showing the location of these shelters has its advantages and disadvantages, more of which I'll cover in this post. Book Structure ...

Brand: Craghoppers Supplier: Craghoppers Online Cost: £27.00 Welcome to this latest post, as always I haven't been paid for this review and all comments about this jacket as my own, such as they are anyway. I've actually had this jacket for a few months but held off on the review to get a chance to wear it a few times to see how it held up to the Scottish weather. All the walks I have done in it so far have been all at relative low level, apart from one. It has seen a few rain showers and high winds during my short time with it. Design The jacket design is minimalistic that comes in dark moss or granite colour, the latter one is on the pictures at the top and bottom of this post. The white  in the zips and mesh interior  contrast the outer colour really well . I like this and it can easily be worn out and about in social occasions, without looking like you've just stepped off a mountain. The jacket is a shell type and is ideally suited to spring through to e...

Product: Oboz Firebrand II Cost: £90 Supplier: Go Outdoors / Amazon A disclaimer before you may read the rest of the review. Just to be clear I haven't been paid for this review (chance would be a fine thing) and all the opinions held are my own. I've taken my time to to post this review. I actually bought these shoes just after Christmas last year. My wife had given me a gift voucher, the cost at the top of the blog being the retail price. This was also discounted as the actual cost of the shoes can be in excess of £110.  Oboz in action The reason for this is that I wanted to get quite a few walks under my belt before coming to a decision. A second reason is that I'm lazy. Anyway, to make this simple, I really rate these shoes.  The positives are that they are comfortable to wear and a great to use out while hiking. They have good treads so they grip well on wet surfaces, including algea covered rocks. They have breathable mesh sides so they keep y...

Product: Sugelary  Camera Strap Cost: £15.99 Supplier: Amazon But First... Full disclosure, I am NOT being paid for this review. The opinions held are mine only and are based on actual testing of the product outdoors. The product was given to me for my birthday, although I did stipulate the supplier.  The Review Let's be clear, I'm not a professional photographer and if you've been checking any of the pictures on this blog, you will come to the same conclusion. The issue I had in the past was down to the length of the camera strap. The one I got originally for my camera, many years ago, was only long enough to wrap around a person's neck. The trouble with this is that when hiking with a backpack the camera got in the way of the chest strap. The solution was to wear it around the neck and under the arm. With the short strap, it often got caught and was difficult to get easy access to the camera. The solution was to get a camera strap that can easily su...

Product: Newport H2 Sandal Supplier: Amazon Cost: £60 A Brief Footwear History I bought the Keen Newport sandal explicitly for my long distance walk on the West Highland Way. I previously had the Teva sandal, which cost me over £70 at the time. This was back in 2007, and even though the Keen sandals can cost up to £80 in some outdoor stores, I would quite happily pay that cost again once my current Newport sandals end up in the bin. My Teva sandals were, at best, okay and I really wanted to like them. Unfortunately, even after a few years of wearing them they still hurt my feet. The pain was centred around the inside of my feet and at the heal where the sandal rubbed. After that experience I was reticent about buying another pair of sandals. A New Challenge At the start of this year I was asked by a relative to walk with him on the West Highland Way. I had walked this route before and on my first trip, I wore a pair of leather walking boots. It felt like tha...

Product: Hydration Water Bladder Stockist: Amazon Price: £11.99 The hydration bladder is a inexpensive version of the camel back bladders that are on the market. This one holds 2 litres, and this was needed for the heat we experienced in the first few days of the West Highland Way. So does it do its job? Yes the bladder can hold almost 2 l of water without leaking. I say almost as the it is difficult to fill the bladder past the fill hole near the top of the bladder. Fill Hole The bladder will also fit snugly in a compartment in your bag. the tube is long enough to use when hiking. the tube itself is robust but the mechanism for releasing the water, by biting on the end and pulling the mouth piece doesn't quite work. Mouth Piece Closed Mouth Piece Open I sometimes either didn't bite hard enough to get any water or I pulled off the mouth piece from the tube. No harm was done and I could quickly re attach the piece as water spilled down my t shirt. I...

Product: Tomshoo Poncho Stockist: Amazon Price: £12.99 This should be titled; The Stupidest Looking Thing I Ever Bought". The Tomshoo poncho is a lightweight rain cover which is useful when cycling, hiking or camping. I was looking for a product I could throw on quickly during a rain shower and wouldn't take up much room in my pack. This poncho delivers on weight and space saving, but boy, do you look stupid in it. On paper the poncho should be easy to put on, but rain is often accompanied by wind, and therefore you may find yourself fighting what people might think from a distance is a giant orange tarpaulin. There are Velcro straps to secure down the sides, but sometimes the wind can get under this and whip the poncho up into your face. It also can be quite difficult to get the back of the poncho to go over your rucksack, a second person is useful to help you. If you are carrying a larger rucksack, like a 65 l one, the poncho won't cover the entire surface of...

Product: Solar Charger Stockist: Amazon Price: £20.99 The Hiluckey power bank is a compact solar charger sold by Amazon. This charger comes with a 10000 mA battery, which is the one I bought but can buy the same charger with a 25,000mA capacity.  The Charger Unfolded The power bank itself weighs in at 338g and is small enough to put in a rucksack compartment or even your pocket. There is a fabric strap and a stud that keeps the solar panel folded in on the main unit, and at first glance this looks fine. The power bank can also be attached to the outside of a rucksack to charge on the move, it secures to the bag using the same fabric strap. Strap Which Can Attach to Your bag  I wasn't convinced that the fabric strap would stay attached to my bag during my summer hikes. I tended to thread another strap around the unit between the solar panels to make sure it was secure. The instructions state that the charger will work best in direct sunlight a...

Product: Esbit Foodflask Stockist: Amazon Cost: £21.00 FoodFlask The Esbit foodflask comes in 3 different sizes, 450 ml, 750ml and the 1litre flask. the one I bought was the 750ml. Actually that is not quite true, this product was bought by my wife for my birthday. When I was researching these types of flask, I was looking for something that was lightweight and I can use on a hike or camping for a few days. The version I got was the black and orange one that matches one of my fleeces, yeah I know I'm a sucker for style! The flask is meant to keep hot for at least 6 hours, warm for 8 and warmish for 12 hours. This obviously works best if you fill the canister with hot water first for a few minutes before adding your hot food. I did this first with some homemade soup and it was still hot after 5 hours. The mouth of the flask is really wide and easy to get the foodstuff into the main chamber. The lid converts to a bowl and can hold a decent amount of food. There is no ...

Product: Coghlan's Camp Soap Stockist: Amazon Cost: £6.99 Before my long distance walks on the West Highland Way and Great Glen Way I was looking for ways to reduce my pack weight. Granted a multipurpose soap, which can replace washing up liquid and shower gel won't save a great deal of weight.  It did eliminate the hunting for one particular soap and the hassle that can create, especially when it's raining.  I did a quick search and came across Coghlan's Camp Soap and an all purpose soap from Life Adventure, unsure which one would be the best, I decided to buy the former. I used this during my trip to wash stove pots, my clothes and myself. It was a benefit that the bottle was only 118ml size as it was easy to store in your pack. The top has a flip top nozzle which allowed you to squeeze a small amount of soap out at a time. This works really well on the pots and was able to give them a good wash in cold water. The pots and utensils felt clean afterwards with ...