Back to the hills on a last glorious day of summer

Carn na Loine

The last day of meteorological summer and the first day with hot sunshine and a clear blue sky for quite a while was a good day for my first hillwalk in over six weeks following my hand operation in July. Being patient while the wound healed and I could start to use my hand again without setting recovery back has not been easy. The generally dismal August weather has helped! All the wet, windy, cloudy days didn’t make me feel I really wanted to be out there.

Now the wound has healed enough that I don’t need a bandage and my hand doesn’t hurt much if I use it -carefully! - I decided I could manage a pack and possibly trekking poles and go up a hill. In case this wasn’t a wise idea a short walk from home seemed best. No point driving any distance and then finding walking far was unwise. I’ve only been driving again for just over a week anyway. And my hand isn’t fully healed. I’m still seeing a physio every week and have a desensitisation and flexing programme to follow.

Split boulder & juniper

The highest nearby hill is 549 metre Carn na Loine, a rolling lump in the midst of a large area of heather moorland on the north-east border of the Cairngorms National Park. Most of the walking would be on estate tracks but the last section to the summit and the first part of the descent would be on pathless tussocky ground that would soon show how comfortable my hand felt with some lurching and stumbling.

Autumn colours starting in an old plantation now returning to a more natural forest

The day seemed unnaturally beautiful. There have been so few days like this in 2024’s summer. Everything shone and glowed. The blue of the sky was unreal. The heather is still purple. Birches and rowans are showing the first signs of autumn colour and the berries on the latter are astonishingly bright red.

Rowan rich with berries

The moors were used for grouse shooting but this hasn’t happened for several years nor has there been any recent muirburn. Little trees are starting to raise their head above the heather., Whether this will continue I don’t know. I hope so. In rocky places there are scatterings of bigger trees, mostly Scots pine but also larch, birch and rowan.  Clumps of willow and juniper are spreading too. It feels like a land that is slowly recovering.

Rowan and pines at the mouth of the ravine leading to Huntly's Cave

Leaving the track my pace slowed by at least three quarters. The terrain was more difficult than I remembered. It always is! I only come up here when I’ve forgotten what it’s like. The heather is bouncy and deep, hiding holes and spongy tussocks. Even with the poles walking was awkward and ungainly. I was pleased I could grip a pole without my hand hurting much.

View to the Cairngorms

The close-up views were sharp and clear but distant ones hazy and grey. The Cairngorms hung in the air, indistinct, far away.

The summit

The summit trig point made a good backrest for a stop for water and a snack. It had gained a triangular cap that looked as though it might have been a feeding tray of some sort. The descent down further pathless moorland was a bit easier than the ascent as gravity helped, sometimes too much! I gained a lower track with relief.

A lone pine

The Gomi Power Bank, made from recycled materials and endlessly repairable

Batteries and plastic are not environmentally friendly. In fact they're high on the list of the opposite. But they are just about impossible to avoid. Plastic is everywhere and batteries are essential for the ever-increasing number of electronic items. Power banks, just batteries encased in plastic whose sole purpose is to charge the batteries in other items like smartphones, combine the two. Power banks can themselves be recharged of course but eventually the batteries will fade, as all batteries do. These days I always carry a power bank or two (depending on the length of the trip), mainly for recharging my smartphone but also for headlamp, satellite communicator, e-reader, or camera if needed.

Like all electricals power banks can be recycled and much of the material reused or, possibly, even repaired (see Recycle Your Electricals). However any replacement will be made from new plastic and new batteries with all the environmental problems producing these involve. Unless it's a Gomi Power Bank, that is. This power bank has a recycled plastic and aluminium shell with repurposed e-bike batteries inside. Not only that but it's designed to be repairable. It comes with a full 2 year warranty for free fixes and repairs and can be easily repaired with spare parts available at minimal costs outside of the warranty (the two halves of the case are held together by screws not glue). 

Designed and handmade in Brighton the power bank comes in a range of swirly colours that are a refreshing change from the usual black slab look. The pattern also makes it easier to find in the pack. This marbled finish is created using hard-to-recycle plastics like bags, bubble wrap and food packaging and is unique to each power bank.

The Gomi Power Bank has a 10,000 mAh capacity, 2 charging ports, and a USB-C port for recharging. It's quite compact and weighs 244 grams on my digital scales (Gomi says 247 grams). I've been using one for the last six weeks, carrying it loose in a pack and in pockets, and it is a little scratched - but then so are my other power banks. There are lighter power banks but none that are anywhere near as sustainable. When my other power banks fail I'll recycle them and go on using the Gomi one. When necessary I'll repair it. When it's the only one I have left I'll get a second one for longer trips unless Gomi has launched a 20,000 or higher mAh one, which would be wonderful. 

My Gomi Power Bank was supplied free of charge as a contender for an outdoor gear award I was judging. I have to admit that until it was suggested by one of the other judges I'd never heard of it before. As it's not specifically an outdoor product it didn't in the end win the award. It's definitely one of the most exciting and innovative products I've come across this year though and I'm very happy to recommend it.

Updated Collection Of Links To My Posts On Long-Distance Hiking

Many years ago I put together links to a selection of pieces on long-distance walking and long-distance trails that have appeared since I began this blog way back in 2007. They're a mixture of trip reports, gear reviews and general thoughts. I last updated this list in 2020. It's high time I did so again so here it is. The added posts appear next, before the Southern Upland Way picture. I've added the dates they were posted.

The Southern Upland Way Is Forty   August 2024

Twenty-five Years of Trekking Pole Shelters   July 2024

What I ate on the Cape Wrath Trail July 2024

My Cape Wrath Trail walk June 2024

Update from the Cape Wrath Trail: The Heat Exchanger Pot Performed Even Better Than Expected June 2024

Stoves I've used for long-distance walking over the decades - updated April 10, 2023

Thoughts on Packs for Backpacking  January 2022

Packs I've Used On Long-Distance Walks January 2022

Dealing With The Challenges Of Long-Distance Walking April 2021

In The Beginning: First Long-Distance Walk & First Cairngorms Backpacking Trip July 2020

Gear I Used On My Long Walk In The Colorado Rockies  July 2020

Reminiscences and Thoughts on Long-Distance Walking and Writing, inspired by a piece by Alex Roddie  January 2020

The Pleasures of Long Distance Trails

The Pacific Crest Trail

Walking the Watershed of Scotland

Then & Now: Comparing Gear For Long Distance Walks

Scottish Watershed Gear

Pacific Northwest Trail Gear Review

Interview on Backpacking

The Joy of Long Distance Backpacking

Thoughts on Long Distance Backpacking

From Mountains to Desert: Yosemite Valley to Death Valley

Pacific Crest Trail Gear in 1982 .... and what I'd take now

Yosemite Valley to Death Valley Camps

Yosemite Valley to Death Valley: The Gear

Photography Then & Now on the Yukon & Watershed Walks

Camping & Cooking Gear for the TGO Challenge & Long Distance Walks 

Food for Long Distance Hiking

Planning for the 30th TGO Challenge 

Yosemite Valley to Death Valley: Food & Water 

40 Years On: Gear for Long-Distance Walks Then & Now 

Camping on the GR5 Trail through the French Alps 

GR5 through the Alps: The Gear 

TGO Challenge 2019: The Gear

Ten Packs for Long-Distance Walking 

Thoughts on long-distance hiking and a review of sorts of The Great Alone 

Tents and tarps I've used for long-distance walking over the decades 

Stoves I've used for long-distance walking over the decades

Thunderstorms & Sunshine: Return to the Colorado Rockies

A Look At Tech & Backpacking Part 2: Windwatches, e-readers, power banks, solar panels

Solar panel charging a power bank in the Colorado Rockies, 2019

Satellite navigators and communicators have been the most significant changes to my outdoor life in the last few decades, as I said in my first tech post. They’re not the only ones though and I’ve found several other electronic items useful and added them to my load.

Windwatches & Weather Trackers

For my first two decades of backpacking I carried various mechanical thermometers which told me the temperature at the time I looked at them (roughly – I don’t think they were very accurate) but couldn’t record changes or, of course, any other weather information. That changed in 1998 with the electronic Silva Windwatch, which had a small anemometer and recorded the temperature. In 2004 I replaced this with the more powerful Silva ADC Pro as this also had a barometer, altimeter, compass, and clock.

These little electronic instruments proved very useful for my gear testing work where it was valuable  to know the lowest overnight temperature, the humidity level, and the windspeed, and for building up a record for places I visit often and giving a weather picture for the whole of a long-distance walk. I wouldn’t be without one now.

However the ADC Pro only lasted five years before the anemometer broke. I was disappointed when Silva said it couldn’t be repaired, looked round for an alternative and found the Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker. This had all the functions of the ADC Pro and more. I got it in 2010 and it’s been on every walk since and is still going strong. It is a bit heavier – 103g as opposed to 70g – but is clearly far more durable. The 4000 has been unavailable for years. The closest current model is the 5000 Environmental Meter.

Digital Watches

Digital watches that record masses of data started appearing in the early 1990s. For a few years I used one called the Avocet Vertech which had a thermometer, barometer and altimeter and could measure ascent and descent rate. I stopped using this when the Silva Windwatch arrived as the latter could measure wind speed as well.

Since the Vertech I’ve tested quite a few digital watches from TechTrail, Suunto, Garmin and others as the functions increased until now they can do much the same as a smartphone. I’ve never really taken to them though and once I’ve tested the functions I’ve ended up using them just to tell the time when I’ve used one at all. Mostly I don’t wear one. If I need to know the time my smartphone, Garmin InReach, and Kestrel weather tracker can all tell me. I think three clocks is enough! The first two of these can also record routes, speed and more – not that I usually bother.

I don’t feel the need to have the time available at a glance when on walks so I’m happy not to wear a watch. Mostly it doesn’t matter whether an hour or three hours has passed. I’m not racing. I’m not trying to set fast times. But I can see the usefulness of these watches for those who are.

Kindle

I’ve always carried books on overnight walks. On long-distance walks I have carried several at a time when it’s many days between supply points and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to buy anything I want to read at the next one anyway. Sometimes my selection of reading matter has ended up being rather unusual! I started carrying books so I had something to do during long stormy evenings inside a tent and occasionally during tedious road walks. As well as books to read purely for pleasure I often carried trail guides and natural history guides. 

Reading a natural history guide to the Sierra Nevada on a desert road on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1982

On the length of the Canadian Rockies walk, my account of which will soon be republished, I carried Ben Gadd’s hefty Handbook of the Canadian Rockies, which had inspired the walk, the whole way.

The Handbook of the Canadian Rockies after my walk. I obviously used it as a platform for my coffee mug!

All this changed in 2010 when I used my first smartphone as an e-reader at times on the Pacific Northwest Trail. The screen was annoyingly small but I could see the big advantages. Soon after returning home I bought a Kindle e-reader. On my next long walk, the Scottish Watershed in 2013, I had a whole library of books for the weight of a small paperback. I’ve taken a Kindle on every overnight trip since. Smartphone screens are bigger now but still not the size of a Kindle and that, along with the glare-free display and the very long battery life, means I still prefer one.

The options of listening to music or podcasts or even watching movies were far in the future when I carried my first books to an overnight camp. As I really like reading I haven’t taken up these other possibilities except for listening to music very occasionally. I generally like to be able to hear what’s happening around me and not cut myself off.

Power

Top: Garmin InReach Mini 2, Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro, spare phone battery. Bottom: Nitecore NB10000 Gen 2 Power Bank

An increase in electronic devices means an increase in power to keep them running. Back in the 1980s all I needed were batteries for my headlamp (plenty of these on long trips as pre-LED lights were not very efficient) and tiny button batteries for my camera.

The first digital devices ran on disposable batteries you could buy in many places. Soon some could also use rechargeable batteries. By the 2000s many came with built-in proprietary rechargeable batteries and needed charging from the mains or a power bank. The last only arrived in 2001 and it was quite a few years before lightweight ones were available.

When I bought my first smartphone in 2010 I chose an Android one rather than an iPhone because it had an interchangeable battery and I knew I wouldn’t be able to charge it from a wall socket very often on long walks. On the Pacific Northwest Trail that year I carried three batteries plus a tiny 49g solar charger but no power bank as I couldn’t find a suitable one.  

Since then I have gone through several power banks, none of which have proved very durable. My first power banks were around 2-3000 mAh. That’s not enough to charge a smartphone once now. My first smartphone had a 1400 mAh battery, my current one has a 4050 mAh battery, and that’s not big these days. So as devices, especially phones, needed more power so power banks needed upgrading.

Currently I have two lightweight Nitecore NB10000 mAh Gen 2 ones that I hope will last a fair while. On an overnight trip I take one Nitecore, on longer trips I take both. I also have a spare battery for my Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro phone, which is one of the few phones currently available with a removable battery (the latest version is the XCover 7 which I reviewed here). Although mainly used for the phone the power banks can charge the InReach, the Kindle, headlamp, and camera.

Solar panel in use on the very sunny Yosemite Valley to Death Valley walk, 2016

Solar panels are an alternative to power banks. The little one I took on the Pacific Northwest Trail half-charged my phone after three days of unbroken sunshine, which didn’t happen very often. I’ve taken bigger ones weighing 300-400g on walks in sunnier places since and they’ve worked quite well. I’m not sure there’s any weight saving over power banks though and they are more of a hassle to use. My last one dates from 2018. There are lighter more flexible ones available now so I will probably replace it.

Weights

How much all these electronics add to my load depends on the length of trip. On a two-day trip I’ll take the Samsung phone (223g), spare phone battery (73g), Garmin InReach (106g), 1 Nitecore power bank (154g), the Kestrel 4000 (103g), and Kindle (186), plus cables and pouches (195g) for a total of 1040g. For a longer trip I’ll add the second Nitecore power bank, a second smartphone, and a USB wall plug (54g) if I’ll be anyway with a wall socket for a total of 1471g. That sounds a great deal, but much of it is cancelled out by not carrying books, especially on long trips. A small paperback weighs around 200g. On a long trip I might have three or four of them. Guidebooks are often heavier. The Handbook of the Canadian Rockies, which went the whole length of the range, weighs 737g. I doubt I ever had less than 1200g of books on that walk.

Photography

I haven’t included photography even though the change from film to digital has made a huge difference as it’s not an essential part of backpacking and I’ve written about it several time before, most recently here.

How Satellites Have Changed My Hiking Life: A Look At Tech & Backpacking Part 1

Igloo Ed Huesers using a handheld GPS device in Yellowstone National Park in 2009

Working on the forthcoming republication of High Summer, the story of my walk the length of the Canadian Rockies in 1988, I’ve been struck by one huge difference between then and now, the rise of electronic and digital tech. Whilst all the backpacking clothing and equipment I used wouldn’t look too out of place now and its functions haven’t changed at all I now carry items that were the stuff of science fiction back then (which is appropriate as many of them require satellites in space to operate). I’ve written about this in general in a new introduction to the book but I thought it would be interesting to look at the timeline of the changes and how and when new items were added and the effect they had.

Satellites are the key to these changes, satellites for navigation and for communication. So they come first. This is the space age!

Satellite Navigation

Silva Multi Navigator

Magellan launched the first consumer Global Positioning System device that used a satellite array to calculate its location on the ground just a year after my walk and similar ones soon appeared during the 1990s. I tested a few for The Great Outdoors magazine. One of the earliest was the Silva Multi Navigator which I tried in 1995*. This was a bulky device weighing 227g that ran on 2 AA batteries. Like other GPS devices it gave your position in Lat/Lon or grid numbers which you could then find on a map. You could record tracks so you could retrace your route and it had an electronic compass and a barometer/altimeter. It sounds very basic now but seemed like magic at the time. You could stand on a featureless hillside in thick mist, press a button and a grid reference appeared. Plot that on the map and you knew where you were to within maybe ten metres. Amazing!

I wasn’t though convinced enough of the value of GPS devices to take one on my round of the Munros and Tops in 1996. With 512 summits to climb I wanted to keep the weight of my load down and decided GPS was something I could do without. In retrospect there were a couple of times it would have been useful but mostly it would have just sat in the pack.

SatMap

The next development was GPS mapping and a decade after using the Multi Navigator I was using a SatMap device with maps on it. Now I could see where I was without having to read the grid reference on a map. Amazing again and, I thought, much more useful.

My first smartphone in use on the Pacific Northwest Trail in 2010

In 2007 Apple launched the iPhone and the smartphone revolution began. I could immediately see the advantages of these tiny computers for long-distance walks. They could take pictures, carry books to read, show your position on a map, link to the internet, and even be used for phone calls. In 2010 I bought one, the HTC Desire, and took it on the Pacific Northwest Trail with all the maps downloaded on to it. Long before I finished the trail I was hooked. I’ve never been backpacking without a smartphone since. I’ve never carried a standalone GPS device again either. There seems no need. I do still carry printed maps though. I like the overview a big map sheet gives and anyway I think I’d feel underequipped without one plus a magnetic compass. Twenty-five plus years of using them on hundreds of days has left the need for them ingrained. I do virtually all my navigation with the smartphone however.

For communication with the outside world the first smartphones were only useful when there was a signal though, which was hardly ever in wild places. On the Pacific Northwest Trail I was just as out of touch most of the time as I had been on earlier walks. I was just less likely to get lost, which would have made a huge difference on the Canadian Rockies walk where I spent around a week somewhat unsure of my whereabouts. That part of the walk would have been unrecognisable if I’d had GPS mapping.

Satellite Communication

SPOT & Garmin InReach

With satellite navigation established satellite communication soon followed and being in touch without a phone signal became possible. I’ve been using a GPS** satellite communicator the last thirteen years (I was surprised to discover it was so long but my first gear list with one is dated January 2011). Until two years ago this was a SPOT unit which I just used to send an ‘I’m OK’ message from camp each evening. It had no screen so ironically it didn’t show my position, though it did to the recipients of the message. Still, I had my smartphone to show where I was in case I didn’t know.

It wasn’t long before satellite communicators with screens and two-way messaging became available. I was happy enough with the basic SPOT for a while but then I was sent a Garmin InReach Mini 2 to test in 2022. As with my first smartphone I was quickly hooked. Especially as it linked with my phone so I could use its much bigger screen for sending and reading texts and emails. I still send the basic OK message each day but when needed I send more info such as when I expect to finish a walk and I can also receive messages and news from home.You can read my full review of the InReach Mini 2 here.

Satellite communicators are key safety devices of course and can be used to call for help just by pressing a button. I’ve never had to do this and obviously hope I never will but having it is a reassurance, as much to my family as to me, as is being able to let them know I’m OK every day. Before this was possible they were used to me disappearing for weeks at a time but now I suspect they’d think that irresponsible.

GPS has changed navigation and communication in the outdoors greatly, making the first much easier and the second possible. Whether this is good or bad or a mix of both is another matter. Whatever anyone thinks the change has happened.

There are other electronic and tech devices that didn’t exist for the first half of my backpacking life too – e-readers, weather trackers, portable battery packs. I’ll go into these and what they added to my backpacking in terms of utility and weight (or reduction in it) in Part Two of these all-things techy posts.

*I can’t remember all the dates I started using stuff of course. I consult a Word document containing lists of the gear I’ve used on just about every overnight or longer trip since 1993. It now runs to 490 pages! Luckily Word’s search engine works well.

** Now there are several global navigation satellite systems they should correctly be referred to as GNSS. However GPS was first and is established as the generic term so I’ve stuck with that.

Livestream with Tony Hobbs now on YouTube

 

The Livestream I did with Tony Hobbs is now on his YouTube site. There was a slight sound hiccup at the start so it begins with Tony asking if I can hear him after it was sorted out!

Sign on lower slopes of Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada, California

We discussed permits and wild camping in the UK and then water treatment and when and where it's necessary or not. There were interesting questions and comments - thanks to everyone who took part.

I did treat this water from a cattle tank on the Arizona Trail!

Southern Upland Way Photography: From Film To Digital, From DSLR To Mirrorless

Sony NEX-5

Searching through images for my piece on the fortieth anniversary of the Southern Upland Way I realized that my two walks of this trail in 2003 and 2011 came at times when my photographic approach and gear were changing in major ways.

Ricoh RDC-5000

In 2003 my main camera was a film SLR, the Canon EOS 300, but I’d started dabbling with digital cameras. As well as the EOS 300 with 24-70 zoom lens I took the Ricoh RDC-5000 compact digital camera, which I’d first used on the Arizona Trail in 2000, on the Southern Upland Way. The Canon was for images suitable for print publication and for slide shows, the Ricoh for online use. The latter had a tiny 2.3 megapixel sensor and a 38-86mm full frame equivalent zoom lens. It ran on four AA batteries, which didn’t last long, and wasn’t that light at 315g without the batteries. At the time the images were just about acceptable for online use though often blotchy and with an artificial digital look. Any current smartphone is far superior.

Ricoh RDC-5000

I haven’t yet scanned any of the hundreds of transparencies I took with the Canon on the Southern Upland Way so I only have the Ricoh ones to post here and I only took 35 with it, making it rather a deadweight to carry.

Ricoh RDC-5000

Whilst not very happy with the digital images I realised that digital was the way forward and I was on the lookout for a reasonable affordable camera that could produce pictures I would be happy to send to an editor for publication. The next year, 2004, Canon produced one, the 6.3 megapixel EOS 300D DSLR with an APS-C size sensor. It was £1000, not cheap but far less than other DSLRs. I bought one and by the end of 2005 I had stopped using film.

Canon 450D 

Jump to 2011 and my time with DSLRs was coming to an end. The previous year I had taken my Canon DSLR, now the 12.2 megapixel EOS 450D, with a 14 megapixel Sigma DP1 digital compact with APS-C sensor as backup, on the Pacific Northwest Trail. Rain quickly destroyed the Sigma so I came home in need of another camera. The first mirrorless cameras with APS-C sensors and interchangeable lenses were just appearing and after handling a few I bought a 14.2 megapixel Sony NEX-5, delighted at how light and compact it was compared to a DSLR.  

Sony NEX-5

The Sony was intended as backup to the Canon and on the Southern Upland Way I took just one lens with it, an 18-55mm zoom. I took three lenses with the Canon. However I quickly preferred the Sony and ended up taking most of my images with it, 743 in total, and just 186 with the Canon. Now the latter had become a bit of a deadweight. My time with DSLRs was ending. By early 2012 I’d bought a second Sony mirrorless camera, the 24 megapixel NEX-7, and stopped using the EOS 450D.

Sony NEX-5

Since then I have stayed with Sony APS-C mirrorless cameras and currently use a6600 and a6700 ones, though occasionally the Nex-7, which I still have.  I only bought these cameras last year. I wrote about them here.

All photos taken on the Southern Upland Way, the Ricoh ones in 2003, the Sony and Canon ones in 2011.

The Southern Upland Way Is Forty

The Southern Upland Way, Scotland’s only official coast to coast long distance path, is 40 this year. Running for 214 miles from Portpatrick to Cockburnspath the route goes through the Galloway, Borders and Lammermuir hills, starting and finishing with some impressive coastal scenery.

I’ve walked the Southern Upland Way twice, in August 2003, and in February/March 2011. Unexpectedly the weather wasn’t very different each time. In August it was cold and wet, in February warm and wet. There were sunny days on both trips, though not many. And on both the Galloway hills were hidden in clouds. It was warmer in August of course and I did the whole walk in sandals. In February I wore trail shoes. Due to the time of year I carried an ultralight ice axe and microspikes. They never left the pack. It was only frosty on four nights out of thirteen and there was never even a spot of snow either on the ground or falling from the sky. The vegetation was the main sign it was a different season.

I enjoyed both walks and I think it’s a better route than many people seem to think. Yes, there are rather too many conifer plantations and a growing number of windfarms but there is also some excellent hillwalking and very pleasant forest and lakeside walking too. Although some parts are quite wild it’s not overall a walk with a feeling of the remoteness that can be found in the Scottish Highlands. It’s as much a historical and cultural walk as a nature one. Along the way there are chambered cairns, standing stones, modern artworks, secret kists with hidden treasure, ruined castles, old lead mines, a radar station, reservoirs, peel towers, stately homes, and ruined abbeys plus plenty of interesting villages.

It's possible to stay in accommodation every night. That does mean some long days though there are providers who can collect and drop you off from road crossings and transfer your baggage so you only need carry a daypack. Unsurprisingly I used none of these but backpacked the route each time, camping out or staying in bothies – there are several along the way.

All the information you need and can be found here.

The photos were all taken on the 2011 walk. In 2003 I was only dipping my toe in digital waters and mostly shot film, none of which have I yet scanned. I did have a 2.3mp digital compact with a small sensor with which I took a few shots that are almost passable. I’ll include some in a separate post on the photographic changes between 2003, 2011 and now.

Livestream with Tony Hobbs, Sunday, August 18, 8.30 pm

Leaving no trace after a remote camp high in the hills. The area I camped is between the poles and the bottom of the picture

This Sunday I'm doing a livestream with Tony Hobbs on his YouTube channel. The main topic will be about proposals for permits for wild camping, the impacts of wild camping on the environment and the need for leave no trace principles, and what wild camping actually is (not roadside camping). If that doesn't take up the whole time we'll also discuss the question of filtering or treating water in the hills and why neither of us does this.

 

Leaving Twitter & where I'll be on social media

Twitter is no more. Musk has shot the blue bird. The site is unrecognisable from a few years ago. There were always some hate posts, some nastiness, some threats but these have been amplified since Elon Musk took over the site, renamed it X (a hard, unfriendly name), and curtailed most moderation, allowing hatemongers and conspiracy theorists free reign. And now Musk has joined them, sharing and agreeing with their posts, and posting ones of his own. In the past the owners of the site seemed neutral, perhaps too liberal in what was allowed, and not ones who actively encouraged the worst people. That’s changed.

I joined Twitter 15 years ago and quickly became part of an outdoor and conservation community, enjoying many threads and debates. These weren’t always calm and even-tempered. There were rows, over everything from important matters like climate change to niche ones like backpacking meal reviews. People were blocked, unblocked, blocked again. Overall it was polite though. That community started to fade a few years ago. It’s barely hanging on now. My engagement with others has dwindled to a fraction of what it was, mainly, I think, because I haven’t paid for a blue tick, something I would never do.

I have been thinking about closing my account for many weeks. Musk’s recent appalling behaviour has made up my mind. I am going. Nostalgia for what Twitter once was is not enough. Having lots of followers, far more than on any other social media platform, is not enough. By staying I continue to support Musk. We may think of ourselves as users of social media but we are also the product. Our numbers are what Musk sells to get advertising. I don’t want to be part of this anymore.

I posted a last Tweet saying I was leaving. I read the arguments for staying of George Monbiot, Michael Rosen and others who I follow and admire. Stay and fight, they say. But staying merely supports Musk. I think it better to leave. If enough do and only the haters, racists, and conspiracy mongers are left then X might collapse as more and more advertisers decide they don’t want to be associated with it. That, I think, is the way forward.

I will miss many people and groups whose posts I’ve enjoyed. I hope to see them on other sites. Some I do already.

If you want to find me on social media I’m here:

Facebook

Threads

Mastodon

Bluesky

Instagram

That’s a lot! One, I guess, will come to dominate as far as my interests and contacts go but I don’t know which one yet. I’ve been on Facebook even longer than on Twitter and it’s the busiest of those five for me at present. I’ve been on Instagram for many years too but until recently I only used it to post occasional phone photos. Threads, the third and newest Meta social media app, I joined last year and am still learning about. It is the one most like Twitter. These three are all owned by another tech billionaire of course, Mark Zuckerberg. So far, he’s preferable to Musk.

Crowd-funded and non-profit, Mastodon is a bit different and a bit more complex. I like it but using it can be challenging. Over a year after joining I’m not sure I’m using it to its full potential.

Bluesky I only joined a few weeks ago and I don’t know much about it yet.

So it’s goodbye to what was once Twitter. I hope to see many of you on different social media

Pictures from a 1980s Cairngorms trip

 

Fords of Avon Refuge

Searching for more pictures for the forthcoming republication of High Summer I found three small prints taken on a Cairngorms trip in the 1980s. There are no dates or captions on them but the clothing and my lack of a beard give away the decade. Looks like it was a cold trip!

Not sure where this was, just somewhere very muddy!

In Corrour Bothy, I think. The top is a Rab Kinder Down Smock.

A Look At The September Issue Of The Great Outdoors

 The September issue of The Great Outdoors is out now. I only have one piece in this issue, a review of a good pair of boots, the Danner Mountain 600 Leaf GTX. Also in the gear pages there's a review of the Ombraz Viale sunglasses by Francesca Donovan and comparative reviews of six family tents by John Manning and three hiking shirts each by Lucy Wallace and Peter Macfarlane. 

The main features in this issue have the theme of adventuring in good company. Five outdoor lovers describe what's special about sharing their passion in a piece introduced by David Lintern; photographer and access activist Fern Leigh Albert documents the wild camping campaign on Dartmoor; Andy Wasley, normally a solo hiker, walks Grindelwald's Swiss Alpine Trails with six strangers; and Hanna Lindon takes her family on a walk round the Cirque de Gavarnie in the Pyrenees. 

In shorter pieces sound artist and filmmaker Dan Fox is Creator of the Month; Francesca Donovan reviews Helen Mort's Ethel: the biography of countryside pioneer Ethel Haythornthwaite; in the Opinion column Mary-Ann Ochota says this Everest season shows we must meet mountains without ego; Jim Perrin recalls a visit to The Burren in the west of Ireland for his Mountain Portrait; Vivienne Crow looks at Sedbergh as a base for a weekend; ranger Ingrina Shieh gives a guide to multi-day hiking for beginners; and Emma Schroeder returns to her birthplace, the Isle of Wight, after her walk round the coast of Britain.

Wild Walks this issue has a scrambling theme. In the Scottish Highlands Ian Battersby climbs Suilven and scrambles to its lower peak Meall Meadhonach, Alex Roddie tackes the Horns of Alligin on a traverse of Beinn Alligin and scrambles up the NE ridge of Sgor an Lochain Uaine in the Cairngorms. In the Lake District Vivienne Crow climbs High Stile direct from Buttermere, Norman Hadley says Eagle Crag above Borrowdale makes a gentle introduction to scrambling and describes the much more serious Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag, Ian Battersby does the classic round of Helvellyn's Striding and Swirral Edges, and Rich Hartfield undertakes three scrambles on an ascent of Great Blake Rigg in the Duddon Valley. And finally in Eryri/Snowdonia Andrew Galloway goes up Bristly Ridge to Glyder Fach and Roger Butler climbs the rocky spur of Daear Dhu to Moel Siabod.

Recent, Current, & Future Reading; Mostly Outdoor & Nature Topics But Not All

My slowly healing hand following a recent operation is keeping me off the hills so I’ve been doing more reading than usual. I thought I’d mention a few outdoor, nature, and other books that might be of interest. Very short reviews only as typing is also slow and not that easy.

I've just read Hunt For The Shadow Wolf: The Lost History Of Wolves In Britain by Derek Gow and The Hidden Fires: A Cairngorms Journey With Nan Shepherd by Merryn Glover. I can recommend both though be warned the first is grisly and disturbing in places. Derek Gow’s in-depth research is phenomena and fascinating but does paint a rather dismal picture. Merry Glover’s book is a celebration of the Cairngorms, my local mountain range, and beautifully written.

I'm usually reading at least two books at once. Currently it’s four – Harold Raeburn: The Steps Of A Giant by Peter J. Biggar, I Belong Here: A Journey Along The Backbone Of Britain by Anita Sethi, and Divine Might: Goddesses In Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes, and Marple: Twelve New Stories by 12 different writers. I haven’t read much of any of them yet but all are enjoyable so far. The Raeburn is a handsomely produced weighty tome about one of the founding fathers of Scottish mountaineering full of fascinating old photos – all that tweed clothing, all those very long ice axes! Anita Sethi’s is a personal account of walking the Pennine Way as a non-white woman.

The last two books are not outdoor or nature ones of course. I thought I’d include them to show I do read other things! I’ve always been interested in mythology and pantheons of gods (so much more fascinating than monotheism) – somewhere I still have copies of Robert Graves’ 2 volume The Greek Myths I bought in the 1960s. Natalie Haynes tells the same stories with the goddesses at the centre. Haynes pops up as one of the writers in Marple, a book of tales featuring Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. It makes for easy late-night reading when I’m too tired to read anything more serious or demanding.

I have a large pile of ‘waiting to be read’ books. At the top are these 'hope to read soon' ones: Wild Service: Why Nature Needs You edited by Nick Hayes and Jon Moses, Beastly: A New History Of Animals And Us by Keggie Carew, and The Great Divide: Walking The Continental Divide Trail by Tim Voors. I’ll let you know what I think when I’ve read them. They all look good.

Finally, a mention of a book I’ve been dipping into for months, The Cairngorms & North-East Scotland by Iain Young, Anne Butler, and Heather Morning in the Scottish Mountaineering Club’s Hillwalkers’ Guides series. This is a magnificent book packed with information and photos. Everyone interested in the Cairngorms should have a copy.  

My Gear for the Cape Wrath Trail

MLD SoloMid XL by the Allt Cam-ban in the Fionngleann

In late May/early June I spent 19 days walking from Fort William to Inchnadamph on the Cape Wrath Trail in the Scottish Highlands, as described in this post. During the walk I had 14 wild camps, 2 nights on a campsite and 2 nights in a hotel. The weather was hot and sunny at the start, cold, wet and windy at the finish. Overnight temperatures ranged from 1°C to 14°C (both in the first five days) with most nights in the 7 - 10° range.

I took gear I felt would be suitable for the time of year – not quite summer but no longer winter. Most was well-proven, some new. Here’s how it performed and a fewt lessons I learned and a few I had confirmed. There’s nothing I would change though in the unseasonally cold and stormy weather of the last few days an extra warm layer would have been nice.

Pack: Atom Packs The Prospector EP60

This has become a favourite pack in the last few years, under its original name of The Mo 60. It’s tough, lightweight (930g), and carries loads up to 19kg comfortably. On this trip the weight didn’t go above 15kg (when I had 5 days food and most of my clothing inside). Sixty litres was more than enough capacity. I could have got everything into a smaller pack, but I like having plenty of room, especially when packing in the cold and wet.

I like the roll top, which gives easy access, and the big stretch front pocket. I varied the contents of the latter depending on the weather.  If it wasn’t raining it held my waterproofs, whether wet or dry. If it was raining it sometimes held the tent, if that was wet, but more often compressible water containers. When rain looked unlikely my windshirt went in with the waterproofs. When wet the tent was usually strapped on one side. The closed cell foam pad went on the side too sometimes but more often on top where there’s a long strap for easier access – I often used it as a seat during the day. Lower side pockets held solid water bottles, snacks, and maps.

Bum Bag: Atom Packs The Roo – return to a useful accessory

This little 1.5 litre bum bag held various items I wanted quick access to such as smartphone, mini binoculars, reading glasses, sunglasses, insect repellent and more. These are items I often carry in the top pocket of a pack, something The Prospector doesn’t have. It’s more convenient to have them accessible in a bum bag though.  I wore it as a sling rather than a waist pack as I found this more comfortable.

The Roo is made from offcuts from pack manufacture and has a waterproof zip and a mesh pocket on the front. I used the latter for my phone. There’s a key clip and a small compartment inside the bag. The long strap is adjustable but not removable.

For both backpacking and travelling (I used it for phone, keys and wallet in towns and on trains) this is an excellent little bag. I used similar bum bags on all my long walks in the 1980s and 1990s but didn’t take one on my Munros and Tops walk in 1996, I guess to save weight, and then didn’t go back to using one until recently. I don’t know why I stopped. I wouldn’t be without it now.

Tent: Mountain Laurel Designs SoloMid XL

I chose this over the Trailstar as it has a zipped door and I wanted this in case of midges (a mosquito coil in a closed porch is quite effective) and for privacy on campsites, which I only used on two nights in the end. I’d thought it would be more.

I also need a new mesh inner for the Trailstar as my old one is showing signs of wear and I didn’t trust it to last the whole trip. I wasn’t going in midge season without one! Especially as this was mostly a low level trip – I wouldn’t be camping in a breeze on a hilltop to escape them. For the SoloMid I had MLD’s mesh Innernet. As it was midges were only a slight problem a few times but I was glad of having the inner just in case.

The SoloMid plus Innernet is roomy with a large porch. This latest version is made of silpoly rather than silnylon and as claimed this doesn’t stretch when wet, which was good on the many rainy nights. The SoloMid stands up well to strong winds and rain.I had guylines with mini carabiners attached so I could clip them on pullout points when required.

With the Innernet plus pegs the total weight was 1020 grams, which is light for a tent so roomy and storm resistant. That doesn’t include a pole as it pitches with a trekking pole.

Trekking Poles: Pacerpole Dual Lock, Pacerpole Top with other pole lower section – not a success at first

As I have done for many years I used Pacerpoles, which were superb as always. However I did have one problem. The SoloMid XL pitches best with poles of around 140cms or even a bit longer. Pacerpoles are significantly shorter than this, just 133cm for my Carbon Dual Lock ones. Not wanting to use any other pole handles (the handle is the key part of Pacerpoles, the shafts are just ordinary ones) I decided to use a Pacerpole Top, which is just the handle and top section, with the lower sections of a very old aluminium pole. 

Using the Pacerpole Top with the old pole shaft

This setup did have a little wobble and wasn’t as stiff as s Dual Lock pole but I reckoned it would do. In use I wasn’t so sure so if there was more than a light breeze I used the DuoLock pole even though it restricted space in the tent. I also didn't extend the Pacerpole Top/old pole as far as I'd have liked when I did use it as I didn't trust it. 

Using the Pacerpole Duo Lock on a windy site with all guylines attached

Then one day I slipped on wet ground and the old pole bent under me with alarming ease. The aluminium shaft was quite soft. Luckily, I was only a day and a half away from a town stop where I could buy a replacement, a Black Diamond Explorer pole (a pair actually – single ones not available). The Pacerpole Top fitted well and the setup felt solid and secure. I should have tested the Pacerpole Top/old pole setup more thoroughly before the trip.

Sleeping Bag: Rab Mythic Ultra 120 Modular

This is a new ultralight sleeping bag. It weighs just 330g and is rated down to 0°C with air mats with a rating of R4 or above. The latter is necessary because there is no insulation under the torso, just straps for attaching it to the mat. As with other bags like this I didn’t actually use the straps as I like to sit up with the bag wrapped round me when it’s chilly. As the Mythic is quite wide this worked fine. The bag is filled with 120g of 900 fill power down, which easily kept me warm on the coldest nights. I used it with two different R4.5 air mats and the basic Multimat Camper 8 closed cell foam mat and it worked well with all three. I think it’s a superb bag for above freezing temperatures.

Sleeping Mats: Rab Ultrasphere 4.5, Multimat Camper 8, Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite – a problem (and solutions) I’ve encountered before

The Ultrasphere 4.5 is a new lightweight (370g) air bed designed to go with the Mythic Ultra sleeping bag. I’d used it earlier in the year with other sleeping bags – it was a bit cold then for the Mythic – and it was warm and comfortable so I brought it on this trip. There is just one aspect I dislike. It’s very hard to inflate by mouth as the valve is flush against the mat rather than sticking out. A big pump sack is provided. This works but it does take time. Despite that I was quite happy with the mat for the first nine nights. Then it sprang a leak. Slow at first – I woke and pumped it up again twice the first night – but instantly after a few more nights. Having had this happen before (with seven different mats from three different companies in the last fifteen years) I have taken to carrying a closed cell foam mat as well. The Multimat Camper 8 weighs 180g and was warm enough, though not very comfortable.

I didn’t have to manage without an inflatable mat for long as three days after it sprang a leak I was meeting Tony Hobbs who lent me a Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Xlite mat for the rest of the trip. This is the fourth long-distance walk where a mat has failed shortly before I could arrange a replacement!  The XLite, which also weighs 370g, was fine and has a protruding nozzle so it was much easier to blow up by mouth.

Given my experience with other air mats I don’t think the Ultrasphere mat is particularly at fault. I think it’s a problem with air mats in general.

Stove & Pot:  Soto Windmaster 4Flex & Jetboil Stash – a great success

Having been using the 800ml Jetboil Stash heat exchanger pot with the Stash stove and several other stoves over the last few years I expected the fuel in the 230g canister I used to last well. It did. 15 days. Which exceeded expectations. This was helped, though probably only a little, by the Soto Windmaster stove which sits close to the base of the pot, helping keep off breezes, and has a fuel regulator so the performance doesn’t decline as the canister empties. At 140g for the pot and 88g for the stove this is a light setup.

I think this stove or the MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe, which also has a regulator, and the Stash pot are ideal for long-distance walks and I’ll be using the combination again. However the Stash pot only comes with the Stash stove, which doesn’t have regulator and isn’t as powerful as the Soto and MSR stoves. It’s expensive too. Almost as good are two Fire Maple heat exchanger pots – the 1 litre FMC-XK6, which weighs 195g, and the 600ml Petrel, which weighs 166g – and these each cost about a sixth the price of the Stash.

I wrote much more about HX pots and stoves earlier in the year. I’ve also written about the food I ate on the Cape Wrath Trail.

Trail Shoes: Altra Lone Peak 8 – latest version of an old favourite.

I first used Lone Peak shoes, the 2.0, on the TGO Challenge in 2016. In my review I said “I’m impressed enough with the Lone Peaks that they are now my first choice for long distance walks”. After using four more versions I haven’t changed my mind and I think the Lone Peak 8 is the best yet. It’s more durable than earlier versions and the tread lasts a bit longer. I love the wide toebox, which is ideal for my feet, and I’m now very used to the zero-drop sole. They were comfortable throughout the walk despite being soaked much of the time. I can’t really fault them.

Waterproof Jacket & Overtrousers: Outdoor Research Helium Ascentshell & Montane Minimus

At 330g this jacket is a good compromise between an ultralight one suitable for summer showers and warm weather and a heavy one suitable for winter blizzards. It performed excellently, as expected, in wet and windy weather. It has had a fair amount of use and the outer was wetting out quickly by the end of the walk so I do need to restore the DWR. I should have done it before the walk.

The ultralight 157g Minimus overtrousers worked well as usual but the DWR also needs restoring.

Insulated Jacket:  Berghaus MTN Arete LB Synthetic Hoody – an old favourite returns with a new name

For many years my favourite warmwear on long walks has been the Berghaus VapourLight HyperTherm jacket, which is astonishingly warm for its weight of just 224g. I was disappointed when Berghaus discontinued this several years ago but now they’ve brought out a virtually identical jacket with a different but equally long name. On my scales this weighs just 3g more than the HyperTherm. It’s just as warm and just as compressible and has the same 40g Hydroloft fill. I love it!

Other Clothing:

The first five days were hot and sunny. All I wore during the day were Slazenger woven shorts (165g) and a BAM T-shirt (175g). When the weather changed these disappeared into the pack and never came out again. For the rest of the trip I wore Montane Terra trousers (345g), and the Craghoppers NosiLife Adventure Shirt (295g). In the evening and under the shirt on the coldest days I wore the Rab MeCo merino wool/polyester long sleeve base layer (150g, long discontinued). When it was windy but dry I wore the Patagonia Houdini (105g). If it started to rain I wore the Ascentshell jacket over the Houdini. I also had a Tentrees Altitude Juniper Hat (85g and basically a mostly mesh baseball cap) and a Smartwool beanie (56g). I also had 2 pairs of SAXX boxer briefs and 1 pair each of Bridgedale and Darn Tough ankle socks (models unknown, they weren’t new).

Accessories:

This always seems a long list but didn’t add that much weight and didn’t take up much space.

Terra Nova Moonlite bivi bag, Petzl Iko Core headlamp, Silva Ranger compass, Harvey Cape Wrath Trail maps, First Aid Kit, Garmin InReach Mini, Fox 40 Classic whistle, Oppo X5 smartphone, 2 Nitecore NB 10000 Gen 2 energy bricks, repair kit, sunscreen, Julbo sunglasses, midge repellent, mosquito coils, wash kit, toilet paper, reading glasses x 2, notebook & pens, Kindle, Kestrel Weather Station, wall plug & charging cable.

Camera Gear

Sony a6700 camera with Sony 11mm, 10-20mm & 18-135mm lenses. Velbon V-Pod tripod. Billingham Hadley Digital Camera Bag. ShutterGrip 2 (for phone).

All photos taken on the Cape Wrath Trail.