Sea King-tastic!

Despite the tone of my last post I managed to get a couple more days in before the end of the year. On Saturday I ran a superb of two Grahams and a Corbett on the west side of Glensulaig near Fassfearn returning down the glen track. The weather slowly improved all day although the decent off the southerly most hill was significantly steeper than I wanted My aging fell shoes really weren't the most suitable tools for the job and I was very relieved to get out of the snow line which was at about 400m. The rest of the run went really well despite getting very numb feet on some of the climbs. The track in the glen was mostly there but degenerated into bog shortly before the bothy, which was a bit dank but looked fine to stay the night in. It was a good hard run and I definetly felt it in my legs on Sunday.

Dist: 20km Time: 3hs

On Sunday I headed out to Creag Meagidh with my wife and some friends from Uni. The new path up to the lochan is superb and Easy Gully (I) was in good climbable condition with a suprisingly good depth of snow. Much of the harder routes were not quite there yet and have probably been stripped by todays thaw. The day ended up with an interval session as I mislaid my wife in the white-out conditions on the summit plateau. The RAF were on a training mission in the area and were happy to come back to look for her and she was soon located on the path about 10 minutes from the car park. Several lessons learnt there!

Dist: 16km Time: Lots!

After yesterdays epic it was decided that a nice easy day was required. Up to the corries by Carngorm and we found some good icy bulges The routes looked thin and the snow was slushy so we were quiet happy to just link up icy weeps up the Goat Track at about Grade I but very escapable. We finished up over Carngorm to help Lisa get her Munro count up. The Ptarmigan station was busy with skiers and I left with the impression that only in Britain could a ski-centre open with such bad snow conditions! Yet again the forecast was wildly wrong with lower winds and much better visibility.

Dist: 6km

Last training of 2007

The last week of 2007 hasn't been too bad weather-wise and I managed to get a few decent training efforts in. Too many pies and beer though. Christmas Day wasn't white, but instead we had wall to wall blue skies and sunshine. Up on the hills just above Inverness there was a bitter wind and everything was still very frosty and all the bogs frozen. I got out for a couple of hours before heading home to cook the lunch. I went out above Dalness south of Cawdor to a hill called Carn nan Tri-tighearnan. Outwith the estate tracks there were some serious peat hags and in parts the only way to make some kind of forward progress was to drop down into the re-entrants themselves. It was disorientating not being able to see where you were going but at least it was runnable and out of the wind. Right on top of the hill someone had laid out numerous snares for the snow hares whether for their fur or flesh I have no idea. From the trig point I had great views over to Ben Rinnes and Ben Wyvis but the Gorms seemed to be covered in great rolls of cloud. All within less than 30min drive of home.

Dist: 10km Time: 1.5h Height: 330moa

The rest of week went well with a mixture of long lie-ins and nice training rides. Heres to a successful and enjoyable 2008.

Fun in the sun

The high pressure is still sticking with us and the frost is so heavy in places it is almost snow-like. It has been hard working in the office when the skies have been blue all day (well at least when we have daylight). Long lunch beaks with mountain bike rides (about 1h10min in duration) over in Ord Hill and Culloden Woods have helped keep me sane.

On Tuesday I went up for a quick run around Meall Mor, a superb little hill that is prominant on the east side of the A9 just before Daviot about 10min from Inverness. The deer have been busy and there are a whole host of narrow tracks once you manage to get above the forestry belt. With the good weather we have been having, the views from the cairn stretched from the granite tors on Bheinn a'Bhuird in the south to Caithness in the north. Another reminder that size doesn't (always) matter. The 5km run was suprisingly tough and took me about 40min.

On Friday I couldn't stand it any longer and headed out past Garve to Strath Rannoch, and did a bike (10km) / run (7km) up to the Graham of Carn Loch nan Amhaichean. The weather was superb and the ground so frozen that my feet stayed dry even in running shoes. The stalkers track from the farm marked on the map wasn't quite as good as expected but the heather was managable. I sat around on the top for while and enjoyed the views over to Scaraben and Ben Wyvis. The run down the SW ridge was very quick and was followed by a very cold bike as the sun had left the glen. Back at the car parked by the bridge at Inchbae it was -7C despite it being just above freezing in Inverness.

On Saturday I headed out to Torr Breac just past Garve and climbed a couple of short (10-15m) easy pitches on a frozen waterfall. I was surprised that it was in such good nick despite being only at 100m AOD. All good fun. I am feeling fairly bushed after all the biking, but the weather is forecast to hold so no doubt I will be headed out tomorrow.

Temperture Inversion

North Scotland has been languishing under a temperature inversion for a least a couple of days now. This means that it has been absolutely baltic down here at sea level (-10C) but much warmer up in the hills. We have had superb blue skies but those are soon to go as soon as we get closer to the weekend.

I got a 10M run in on Saturday near Inverness in the Dumnaglas Estate. The head keeper didn't seem too keen but let me do my run and I did my best to avoid his pheasants. No shooting is allowed on Sundays so I would probably schedule my next run or bike accordingly. There are some great tracks and the one through Conagleann would be a very fine afternoon ride or run (although you would have to do a bit of running on the road). In making the effort to go to the lower hills I have finally realised there is so much more to Scotland then Munros and Corbetts. Within 20min drive from home I was in some seriously wild country. Unfortunately this very wildness is making it vulnerable to 'green energy' developers as they see this area as un-used and therefore any easy target. It would be a shame to 'lose' these quiet, undeveloped areas so close to Inverness for quick hit finacial benefits for absentee landlords, corrupt councillors and energy companies. Rant over!

To help my climbing partner get fit I went for a wander on Sunday to have a look at a bit of the Ramsay Round. Unfortunately the clouds were too low to make the trip much use. Still, my thinking is that the more I recognise on the attempt itself, the less stressful it will be and make it easier to recognise if/when I go wrong. It is a bit early for new year resolutions, but I really must get out running with my co-attemptee for some joint reccies.

The Adventure Show was about the OMM tonight and I got in shot a couple of times. It brought it all back again and I definetly hope to be back doing the event again. Perhaps with better training (faster but shorter long runs) and better navigation (orienteering races) I could do slightly better.

Back to base

Finally my motivation is returning! After a month of not feeling positive at all about running, now or even in the next year, I am getting back into it all.

Over the past couple of weekends I have been getting out quite a bit, despite the weather and the lack of daylight. It s very depressing when it gets light at 8am and dark again by 3.30pm. That's why I suppose head torches were invented.

At the moment I have been sticking to short-ish runs (2 to 2.5hs) but have tried running all the hills. Absolutely knackering for a plodder like myself. A couple of weekends ago I had a Marylin bagging session on great trails in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh (as an escape from christmas shopping). Got all my Christmas presents too! To escape the crowds I wandered into a running shop and got some new trail shoes. I had some gait analysis done and, apart from the staff all coming to have a look at my horrendous style 'he is very bow-legged..... how do you run like that?!!!', it seemed useful. I am currently trying some Superfeet and some more supportive shoes (only on road and trail). To get in the mileage for the races / challenges I have planned next year I reckon I will do a good deal of trail running as up here snow can seriously curtail hill running over the winter months. Last time I ran high mileages (for me at least) on trails I got injured. Fingers crossed that it wont happen this season.

The weekend just gone I had my first snowy hill runs. Saturday was good despite the grim forecast but getting over to Braemar for the running club meet was horrendous. A 2h drive took 4hs after we had to do a massive detour to avoid the high roads. Sunday was just dreich but again I felt strong on the hills and managed to hold my own on the club run.

I went out in the hills above Loch Quoich on Tuesday to find some sun and got some of that but more snow than bargained for. So what should have been about 1.5hs turned into a 3.5h snow plod. The ridge was quite complex and a bit itimidating in the mist on my own. Coming off the summit I had superb views over to Knoydart and the South Glen Shiel Ridge.

The short section along the road back to the car was enlivend by a number of stags feeding on silage that had been left for them on the verges. It was probably the closest I have ever got to deer in the 'wild' and must make the stalking in these parts easier!

This weekend is looking like it will be a warm one with high winds so it looks like some low level runs are on the cards.

First Winter Route of the Season!

Winter has arrived with some furry on the high mountains up here! After a wet and windy mountain bike ride round Glen Feshie (again) on Saturday it was an early start on Sunday. We left Corrie Cas at 8.00am and walked in to Corrie nan Lochan. The snow started properly at about 700m and got progressively deeper. An annoying mix of super hard neve and knee deep powder. I was trail breaking too, but all good training I suppose.

As the clag was down and it was bloody freezing we decided to do an easy gully so headed up to Y Gully Right Branch. There was plenty of snow and the first pitch was a mix of superb snow ice, soft powder and crusty ice. Nowhere too hard but protection not easy to come by. Finding a belay took some work but I got an excellent hook in after extensive excavation. Juan led the second pitch while I stood on a small perch freezing, at least I thought at the time, to death. Everything was coated with a thin layer of ice and my toes and fingers took it in turns to go numb.

After a while I got the tugs on the rope and I set off up the snowy groove, front pointing and loving every minute of it. About 20m up I looked up and saw that the next 10-15m of the groove was filled with what looked like pack ice. My climbing partner, in the process of trying to maintain upward momentum, had transformed the goove into a raft of snow-ice tiles. The tiles were stacked at crazy angles to each other on a bed of soft snow. I made my thoughts light and levitated my way up avoiding any downward pressure. A couple of meters further my partner looked down at me and very quietly said that the belay was bad and I shouldn't fall. I believed him. As I climbed on past him I inadvertently destroyed the belay. At least I was leading and I could do something about the situation rather than watch nervously as I cautiously climbed further. A few more moves on the same bad ice saw me on to steeper ground and I carefully climbed up to the cornice. Making sure my feet were well placed.

The snow here was deeper but the angle pushed me back. Knocking off the cornice, the wind blew the snow back into my face smoothering me. At last I could reach up over and get my axes planted into the firm neve of the plateau. I rolled on the flat ground and crawled away from the edge. As I did so I heard a shout of alarm from below as a large 6 foot slab above my belayer sheared and hurtled down the gully. After my hotaches subsided I brought my partner up and at last we were on flat ground, albeit in a white-out. The walk back to the car was pretty uneventful apart and as always dragged along the built path that winds through the rather drab and deary landscape. Hot chocolate in the flesh-pots of Corrie Cas and then back to Inverness for tea and medals!

Off-season!

Its been a while since I have done any proper running. That really is the great thing about having an off season. I know 'season' sounds very grand and much more scientific than what is really boils down to is the fact that I can't face anymore hard training or races this year. Not having to go out for a run and then feeling guilty about it.

So with this in mind the past couple of weekends have been superb. Mountain biking in Glen Feshie (trailmaps available from Bothy Bikes in Aviemore) along superb narrow swooping single track in the sun, Munro bagging in a snowstorm in Glen Doll with an overnight camp,

watching waves,

and more midweek Munro bagging in Glen Lyon (Inveran). Cheshunt Estate (on the web too) must surely figure amongst the most obstructive estates in Scotland. Of course that nutter up in Alladale Estate (more info on their website) takes the biscuit with his 30 miles of electrified fencing. But what really bothers me about the Cheshunt lot is the fact they try and make walkers (I assume they tar runners with the same brush) guilty for taking legitimate access due to the damge we cause. Strange, I thought over-grazing was one for major issues which is caused by the huge number of deer, not baggers, in the hills. Of course Argocats ferrying fat, gun-totting 'huntsmen' up to bag that stag has nothing to do with erosion. I went up the hills anyway on the assumtion that most of these idiots need a standing target for them to shoot and that I should be able to out-run them. I had a great day in the hills on superb running terrain and met one walker and no deer or 'stalkers'.

Today I was up over in Tomintoul to try out some biking there (trailmaps can be down loaded from the Glenlivet Estate website). Not as good as Glen Feshie but still worth while whilst the bigger hills are storm bound.

Just a couple more weeks off then back to training proper. I even have a traingin plan which I will post soon, along with a target race plan, when I feel brave enough.

OMM kit thoughts

Well it is now two weeks after the race and I have been chilling out and taking a complete rest from running. My feet were so swollen and I felt so tired that I decided a break was in order. So instead of running I have been planning next season and spent ags writing and rewriting training plans. Intervals are definetly back in and hopefully I will be able to up the intensity of my runs, especially the long ones. I was very surprised at the pace and needto be strong enough to at least jog through tussocks. Need more strength on the hills but at least I was quick enough on the downs

So I don't forget I will just put up a kit list from this year's OMM and hopefully I will be able to minimise it for the next one!

Lowe Alpine Rush 25l rucsack - too big and heavy
Rab Quantum 250 short sleeping bag - superb and very warm sleeping bag
Therma-rest Prolite short - heavy but floats and helps with warmth
Laser Comp tent- superb, warm and 'friendly'
NF Apex jacket - heavy but windproof so will probably take a light weight fleece instead as when it rained I put my jacket on anyway
NF s/s light thermal - warm enough and drys fast
lyrca tights - warmish but had very bad thigh rubbing on day 2 so shorts or vaseline next year
Helly Hansen wind pants - dry fast and warm
Gloves / hat - both got very wet and didn't dry perhaps try lighter ones that dry faster
Marmot jacket - heavy but seems to work well enough
Bargain bin waterproof trousers - shite and need some decent light ones
Pocket rocket stove / gas - foil wind shield made an enormous difference
Titanium pan - get a titanium kettle and use foil packet trail food??
Wool socks - warm but can I get away with lighter?
Food - together we ate 1 soup, 1 hot choclate, 2 curries only on the overnight and 4 oat so simple in morning - seemed fine
Running food - not enough sugar - need more instant energy as nuts and dried fruit not good enough so drinks powders and mars bars to satve off the bonk

The total weight was just under 5kg so should be able to knock off a few hunderd grams.

OMM Elite 2007 - Lowther Hills

The weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday 28th/29th was bad. High winds and rain. The only silver lining was it was due to be mild, so at least I wouldn't freeze on the overnight camp. I had been nervous about the event for the past couple of months and it felt strange lining up to register in the elite class. After a beer with some friends I retired to the tent only to be woken by my running partner arriving at midnight.

In the morning with the sacks already packed we had nothing to do apart from eat and get to the start line for 8.23am. Again I felt nervous but by now was pretty much pysched up for what lay ahead. Picking up the map at the start it looked such a long way so I just folded the map to split it into managable sections The first couple of control points were no problem and the running generally good, at least on the downhills. The hills were all very steep and we were concious of saving legs and stamina for the later stages. Despite our beta the ground was very rough with tussocky grass covering much of the hillsides. It seemed all a bit too wet for heather too. A minor cock-up in the clouds, which were lotering around the 500m mark, meant we dropped a few places but by then we were into the flow of things. I was finding the uphills tough especially as my partner was running strongly about 20m in front. A long road section (well 3miles) got us to the furthest-most checkpoints. A whole bunch of faster teams sped past at this point at an unbelieveable speed and we were soon back on our own. The ground underfoot seemed to be getting worse and I didn't seem to have any energy. I was desperately trying to keep on eating but a long slog up towards Green Lowther finished me off. At the summit I was knackered and the rain by now was lashing down and the wind was viciously cold. Strangely there was a tarmaced road on the top of this hill, with white lines and everything. Runners were huddling behind buildings everywhere. Even running downhill was hard. Dropping off the path to the next checkpoint I suddenly lost all co-ordination and was staggering rather than running. Feeling very light-headed I stuffed in a Mars bar and pulled on all the spare clothing I had. I gingerly made my way down to the marshalled check-point. I really had had enough and told the marshal and my partner that. However after a quick jog down the road, with the aim of finding somewhere to camp, I felt much better and decided that in fact I could continue relatively safely. I was very aware that I was leaving the only short-cut behind, and with some trepidation we set off back up the route. The rain came and went but was never dry and finally it was only 5km to go. A couple of controls, where we lost loads of time, and then we were in the camp. We were both soaked through and quickly set up the tent in a relatively dry area. We jumped into our sleeping bags, had some soup and the both crashed out. After a couple of hours I managed to convince Henry to don wet kit and fill up the water bottles so I could cook our food. I snuggled back down in to my bag for some more sleep. Vesta meal beef curry and rice went down well but neither of us could face more food and just wanted to sleep. Suddenly at 2am Henry starts cursing about wet feet. Sure enough there is about an inch of water in the tent. I start bailing and after about 5l got it relatively dry. The survival bags come out and we lay them down to keep the sleeping bags at least a bit dry. An hour later I am bailig out again and this time when we look into the porch there is running water from underneath the tent. The pan is actually bobbing up and down. Inside all my clothes are soaked through. We both huddled on my Therma-rest and tried not to think too hard. The rain gradually lessend but was replaced by stronger wids that whipped the condensation into our clothes and sleeping bags. Everything was damp and we contemplated setting straight back to the base camp when it got light. Meanwhile I got siome fitful sleep.

The morning dawned clear and after some oats and hot chocolate starting didn't seem too bad. I wrang out my running kit, put it on and then headed up to the start bang on time. With clouds still threatening I was a bit undescided especially as the distance given was 33.5km. Thankfully the day stayed fine and the kit gradually dried out. We began to enjoy oursleves and had a good run, making up a far amount of time of the others in the class. Not enough to make much of a difference but a moral boost all the especially as I seemed to be keeping my own with Henry and the other teams. I began to tick off controls anticipating when the final refolding of the map would reveal the finish. At last it was all easy ground and the adrenalin from being so close to home gave my tired body a boost. The finish was superb. I for one felt a real sense of achievement. I had pushed myself hard mentally as well as physically and we had completed the course in good style. I turned to Henry grining slightly manicaly and asked about next year to which he replied ' LAMM Elite?'. Well, if he can put up with a slower runner then I'm game for it.

DAY 1: 40km 2600m 9h 36min
DAY2: 33.5km 1800m 6h 30min

Last weekend before the OMM : (

So the last weekend before the OMM and I went with Dave over to Ben Mor Coigach and walked, at a very easy pace, over three Grahams in the area starting from the Stac Pollaidh road. The only downside from this approach was the rather boggy section at the start. Superb views over the spectacular mountain / sea landscape to the north and south more than made up for wet feet. Happily, once out of the corries the going was dry underfoot and the sandstone outcrops, eroded into fantastic shapes, were great fun to boulder and scramble on. We took a long brew stop halfway round to take in the views and sacreligiously re-arranged the cairn on Sgurr Fhidhleir to keep the bitter southerly wind off our backs. We ambled back over Ben Mor Coigach in time to catch the late afternoon sun illuminating the rocky crest of Stac Pollaidh.

It doesn't look as though the weather will be as kind as this on race day.

$Time 5h Distance 13km Height 1200m

Carbisdale weekend

It was my final weekend before tapering in preparation to the OMM and I decided to spend the weekend up in Caithness, an area where I haven't run much before. Saturday saw me parked at the phone box at Braemore Lodge. After a quick check with the stalker regarding any shooting I did a superb loop starting up Maiden Pap and Morven. Two sandstone hills that stand rampant above the large tracts of moorland, which comprises much of the surrounding area. After a quick steep pull up the Pap a long traverse along runnable grass led up to a bealach below Morven. I have just started Yoga but I must have pulled something as the steep climb was agony on my achilles.

Coming down was fine and having done the steepest and longest climb I decided to run through the discomfort. On the way I went over Smean with a 15m high conglomerate crag making up the highest point. I tried some scrambling but the lichen covered pudding stones were disconcerting and I left the inviting routes to a more intrepid climber to conquer.

To add in some height and distance after Smean, I climbed up and over Sal-vaich. In all of the bealachs the pungent musk from the stags was almost over-powering. Despite being circled a few times I avoided any confrontation, which was as well as they can run a lot faster through heather than I can.

To complete the loop I ran along the three tops of Scaraben. There was a distressing amount of descent and reascent involved and in contrast to the previous hills was covered in quartzite scree. Although I stuck to ridges as much as I could still hear bellowing challenges echoing in the corries. After Scaraben East I followed a wet track dotted with old telegraph poles past a number of abandoned steadings back to the start point.

Time: 5.5hs Distance 25km Height 1800m.


On Sunday the weather wasn't so good but I still headed out to do a round of Glen Loth, a glen just north of Brora. I parked at the viewpoint at the head of the glen and headed anticlockwise first up over Beinn Dhorain. My route then took me deep into rolling hillsides and valleysto the East. Classic OMM territory. I then spent the next couple of hours running through heather of various deepness before reaching Glen Sletdale. The climb back up from the road to the west side of Glen Loth and Beinn Mhealaich was tough and slow. Not much running at all. Coming off the top of the Beinn the heavens, which had been threatening all day, finally opened and the rain drummed on my hood. Obviously there must be some kind of cumulus above the stratus that had accompanied me for so long. After 20minutes the shower passed and allowed me at least to get changed in comfort when I reached the car. Although the route lacked the interest of the previous day I did get some satisfaction of getting into a pretty wild and lonely place.
Time: 4.5hs Distance: 21km Height 1200m,

Another week closer

Only three weeks to go to the OMM and it was meant to be an easy week. The normal Tuesday run was over in Ord Hill just over in North Kessock. I had never been before but there is a myriad of superb single-track trails linking together forestry tracks and enough steep hills to get the lungs and legs going.

On Saturday I couldn't face driving too far and the weather wasn't great anyway so I decided to link up the three Marylins which surround Loch Ruthven near Inverness. I won't bore anyone with the details but I started from the RSPB car-park and headed clockwise past the climbing boulder. Even though it was only 14km it took about 3hs due to the terrain (rough heather, bracken and moor). With low cloud and drizzle navigation was challenging and I achieved almost total immersion in a deeper-than-expected drainage ditch. It is great to have such good training so close to home and I would actually recommend the loop.

Sunday was my first race in a month and only my 7th of the year over at Bennachie(about 13km) in deepest darkest Aberdeenshire. The race was fast and all on well constructed paths. I was running strongly uphill, although I struggled on the flatter and downhill sections. Following a team mate I went off course in the latter stages, but still finshed 15th in 1h 05min 31sec despite the extra kilometer I had run. Without the minor diversion I reckon a time just over the hour would have been on the cards. It all bodes well and I actually enjoyed racing for once. Might even do some more next year.

So I managed my 4hs running at the weekend and one of my best placing in a hill race. Very good for my confidence. My legs are trashed but some massage from my therapist has done them a world of good. Fingers crossed that I can recover in time for my last 2 hard runs before the OMM.

EPIC!!!

After Thursday's run I was absolutely shattered. My legs were absolutely minced which I can only account to the very rough ground we covered. With the forecast indicating light winds myself and Emily decided to go kayaking over on Moidart. After 2 days kayaking and an overnight camp at which we cooked everything over an open-fire, I felt the need to grab in a run to make sure I didn't miss my weekly milage (hourage really).

We got back to Inverness relatively late so it wasn't until 17.30 until I left the house aiming to cover about 20km. The initial 10km was on track and the first trig-point at 200m went to plan. As I headed over the first open moorland section the light was begining to fade. Suddenly on my right I spotted 2 large bulls and I used all available cover to stay out of their way. A huge band of gorse pushed me off my bearing too far North but at least that way I got to see a large chambered cairn. I hit a road and ran down for a couple of hundred meters. By the time I reached the second trig point it was well and truely dark and I got my head torch on.

I now had a 4km cross country stretch to reach the General Wade road which I could follow easily back to town. This leg started badly. I gave up on my orginal route after I disappeared, several times, over my knees in bog. A huge patch of gorse cancelled out my cross-country attempt to reach the row of pylons which was to mark the line of my alternative route. So back to the road, a quick jog, a jump over the fence and off along the side of the pylons. I have never been the keen on the dark and trapsing through the dark, stumbling in amongst tussocks and puddles with the electricty wires crackling ominously really spooked me. I then had a horrid thought that some demented farmer might think I was out poaching and would take a pot-shot at me. Either that or some axe murderer might be lucking on a dark, wet night to spring upon some unsuspecting hill runner. I quickly switched off my head torch and after my eyes got used to the dark it was easy enough to follow my route. The gorse had been cleared from beneath the pylons and I even managed to up the pace. Slowly the dark edge of the forest came into view,but I was rapidly discovering that distance are much harder to judge in the dark. I thought I was nearly there but suddenly all routes forward ended in a huge bog, fringed by 10ft gorse either side. I tried to skirt the worst but kept on getting pushed further and further away from my bearing. Attempts at forcing my way through were quickly aborted. Every path I followed ended in gorse dead ends and the only sounds I could hear was my splashing through puddles and startled quacks of ducks startled by some idiot waking them up in the middle of the night. I began to panic and tried to orientate myself. I really couldn't, morally at least, face the return journey to the road I had come from. And just at the point of dispair my head torch, now firmly switched on, illuminated a well worn animal track heading in rough the right direction. I followed this to a burn marked on the map and I took a bearing across more open-ground. My worry subsided and I jogged through fields past a barn, over a fence. My heart leapt as I caught a glimpse of two large eyes, obviously belonging to some huge beast. I quickly hurdled a fence which was about knee height and hoped the thing wasn't interested in me. The thunder of hooves on my right indicated that he, for it definetly was a him, was interested and had several mates with him. I know that to run is probably the worse things to do in that situation but run I did Like a the proverbial out of hell. A full-on 400m sprint until I reached General Wades. I jogged down relieved, wet through and mentally exhausted and Emily came in the car and saved me the last 3km through the town.

Distance: 26km Time: 3.5h

Glen Duror Horseshoe

The weekend before this run I had a fun couple of days in the Lakes where I managed to get a couple of longish runs (4hours a piece) with a pack and I felt pretty strong. I managed to avoid the crowds by choosing more obscure hills and it was only on Crinkle Crags that I found the motorway-like paths and hordes of grumpy ramblers that the Lakes are infamous for. I really struggle sometimes to figure out why people make all the effort to go walking (or climbing, or whatever) only to follow a 'prescribed' route set out in some book. I dont mean to sound dismissive but I have always thought that looking at a map and making up the route yourself is a much better way of doing things. Every now and then I have an epic but that is all part of it. Rant over.

The Thursday after that weekend I headed over to Glen Duror, which cuts through from Ballachulish to Loch Linnhe, as the forecast was good. Cold but clear and hopefully excelent visibility. The primary school is framed by the steep profiles of Sgorr Bhan (947m) on the right and Sgorr a'Choise (663m) on the left. Both hills topped with a scattering of quartzite scree. Our aim was the 'bag' the two Munros on one side of the glen, then head back along the ridge on the opposite side which is topped and tailed by a Corbett (Fraochaidh) and the previously mentioned Graham.

The lower reaches of the glen has a grassy track but soon a narrow path weaved up through bog and heather, before reaching the drier ridge of Sgoor Bhan. High up the ridge narrows and a couple of steep, blocky sections have to be negotiated before the ridge flattens and a broad scree ridge leads up to the first Munro (Sgorr Dhearg). A well worn path zigs-zags down to the bealach and then up to the second Munro of Sgorr Dhonuill. The cold clear air was chilly but the discomfort was more than compensated for by the views North and West over a water landscape dotted with islands rearing up in high summits. The Paps on Jura jutted up in sharp grey cones in contrast with the large and almost square mass of Ben More on Mull.

The drop back into Glen Duror was not nearly as bad or craggy as the map suggested. Terrraces broke up the slope and after a quick bash through an area of clear-felling spat us out by the bothy in the glen. Birth-place of James of the Glen (a famous victim of a historic gross miscarriage of justice) I was expecting a locked hut. Instead when we poked our head through the door a fine well maintained bothy was revealed. Down here the air was warm so it was easy to delay to next stiff climb up through another area of clear felling. Once clear of the trees the ground was energy-sapping tussocks. After the summit of Fraochaidh a redundant fence line kept to the ridge line and the passage of counts hooves had worn a nice narrow path to follow. Left and right of the ridge large rashes of coniferous forests swathed the lower slopes of the hills. A final steep descent from the Graham on 65 degree heather lead back to the main path in the glen and back to the car.

Distance: 24km Time: 6.5h

OMM training - Carn na h-Easgainn

After my run on Saturday (see previous post) I was oping for slightly better weather on Sunday. The weather in the morning was spectacularly uninspiring. Cloud and drizzle. So I plucked for a relatively low hill close to the house. By the time I left for the 10 minute drive the the start it was already 12 noon, but the weather had improved. From the Farr wind farm entrance which has plenty of parking I headed into the hills and was soon slogging up blanket bog towards Carn na h-Easgainn (616m). As with most bogs it was wet and as I got higher the re-entrants just got deeper. From the cairn the huge turbines of the wind farm turned soundlessly and looked dramatic as the clouds whipped round them. Although I am not a big fan of wind farms, I was actually surprised that I really didn't have any strong emotions on them being there. I presume had the weather been better, the visual impact would have been much greater. Perhaps one reason for building them up here! Now that I was on a ridge I was fully exposed to the wind and the lashing rain. A plus side was the constant winds have kept the vegetation short and it was pleasant running over to Carn Moraig. By now the sun had even decided to come out. The short heather was ideal grouse territory and as I ran past some well maintained butts I made a mental note to avoid here when the shooters are out. One reason for this run was to check out the bothy marked on the map, and as I saw a huge wave of black cloud rolling down Strathdearn I was hoping for a warm, dry break. Dropping over the steep bank to where the bothy was marked I wasn't happy to see that it had been converted into a pigeon cote. The poor creatures certainly weren't posh enough to be doves! Resigned, I put on all my wet weather gear and trugged off towards the A9 in torrential rain. The next mile north back home was through knee high bog myrtle. Lovely smelling but an absolute pain to move through. The traffic steadily roared on my right on the road and the rain was soaking me right through. Not the wildernis experience I was hoping for. Finally I reached Lynemore from where a track should have lead quickly back to the car. Instead, parts of the track were knee-deep in water and moss. Lovely.

Distance: 14km Time: 2.5h

It's an illness

First up a confession. I have always been a ticker. It started innocently enough with climbing routes 'just to remember what routes I'd done'. A move to Scotland was when it went pear-shaped. I went up my first Munro (Slioch) by mistake and it was several weeks before I bought the 'old testament' (SMC Munro guide). A couple of months later, the 'new testament' (SMC Corbetts guide). Recently my wife printed out the Marylins list (all hills with a 150m drop), for a few days it lay, unticked, quietly in the front room. Inevitably it s now festooned with ticks dates and my maps, now devoid of un-bagged Munros and Corbetts, covered in spiders web of new routes. It seems as though many of the over 1500 Marylins attract few people so they can be very wild runs. Being of relative rather than absolute height the smaller hills can be great subtitute in bad weather.





Strath Rory Marylins - Conc an t-Sabhail (380m)


I started off in the rain from the Gravel Pit car-park off the B9176 by the bridge over what I presume is the River Rory in the direction of Struie. About 800m up the road (past a new forestry commission car park, doh!) I turned down right and headed along a good track uphill for 4km until the track flatted off. I expected a thrash through the confiers, but instead a wide break in the trees was at the exact bearing I wanted and soon lead to the fence, which I used as a handrail before I headed back into the trees to the 'summit'.

Top bagged I dropped back due north along a ridge that became processively more runnable til I reached a track which lead back west to Luachar Mhor. The finish along Gleann an Oba back to the was all on very wet but hard tracks.



Distance: 14.5 Time: 1h 45 (with a pack)

Beinn Tharsuinn (692m)


From the same car-park another good run is to head west along a wind farm track to a broken concrete bridge after 3.5km. A long slog over heather and blaeberry leads after 2.5km to the summit trig point, which despite being on a flat top seems to hide until the very last minute. It is worth spending a few minutes mountain spotting. On the overcast day I last ran it the shafts of sunlight illuminating the corries of Ben Wyvis really were spectacular.
The drop down to Torr Leathann, which has wide views over the Cromarty Firth and the Black Isle, leads through some very deep re-entrants but the slope from the cairn to the quarry (unmarked on the 1:50000) is superb running on short grass an heather. Well worth the effort of the climb. Follow the track over the bridge and back to the start.


Distance: 13km Time: 2h (at an easy pace)

Ramsay Reccies Part 2

Stob Ban to Youth Hostel

Using the excuse to see some friends compete in the Ben race, I decided to try and run some more of Ramsay's Round. After a horrendious slow drive down from Inverness due in part to some tourist unable to translate km/h into miles/h, I got dropped off in Achriabhach and headed up via the stalkers path to Stob Ban. The mizzle turned to drizzle and finally to proper rain. Unsurprisingly the wind picked up on the bealach. Fortunately there is a well worn path from the bealach up the summit of Stob Ban with only a few sections of quatzite scrambling. The 3km of flatish ridge to Mullach nan Coirean was all on good path although a few bouldery section on was seemed like granite would be tricky in the dark. Once again I pleasantly surprised but the superb asthetics of the line taken by Ramsay's. The section was reminicient of the Helvellyn section of the Bob Graham. From Mullach I decided to try and pick out the line leading to the West Highland Way. I dropped down the baggers route towards Glen Nevis. At the cairn I turned off the path down a broad rock and grass ridge heading NW. After a mile of following a very indistinct sheep track I was still on route. 10 minutes later I was out of the cloud and lost. I seemed to be marooned in a rough coire and despite the purple splendour of the blooming heather I was beginning to stop enjoying the run. It took me several minutes to work out that it was Glen Nevis I could see at the bottom. Bugger. I was now very wet and decided to drop staright down and pick up the road. Inevitably the forest bashing was a chore and the forestry commission had decided to fell and replant to steep slopes. A wonderful combination of wet logs underfoot hidden by dense undergrowth. Older growth lower down the slope gave quicker running and I then had the pleasure of yet another run down the road to the hostel. All in a decent down the tourist route and then a blast along the road would be quicker than the cross country route, but would it be ethical??

Time: 3.30hs Distance: 16km

Northern Loch Treig Munros

The next day, after a good night at the hostel at Achluarach, I set up from Fersit up the old British Aluminium railway, with one great Indiana Jones style bridge over a gorge, to Coire Laire and then via a decent track to Stob Coire Easain. I was briefly tempted by Sgurr Innse, but not sure how long the rest of the run would take decided against it.

Great views and easy running in superb visibility was a nice change from my recent epics.

The top section of Stob Coire Easain from the north has a well eroded path leading steeply up a lose, gravelly section. From I scoped out the decent line from Stob Ban and the climb from Laraig Leacach, which both looked grassy and fairly clear of heather and rocks. The initial decent from Stob Coire is steep, but soon gives way to faster terrain. The following climb to Stob a Coire Mheadhoin was quick (14mins from top to top) but the summit area is rather indisticnt and time could easily be lost staggering around on the loose tiles of rock. From the top to the dam is a blast and aside from a very steep muddy and eroded section at Meall Cian Dearg is nice running. My choice of route down to the dam road lead through some steep craggy areas and would be better perhaps to stick to the burn marked on the map, just a little north of the crags. All in all another very enjoyable section.

Time: 3hs Distance: 16.5km

Tranter's attempt No 1

I had thought about attempting Tranter's Walk much earlier in the year but what with the weather and other things time was running out. With the excellent forecast for today in the West I decided to give it ago. I haven't run or walked much here apart from getting down Ben Nevis after ice climbs.

I based schedule times on a 23.5h Ramsay attempt to see how I would cope with that, and with a 4am start I thought I would get back to easy ground before it got dark that evening. I had thought about starting earlier but the unknown rocky ground around Carn Mor Dearg put me off that idea. It was still very dark when I set off opposite the youth hostel in Glen Nevis. To start with I felt alright and a very pleasant temperature for running. However, once on the screes by Red Tarn I began to really struggle. My calves felt very tight and my stomach was all over the place. Motivation as really low until dawn broke, but the ground really was very loose and I couldn't lift the pace.

At the summit, which I had never seen in summer before, I was 20min off the pace. I gave myself until CMD to start hitting the schedule. The arete was tricky and I kept too close to the crest instead of the probably quicker path lower down. The sun crested the Aonachs and lit up NE buttres whilst the lower straths remained shrouded in cloud. All ascents seemed to go on for ever and I was worried what I would feel like once I got on to the Mamores. At the summit cairn of CMD I was a total of 35min down and I decided that I would bail off into Glen Nevis as soon as I really began to struggle.

Another tricky descent from CMD into a very deep bealach was quickly followed by another steep but grassy climb up to the summit plateau. A small fox trotted along the skyline, stopped, glanced over and dropped over out of my view. After Aonach Beag a vague path strewn with greasy slabs wound over a subsidary top. I dropped steeply off the nose, and after a couple of steep and decidedly tricky steps got on to easier ground to the broad bealach before Sgor Connich Beag. For the first time, I sat down on a sun-warmed slab of rock, ate some more food and decided to go on for a couple more peaks. I couldn't find a path up so struggled for a while on wet slippy, grass. Inevitably, I decided that enough was enough as I seriously doubted my motivation would sustain me for the next 12-14 hours. Glen Nevis was teeming with midgies and the road section back to the hostel was painful on my feet and thighs. As I hobbled along the tarmac I was quite upset and demoralised about giving up so early on into the run. But I suppose I was happier, on balance, to be miserable and back at the car rather than miserable and heaving my tired legs up another hill. At least I had checked out the trickiest section of the round and I have a much better idea of the terrain, pace and feed strategy required.

Stats: Time: 7h Dist: 26.2km Height gain: 2000m?

Beinn Bhrotain Loop

I am not a big fan of the Cairngorms. Although I admit that the glens are spectacular, the tops and the plateau area have been the arena for some of the most soul destroying runs I have ever done. Or perhaps it it just that I leave these hills until the weather forecast is not too good. I would rather be somewhere with better views if the weather is good. The week before I had a rather character-building trog between Beinn Bhreac and Beinn a'Chaorainn. The ground was nearly as wet as the all enveloping cloud and the hills had no redeeming features.

The weather forecast was slightly better for my next jaunt in an attempt to 'clear up' the Linn of Dee, although the long-distance glen runs look good. The track up to White Bridge made quick going and after 5km turned up a track running alongside the Dee which I presume the NTS had converted into a path fairly recently. Heading off the path up the hillside by Allt Garbh the ground started heathery and gradually got wetter, as did the weather. I put my jacket came on and, fighting an early urge to turn back, pulled down the toggles and stomped up. The higher I got the strong the gusts and the rain turned from a steady drizzle to sharp showers which drummed on my hood and seeped into my sleeves. Everytime one of these showers came on, I turned and contemplated turning round down the hill. A combination of pig-headedness, an urge to never to return to this hill gain and an annoying habit of the rain the lull kept me heading up. I shouted out loud to vent my frustration and cursed my strange need to tick hills from a list. The only interest was navigating from the map reading contours rather than relying on the compass (good training after all).

After the summit of Beinn Bhrotain, the clouds did indeed clear to be replaced by a strong cold wind, which at least dried my clothes. A least I could see a path down an area of red granite 'roof tiles' to the bealach leading to the rise of Monadh Mor. Just by the bealach the sun caught the rain in the glen below and gave rise to a strong rainbow. The respite was brief and the rain came back with renewed vigour and by the cairn it was sleeting. To drop as much height as quickly as I could I dropped down the steep hillside over grass and rocks directly into Glen Geusachan and followed a muddy rut towards the Dee. As it hadn't rained for the last 3km and I had almost dried out, I forded the several rivers here abouts and bagged Sgor Mor via Creagan nan Gabhar. The clouds meanwhile had rolled back and I sat for a minute or two working out the names of the surrounding hills.
After a steep descent into Glen Dee I followed the track back to Linn of Dee where I changed, for the second time in a week, in the fine drizzle of water and midges in equal proportions.


Stats: Time: 6h Distance: 20km offroad 12km track

Glen Kingie Round (almost)

A long run I did in early June as a build up to the Cluanie Double.

The road to Strathan must be one of the most frustrating in Scotland with more than its fair share of blind summits and blind bends. Despite the good forecast we drove to the road end at the west end of Loch Arkaig in thick mist. Changing into hats and gloves we set off along the track past Strathan itself and headed north up on the east bank of Dearg Allt. After a couple of hundred meters the cloud thinned and then we broke through. The change in view and temperature was astounding. The peaks, slightly dusted with fresh June snow, rose above a layer of thick mist which snaked far down the glens and straths.

With the sun still relatively low in the sky, I ran over to a low ridge and spent a glorious couple of minutes playing with my brocken spectre. Relucantly we set off to the first top, Sgurr Mhurlagain, up a boggy, broad undulating ridge past several false summits to the cairn. The rocks were still frosted and the mosses had spears of ice on their fronds. We dropped staright down to Kinbreack bothy down a very steep grassy slope. The bothy, inhabited by two walkers still fast asleep, seemed clean, but would be a pain to get toasty on a cold winters night due to large open-plan downstairs area.

River Kingie, which can be notorious in spate was low and easily crossed, and we made good time on a superb track up to the bealach between Sgurr an Fhuarain and Gairich. A stalkers path zig-zagged up the steep side of Gairich taking the easiest line. Hats off to the men who constructed these paths all those years ago. In some ways it is sad to see such labour slowly disintergrating back into the hillside. From Gairich we could see that the mist had thinned and retreated leaving only patches lingering in the shadows. We dropped back down to the bealach and headed up Sgurr and Fhuarain aiming for the left hand sky-line until we reached another stalkers path, filling our water bottles for water-less ridge ahead from a burn enroute. We followed the path up and over the peak on to Sgurr Mor, which at 1003m was the high point of the day. The weather was getting hotter and the lack of water on the ridges noticeable. My legs certainly felt the pull up to An Eag. After scrambling up some clean, warm slabs we reached a fine sharp ridge leading up to Sgurr nan Coireachan. We back-tracked, traversed rough ground beneath An Eag, and scrambled up to the lochan dotted summit of Sgurr Cos na Breachd-Laoigh. With time running short and being tired we decided to miss out Fraoch Bheinn, which was a bit of a shame. Instead, we scrambed up A'Chioch (a fine rocky pinnacle above Coire Chicheanais seen from Glen Dessary) and then dropped down into the rough corie and gratefully refilled our water bottles. The remaining 5km was all on hard track but the views and heat induced a amble rather than a run back to the car.

Stats: Time: 8.5h Distance: 34km Height gain: 3400m 3 Munros, 3 Corbetts (possiby 1 extra)

Torrents of sheep?

After Monday's epic Thursday's run was a lot kinder to me. As I was over in Kishorn any way for work I decided that Sgurr a'Chaorachain (which the various books seem to argue as to whether it should be translated as peak of the little torrent or the little sheep) would be an easy little run. The weather was superb and if I had more sense I would have taken a day of work and had my long-planned attempt at Tranter's. As it was the drive up to the Bealach na Ba was more dangerous and stressful than the run as various tourists got caught out by the switch-backs at the top. Although it was breezy getting changed once on the go it was a lovely temperature for running. From the car-park it is nice steady run up a track to the mast and then a short undulating run of about 2km over sandstone slabs and short grass to a summit with great views across to the Cullin and the Nort-West. All completely mud free too! The top also gives a great grandstand view of Cioch Direct, which definetly has to be on my tick-list. How nice it was to be running in shorts, t-shirt and not needing a map or compass.

Stats
Time: 50min Distance: 6km Height gain: 350m

Good OMM training??

After recieving confirmation of entry into this years Elite Class of the OMM. I decided to do a spot of training. As I was down near Loch Awe for work I decided to head up Ben Cruachan and bag that together with Stob Diamh and Beinn a Bhuiridh (2 Ms and a C - bargain). The weather all day was pish but cleared up when I left the car at the station. After my good form at Creag Dhubh on Saturday I felt quick and was soon jogging along the reservoir. It even looked like the clouds were clearing the ridge. All the burns were impressively in spate. I went straight up to the beleach of Ben Cruachan into the mist and once exposed on the slopes a cold wind whipped over the ridge. The mist now became heavier and as I slogged up to the cairn, it became rain. The summit bagged in good time I set off down the ridge, heading east. I was a bit unprepared for the easy scrambling which followed but the rock was grippy in the wet. A couple of slabby bits slowed me down, several steep sided crags dropped of the ridge. The gusty wind drove the rain harder into my rapidly reddening thighs and my hands went numb. After numerous up and downs I reached a summit with a cairn. A bit easy for a Munro I thought, but I was getting chilled so I took a quick (read cr@p) bearing and set of down into the mist, away from the obvious path. After about 5 mins it all looked wrong. The streams flowed in the wrong direction and the slopes were in the wrong place. Bugger. I could see about 50meters and all I could hear were the burns rushing down the hill-side in spate. With a mounting sense of panic, I worked out that I had to head up South and hopefully hit some ridge line with a path on it. It was at this point that I began to think a quick jog around the Cruachan horse-shoe on my own in the rain on sight wasn't a particuarly good idea. I had also lost a bit of confidence in my own ability so it was a very worrying 15min before I topped out on the ridge with its huge path. Never before have I been so glad to see the signs of human caused erosion. The next section of ridge was very straight forward running and I finally reached the top of Stob Diamh. Easy going now as I headed South again. Until I took the wrong ridge, again! This time at least the cloud was blowing through giving intermitant views of the steep-sided green glens and I just had to traverse about 500m to the correct beleach. I had now been on the go for over 3 hours and was seriously cold and did all I could to get out of the wind on the ascent. All I could think about was trying to be mentally tough and get to the bloody top so I could at last drop some height and get a bit warmer. As I staggered feeling decidedly unwell off the last hill I actually paid some attention to the map and when I finally got out of the cloud I was in the right glen! Running down to the steep slope was tricky as the ground was saturated. I hit a mossy patch, tumbled forward and aqua-planned for a couple of meters down a mossy burn face first. All I could do was laugh as I couldn't get any wetter. The final straw was a minor cliff edge right above the access road which involved a bit of detour to scramble down. Aware of the time I legged it down to the car, changed and then tried to find a pub with food. They don't lie in these parts when they say they stop serving at 9.00pm. I went into a deserted pub, full of highlan' charm, and despite being there at 8.45 had to beg for food. Anyway at least they served me unlike the unfortunates who arrived about 10min after me who were told 'there's no food left'. There is obviously a shortage of chips and scampi in Argyll at the moment.

Stats for the run: Time 4h, Distance 13.4km (plus a bit for unplanned detours!), Height about 1500m. No photos, but I will take some next time I am out in the mist again ; o)