Munros and Other Walks

When I first started hill walking and getting more involved in the outdoors I never bothered to take a camera with me. Now, this was partly due to  a young foolish belief that I didn't need to take pictures as I would easily remember all of my walks. Guess what, I didn't. Another thing was I was too lazy to get the film developed, even if I did take a camera. This changed a few years back after walking the West Highland Way. I would get asked to show my pictures so they could get an idea of what it was like. Obviously, I ended up looking stupid when I mentioned that I didn't bother taking pictures. I got lucky, a friendly Australian named Mick, who I met on the Way, shared his pictures with me. I took a camera on the Ulster Way in 2005, only to leave it behind on the Giant's Causeway (I think) and since that event I have made sure I have taken plenty of images of each trip. I can now account for an extra hour of my walk being attributed to standing taking pictures. I...

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...

Lockdown Life There are always some things that you just fancy trying, but can't find the time. I made a conscious effort when the lockdown started to try and pick up a new skill or two. One of these was candle making.  I had tried this over 20 years ago using a kit that I bought for my mums Christmas. Needless to say it didn't go very well and I made a mess of a pot. I had forgot about this experience until I helped one of my daughters with her lip balm making kit. The process was very similar to candle making, although she used a very small amount of soy wax. Her lip balm turned out very well and she handed some out to her sisters. That got me thinking, making candles for relatives. A quick check online of what I needed with regards to ingredients, so to speak, and I was off and running. I also bought some wicks, and a thermometer. I used an old large mug, one that could hold about a litre of coffee in it, and used that as a double boiler. The plan was to use an old IKEA glas...

One of the tasks I had been meaning to do for years now, was to look at gaining some sort of outdoor certification. A step in this direction actually came through my work. As a teacher I had been planning to get involved with the DofE. To be able to lead groups of pupils, or should I say to supervise their journey, you need to be accredited with a Lowland Expedition Leader Award. In the past I had considerd taking part in a mountain leader course, just for my own development, but like a lot of other things I never got around to it. The LELA course still provided me the chance to work on my map reading and compass skills and I was able to use this out on some practice walks in the Pentlands. Pentlands Training I can say now that I am much more comfortable now using a compass when out and about. It would be good to apply these skills when out Munro bagging (whenever that'll happen), but that may need to wait. As like most courses there is a fair amount of paperwork to com...

My new Lockdown past time is getting out for a walk every day, even for half an hour or so. Nothing fancy about that you might think, but as I mentioned in a previous post I've taken up bagging trig points. In my local area there are quite a few points to walk to, now these are located at a school and a local church. I find it comforting to know that I'm walking to a specific point rather than an aimless wander. Unfortunately the local primary school trig point has been removed, but you can find the trig points near you by checking out this link:  Trig Point . It's useful because it also tells you the condition and type of marker you should be looking for. My recent jaunt took me up by Flemington, which turned out to be quite a nice walk. The walk was scenic, once we were across Hamilton Road on the A724. Instead of taking Flemington road which is slightly more dangerous to walk up. We went up the quieter Lightburn Road. Just as the housing estate starts, there is a ...

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 ...

It's seems strange but I went out for my government allocated exercise time and ended up accidentally walking up a hill. Just to be clear, this is within waking distance of my house and the entire walk took about 50 mins. The walk to the top of Spittal hill is easy going and is part of a cycle route that leads to East Kilbride. The route took us out of the Drumsagard housing estate along the Newton farm road. Farm Road Part View of a Field At the top of the road we took a right  and followed the track which is well used by dog walkers. The track is sandwiched between two fields and does feel as if you're out in the wilds. The Track Trig Point  Trig Inspectors  The trig point is three quarters of the way along. It's strange to see this here but was fun to tell the kids they have just walked up a hill. The track leads back to the A724 to Blantyre and a ten minute walk back to Drumsagard. I was surprised at the fact there was a trig poi...