MoD Plod to the Rescue

Out on the hill in, initially, poor weather but cleared into a quite lovely starry night for a bit of night navigation with Markus Baghdatus, aka Dan Draper! Anyway, nice plod up the hill, apart from 'Day of the Ferns' again and found a nice spot out the wind for the perfunctory Tomato soup. Good contour interp' saw us pick up the burn down hill, traverse across to the next and follow it down hill picking up some good features. I'd forgotten my Ay-Up lights, world's best head torch and biking lights, so borrowed Mark's pesky Petzl thingy...how on earth can you nav with that...I could hardly read the map with it!! Anyways, 200m up, Mark's Ay Up picked out the MoDs checking my car (?), so a sprint down to the car saw us gassing with him for 5, and him wondering what the heck he was seeing out the mist; thankfully he kept Fang and Tyson in the back of his car, so we scooted back to Glw in warp time and in bed for midnight. Good night, with conours showing nice, tho used 1.25k as visibility poor without uber Ay Up :) No pics but Sunday on the hills for more fun and games...patience my son! This will keep you going...

Oh yes...it's coming soon :)

Suunto - cheapo - busto - buyo...and more soupo too

Another good day in the hills with Markus, who still has his grandfather's Suunto watch still going, tho dying a death when it hits 2 rain drops a year...buyo newzo :)

Good handrailing and burn climbing (canyoning in reverse) to the summit for statutory soup and sarnie. Amazing rock formation on the way down, then car for a quick change and home. Good nav day with poor vis and much rough terrain...never lost

Paradise Lost...Paradise found?

Hard day in the hills nav'ing around craggy ground above Ardlui. After a few weeks of good nav practice, today proved more challenging and despite knowing where I was, I just couldn't tick the boxes in terms of contour interpretation; a knock to the confidence but good to learn from my mistakes.

On the promise of tomato soup, Mark will do many things...thankfully nav is one of them, and he is a good coach despite his age. Lots of rope work too despite my attempts to kills us all :) Anyway, timings, pacing good up, across and down but interpretation needs polished. After a very long day in the hills, Mark managed to get his carnation sorted at late o'clock, while I got kicked like a dog on arriving home :(

A wee video to entertain...the ground we covered was super for climbing, scrambling, nav'ing and walking...shows you don't need Munro ticks to have a great day. We even saw a herd of deer and got a damn good soaking to finish off the good day.

Cadbury's milk chocolate...worked it out yet?

Great couple of nights over a week with Marko nav'ing in the Arrochar Alps nr Beinn Ime. Super clear one time, the tail end of a hurricane the next...can you identify which is which??? Bet you can. Burns in uber spate last night but good nav practice was rewarding; timing, pacing and walking on a bearing in the dark all worked fine. Wild life was interesting to say the least

Never even knew he was there... Great rock structures also seen - neat mica schist boulder split around a million years ago...good for climbing on tho'.

All in, great value nights and hopefully things going in at a faster rate than they go out...Mark, the every present coach, was fed and watered at every opportunity...he's even putting weight on...but Tuesdays are out for marriage...take note Jane; Sunday's too and the occasional Saturday :)

Applecross - and more...

Final update from my trip to Applecross with Colin. Great fun, average weather, great food, mre than average chance of a return... Some surprises to add too.......fantastic memories :)))

Applecross and more... from C Coid on Vimeo.

Alaskan desires - Scottish drizzle

Check out this video...

Bikerafting Alaska's Lost Coast: Yakutat to Glacier Bay. from lacemine29 on Vimeo.

you can understand now, perhaps why I have a burning desire to Alaska

Glen Shiel and Applecross Peninsula - via Toronto and Copenhagen

Great time up north with my cuz Colin from Canada. We did the Forcan Ridge in great weather then saw some wonderful parts of Applecross and its environs, including a wee thatched cottage in Lobains which was occupied up until 1995 or thereabouts by an elderly gent.

It is a truly beautiful part of the country, worth visiting on many occasions. Hopefully this wee video gives a feel for its splendour - visit it, as the communities up there need your time and money to survive :)

Untitled from C Coid on Vimeo.