Sun & Midge Protection: some products and a little video

Sunday Afternoon Ultra Adventure Hat & Vallon Daytripper sunglasses

Summer's not over. August may have started cool and windy here in the Highlands but hot weather is forecast. There's a heat warning for much of England with temperatures forecast to climb above 30C. Here in the Cairngorms it's meant to be the lower 20s Celsius, which is quite hot enough for me.

Ombraz Refugio sunglasses & Columbia Skien Valley Hooded Jacket

This year I've been trying out various items designed for sun and insect protection and comparing them with my favourites. Today I gathered them together and made a little YouTube video.

The photos with this piece show some of the items I discuss in the video. They were all taken this year except for the Midge Specs one which is from last year.

Tentree Juniper Altitude Hat & Vallon Daytripper sunglasses

Midge Specs

Paramo Katmai Shirt & Vallon Daytripper sunglasses

Storm Loris & aftermath

Storm Loris blasted through yesterday with record-high wind speeds for the time of year. Storms in August are not unusual but they're normally not like this severe. 

While the storm raged I went outside very briefly and shot a few seconds of video with my phone. Rain was lashing down and the trees were thrashing wildly. I certainly wasn't go into the woods or even very near them. Watching the storm from inside seemed wise and I was soon back indoors.

Unlike many people, some not too far away, we didn't lose power and we weren't affected by road and rail closures as we'd no plans to go anywhere, having been following the build-up to the storm for several days. So a combination of luck and planning meant Loris didn't affect us. 

In fact the biggest shock was this morning when I woke up. It was unnervingly quiet. No wind in the chimney, no rain rattling the window. Just silence. 

In fact it was quite windy. Just normally windy though. It felt safe to venture into the woods so I went out for a walk to see what damage Loris had wrought. It was less than I'd expected. Plenty of twigs and dead branches everywhere of course but not that many fallen trees. Most of the latter were at two corners of the woods vulnerable to winds and where trees had come down in previous storms. 

At one of these spots the wind was still fierce and I recorded another little video, again having difficulty holding the phone still.

The weather looks unsettled the next few days but not abnormally stormy. The second half of August looks like it might be fine. I hope so. I have a walk planned.

A Video On the Lenses I Use

 

A Walk In The Sunshine To Huntly's Cave (the less well-known one)

Uaigh Mhor

On a perfect summer's day with sunshine, clear views, and beautiful colours - the landscape glowed - I went to visit the less -well known of the two Huntly's Cave in the area, which lies in a short but rugged ravine. Although not far from home I'd only been there once before, three years ago as described here. 

A glorious day

The shallow ravine, the Uaigh Mhor, containing the cave was as awkward to walk up as I remembered - a tangle of juniper bushes, boulders, and heather. The cave is a slot in the boulders facing up the ravine and I went past it without seeing it until I looked back. One of the lords of Huntly may have hidden here in the 1640s though the other, bigger, Huntly's Cave is the more likely location. This cave is small and uncomfortable. You'd have to be desperate to stay here for long though on this hot day it was nice and cool. 

Looking out

By the time I was returning home the sky was clouding over. Rain is forecast. It's needed. The ground is still very dry. Then the day after tomorrow Storm Floris arrives and there's a warning of very strong winds. 

I made a short video of the visit to the cave.

My cameras video

 

A Look At The September Issue Of The Great Outdoors

The September issue of The Great Outdoors is out now. The cover is a superb photo of Sgurr a'Mhaim taken from Sgurr an Lubhair in the Mamores by James Roddie. The opening spread is equally wonderful and encapsulates the the theme of this issue. It shows nine teams of skiers spread over 7km of the Jostedalsbreen glacier in Norway at night using their headlamps to shine a giant morse code SOS signaL In this case it's because the glacier is threatened both by climate change and a gondola. And that's the theme - action to save mountains and nature and to give ourselves hope.

To this end deputy editor Hanna Lindon meets people working for the mountains from the Himalayas to the Lake District and the Cairngorms. In Scotland photographer Richard Cross uses drone photography to show land issues in a way hard to see on the ground. In the Skills section Detective Constable Paul Flint of Derbyshire's Rural Crime Team gives advice on how walkers can help tackle wildlife crime. 

The mountains can revive ourselves too, as Andy Wasley found on a walk in the Dolomites in Italy. Also overseas James Roddie spends two weeks in the spectacular High Sierra mountains in California. 

In shorter pieces Nadia Shaikh writes about the common but often overlooked Meadow Pipit; Francesca Donovan reviews Paul Besley's The Search - the life of a mountain rescue search dog team; artist, poet and 'Day of Access' founder Alec Finlay asks who belongs in the mountains and how should they enjoy them; Jim Perrin takes a lesser-known scramble on Yr Wyddfa; and Juls Stodel gives advice on taking dogs hiking and camping.

In the Gear pages Steph Wetherall reviews the Therm-A-Rest Questor 0F/-18C sleeping bag; Fiona Russell reviews the Alpkit Ultra 1 tent; Lucy Wallace compares four solo tents; Gemma Palmer tries six backpacking meals; and Kirsty Pallas and James Roddie each review a pair of three-season sleeping bags.

Wild Walks covers seven walks all reachable by public transport. In the NW Highlands Ian Battersby goes by bus to the Five Sisters of Kintail. In the Central Highlands Alex Roddie crosses Geal-Charn, Aonach Beag and Beinn Eidbhinn on a walk between the railway stations at Dalwhinnie and Corrour. It's back to buses again for Stefan Durkacz's Glen Sax Round in the Southern Uplands. In the Lake District buses give access to St Sunday Crag for Vivienne Crow and Wansfell for James Forrest. In Mid Wales Roger Butler takes the train to explore Wernygeufron Hill and Beacon Hill. Finally, Fiona Barltrop takes a ferry to the Isle of Wight to walk on Limerstone Down and Hanover Point. 

40 years ago on the Continental Divide Trail, 15 years ago on the Pacific Northwest Trail

The Highline Trail, Pacific Northwest Trail

On July 27 1985 I reached Macks Inn close to the boundary of Yellowstone National Park and completed the first 815 miles of the Continental Divide Trail. It was day 59 on the trail. I posted a piece on the walk here. 

On July 27 2010 I camped by Sinclair Creek in the Whitefish Divide region after the first 118 miles of the Pacific Northwest Trail. It was day 8 on the trail. 

Stahl Peak. PNT.

At this point both trails were in the Rocky Mountains but the PNT would soon leave them on its journey east to the Pacific Ocean. The CDT of course stays in the Rockies until they fade away in northern New Mexico.

There were mosquitoes! PNT

On the PNT the walking was becoming tougher as I'd left the prepared trails of Glacier National Park behind. It was to become much more difficult, both with the terrain and navigation. On this day I still had trails to follow. It began at a mosquito-infested site where I just slept in the inner mesh tent and finished with thunderstorms and rain. Along the way the scenery was superb and the final section on the Highline Trail wonderful.

There was rain! PNT

On the CDT the walking was already tough, the hardest in fact of the whole walk as there was much bushwhacking and steep rocky slopes and navigation was often just continue south by the easiest way I could find. I wrote in my journal that the ten days I spent in the Beaverhead Mountains were the "toughest walking I've ever done". I did also note that the rewards were "pristine cirques ... no campsites, no trails, no fire rings, no cut trees ... immaculate scenery". 

Immaculate scenery. CDT

On the PNT I was half a day's walk from my first rest stop in the little town of Eureka. On the CDT I hadn't had a break for seventeen days when I reached Macks Inn, a small fishing resort. I needed one! In fact I took two.

Ahead the terrain on the CDT would be much easier though as I crossed Yellowstone National Park with its signed maintained trails and backcountry campsites. 

Whitefish Divide scenery. PNT

A big difference on the walks was my camera gear. 1985 was still film. I haven't yet scanned many of the thousands of images I took. I must do so! 2010 was digital. The images from that walk posted here are ones that didn't appear in my PNT book. All of those with this piece were taken on July 27.

Fire Lookout on 2205m/7235ft Mount Wam. PNT

I 've never written a book about my CDT hike but there is a long chapter about it in my first book The Great Backpacking Adventure (long out of print). The cover of that book is of my friend Scott Steiner who accompanied me on the first 500 miles at a camp below the Chinese Wall in Montana.