A video on gear for a forthcoming overnight trip

 

The Dava Moor Fires

Wildfires are dangerous, destructive, and terrifying. We all know that. When one comes close to your home it all becomes much more real though.  This has just happened with wildfires where I live, one coming just eight kilometres from our house. The fires raged for four days before being declared over. All the local roads were closed. There are many other isolated dwellings in the area.

The first inkling I had of a fire was driving home from Aviemore on a cloudy day. Approaching the house I noticed the towering clouds had a strange colour to them. Must be the sun, I thought. Later my partner said she could smell smoke. A search on social media showed reports of one or two or maybe three wildfires burning not far away.

Finding information was difficult. It was the weekend when local news tends to shut down. Initially our only source of news was social media, especially Facebook group Grantown Grapevine and page Highlands, Islands, Moray and Aberdeenshire Weather. This is where social media is really valuable.  From a series of posts we learnt about the extent and whereabouts of the fires. Some info was confusing as no-one had a clear picture of what was happening but overall a general picture built up. Gradually more became known. A NASA satellite image was posted showing the location of the fires. One was certainly too close for comfort. The wind, thankfully, was blowing it away from us.

By the end of the second day traditional media was catching up and local newspapers, TV and radio were reporting the fires. Once the weekend was over national media joined in. There were also reports from Highland Council, Police Scotland, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service about the state of the fires and the road closures.

On day 3 the wind changed and blew from the direction of the fires. Soon we could see and smell smoke in the fields outside. Not knowing exactly where the nearest fire was or how fast it was moving we discussed what we’d take with us if we had to evacuate. With rain forecast for the evening we checked the weather forecast constantly. We wanted that rain so much! Late in the evening it arrived and we relaxed, a little.

-All this time firefighters, estate workers, and volunteers were fighting the fires, a huge effort for which we are very thankful. There was a great community effort to support them too. The disaster brought everyone together. With all the roads closed we decided the best thing we could do was stay put and not risk getting in anybody’s way.

Thankfully no-one was hurt or killed and, as far as I know, no property damaged or destroyed. The fires were on Dava Moor a large area of moorland mostly used for grouse shooting and sheep with a few areas of woodland to the north of the Cairngorms National Park. Few people live there. It could so easily have been much worse.

It’s bad for the wildlife of the area though, much of which will have perished. Any that survived will have to find new habitats as it will be a while before plant life returns.

The day after the emergency was declared over I went to see the aftermath. It was as shocking as I expected, huge areas of moorland burnt black, trees dead and scorched. Mile after mile of devastation. The smell of smoke still hung in the air. Across Lochindorb the ground still smouldered, trails of windblown white smoke rippling across the blackened earth. A helicopter was still at work, catching water from the loch to dump on the hot ground and dampen down the chance of the fire reviving. The ground is covered in peat. This can remain hot underground long after the last flames have gone and then burst out again. Ensuring it is thoroughly soaked is essential.

All the pictures with this piece were taken the day after the fires were declared over.

How the fires started isn’t yet known. The police and fire service are carrying out an investigation. There’s much speculation online, of course. As I have no information I’m staying out of this. I think it’s best to wait for the official report. What is clear though is that climate change makes such fires more likely, with more extreme weather, including long dry spells, occurring more often. No single event can be put down to climate change but an increase in them can. Sadly, that means that more fires like this are almost certain to occur.

Climate change doesn’t directly cause fires of course, just makes them more likely. As there were no thunderstorms in the area these weren’t lightning caused fires. They were undoubtedly human caused.

Now there are many ways people can cause fires to start on bone dry vegetation including the sun shining through discarded glass, discarded still lit cigarette butts, lack of care with disposable barbecues (which should be banned), and, of course, abandoned and badly sited campfires. Great care needs to be taken with anything that could cause a fire.

Campfires have definitely been the cause of some destructive fires in many areas, and their use seems to be on the increase. Certainly I’ve found and dismantled more rings of rocks and tried to remove traces of fires far more often in recent years.  Rangers report the same and there are many reports on social media of campfire problems. Usually these have been in unsuitable places – on grass, under trees, on peaty ground.

Badly sited campfires cause damage apart from the risk of starting a wildfire. Rings of stones pockmark grass and burnt earth takes years to recover. Too often branches are broken or hacked off living trees, showing a lack of knowledge as green wood doesn’t burn easily. Standing and fallen dead wood is needed ecologically too, especially in areas without many trees.

I don’t think there’s any need to have campfire in Britain. If people do insist on one then it should be on a campsite that allows them, or the builder should know when and how to make one that is no risk to the surroundings and leaves no trace. If you don’t know how to do that don’t build a campfire.

I also think that campfires should not be promoted on social media, something that is unfortunately too common. I think doing so is irresponsible. Even if the fire fulfils the above criteria those copying it may not have the same skills or knowledge. Spreading the idea that campfires are an integral part of camping is wrong. They’re not, at least not in Britain.

A video look at what's in my daypack

 

Twenty years ago today I began the GR20 in Corsica

 

The terrain gets tough

Midday on June 26, 2005 and I set off on the GR20 long-distance path in Corsica with Cameron McNeish. It was a mistake. Not hiking the GR20 or being with Cameron. The noon start. Straight from the Scottish Highlands we felt the heat instantly. The sun was blazing down from an unreal blue sky. From the little town of Calenzana the trail climbed through sun burnt fields towards distant mountains. There was little shade. We'd soon drunk all our water. The first spring was incredibly welcome.

The trail starts.

We did acclimatise, eventually. But a predawn or evening start would have been sensible. So would starting at the southern end of the trail. By starting in the north we had the steepest, toughest sections first. I'd never been on a waymarked trail with so much exposure and scrambling. Overall it was a wonderful trip though.

Welcome shade! There wasn't enough.

These pictures were all taken on that first day. I used a 6 megapixel Canon EOS 300D DSLR with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens, my first digital camera setup.

Looking back to Calenzana.

Water, delicious water!

Goats, trees, mountains. 

First camp.

Video of a walk over Geal-charn Mor earlier this month

 

A little video from the Outdoor Trade Show

 A short video from OTS, to go along with my last post.

Thoughts & pictures from this year's Outdoor Trade Show in Liverpool

 

Last week I was down south in Liverpool for the annual Outdoor Trade Show. I've been attending such shows for many decades in many places and after a while they all blend together, the venues interchangeable - cavernous, echoing, harshly lit, windowless  halls populated by a myriad stands promoting outdoor gear of every sort. The ambience is about as far away from the actual outdoors as you can get. I do enjoy them though!

Indoors

The Exhibition Centre in Liverpool is my favourite of all those venues. Not because it's different in itself. It isn't, but because you can walk outside and there's the river Mersey, the smell of the sea, the sound of gulls, a touch of nature. 

Outdoors

Whilst looking at new items is why I'm there it's meeting people that's the heart of the show. Many I only meet here though I'm in contact with them regularly. There are other writers, photographers, reviewers, as well as the PR people (and I do have friends amongst the latter). There are always new people to meet too and this year I had chats with YouTuber Fellmandave who has an interesting look at the show on his channel, and Sarah Williams of the Tough Girl Podcast, who has an amazing list of outdoor adventures to her name. 

I was also please to meet Steph Wetherell (@steph_wetherell) for the first time, as she's one of the TGO gear reviewing team who I've corresponded with and co-written articles with but had never actually met. Also there from TGO were editor David Lintern, who I'd travelled down with on the long train journey from the Cairngorms, and Neil Tillott, who I'd met at previous shows and who deals with marketing and advertising.

Familiar names

I also mustn't forget a guy I ended up sitting next to at the OTS social on the second evening who turned out to not only be a fellow Nordic skier but also to have attended the same much-missed Telemark Ski  weekends organised by Braemar Mountain Sports many years ago. We spent some time happily reminiscing. I can't however remember his name (it was after a long day,  the event was noisy, and I might have had a few beers but that's still no excuse) nor can I find his contact details. I'm sure we exchanged these!

Vango's big orange pyramid dominated the show. I used it to orientate myself!

Most of my time was spent looking at gear though. I'll be testing some of the new stuff for The Great Outdoors in future months (and writing an overview of the show - online now) and also for this blog and my YouTube channel. For now here's some pictures and words on a few of the products. Note that some of this gear won't be available until next year. 

New to the show were Nortent, whose original Vern 1 I tested last year (see this video). The current version is a quite different design however.

Also new to the show was Mont Adventure Equipment from Australia (not France, as I wrongly assumed) who showed some products that look ideal for UK conditions - tents with tough materials (25,000mm hydrostatic head!) and long high performance waterproof jackets.

Long jackets!

Vango showed a very familiar tent, a Force Ten Classic. Except this new version is made from ultralight materials and weighs just 2.5kg.

MSR are also lightening the weight of some of their tents with new materials. The Hubba Hubba NX is now the Hubba Hubba HD 1 and is now a bit roomier as well as lighter.

Terra Nova has an interesting new solo tent that pitches with trekking poles. It's a similar configuration to the Laser tent except that it has two porches and the ridge between the upright poles creates better headroom. It weighs 1.14kg.

Rab has a new construction method for sleeping bags that means they are warmer and lighter weight.

Rab also has a new 40-litre pack, the Syclon XP 40, made with recycled fabrics, fully taped seams, and a new carry system.

Gregory has new and redesigned packs again with construction and material changes leading to lower weights.

There was much now clothing at the show, including many waterproofs with replacement fabrics for Paclite, which is no longer available. One product that caught my eye was the new Paramo Velez Shorts with multiple pockets.

Escape!