For the last few years there have been problems with unofficial camping close to the road on the eastern side of Loch Lomond with much damage caused and trash left by vandals. This is not wild camping, though it has been called such. The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority is now calling it “informal camping”, which is a better description. The access legislation that gives a right to wild camping was not designed to include roadside camping but many have interpreted it as doing so. As the legislation only grants access rights to those who behave responsibly the people trashing the shores of Loch Lomond are clearly outwith the legislation anyway. In order to end the vandalism the national park is proposing byelaws to ban informal camping on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond close to the road. Once beyond the road end the byelaw will not apply. The vandal-campers don’t walk far and aren’t likely to cause damage far from the roadside (the national park says that informal research shows that most people will not go further than 29 metres from their car to camp – these are not backpackers!). Before enacting the byelaws the park is carrying out a consultation. See the information on the park website here. Having seen some of the damage caused to a beautiful and accessible place I am in favour of the parks proposals. I don’t think that byelaws to stop roadside camping are in breach of the access legislation or in any way a threat to real wild camping. In fact I think that dealing with this problem is a way to protect wild camping and reduce the likelihood of any blanket ban. It should also return the area to locals who currently have to put up with having their home vandalised and to visitors who really appreciate it and don’t cause damage.

There has been some concern expressed on outdoor blogs (see Whitespider and Walkabout in the UK) that these byelaws could penalise backpackers and West Highland Way walkers who just want to camp quietly without leaving a trace. The national park proposals do address this legitimate concern saying “there is still a need to provide an informal camping experience in the area. The informal camp area(s) would provide basic facilities (toilet, firepit, bin provision) but it would still be a wilder camping experience than that of established formal campsites.” There are also commercial camp sites in the area too. And of course you can just walk beyond the road and have a real wild camp.

Photo info. Two wild camps on the eastern side of Loch Lomond. Top: on the southern slopes of Ben Lomond overlooking Loch Lomond; bottom: in the woods close to the West Highland Way and Rowchoish bothy. Both pictures: Sigma DP1. Top 1/160@f8, ISO 200. Bottom 1/25@f5.6, ISO 400.

Labels: backpacking, camping, Loch Lomond, Scottish Highlands, West Highland Way

Just a lowering of the cloud or a slight increase in the speed of the wind can make a huge difference to the weather in winter and a huge difference to a mountain experience. A few days ago I set out from Coire Cas in the Cairngorms on skis intending to climb up to the plateau and ski across to Ben Macdui or, if the weather wasn’t promising, along the edge of the Northern Corries. The forecast suggested some cloud, a little wind and brief snow showers but also a fair chance of good visibility. The high tops being hidden in cloud I decided to stay fairly low at first and cut across the foot of the Northern Corries before climbing up beside Lurchers Gully. The cloud, I hoped, would lift, at least a little. Even below the pale mist the light was flat and the snow covered landscape ill-defined. Orange goggles helped give a little definition to the terrain. In the mouth of Coire an t-Sneachda I brushed the cloud, losing sight of everything more than a few metres away. A slight descent and the hazy world reappeared. Still hoping for better conditions I took shelter behind a boulder while I warmed up with some hot ginger cordial and lunched on egg sandwiches and chocolate. The temperature was -3ºC. A few figures appeared out of the mist then quickly faded from view. A gusty wind sprang up and by the time I set off again my skis were half-buried in spindrift. Climbing the shoulder above Lurchers Gully I navigated from rock to rock as visibility vanished. Soon I decided there was little point continuing and started descending into the gully. The rocks slipped out of view. The snow and mist merged. Ripples in the snow just beyond my ski tips were all I could see. Edging down slowly I felt disorientated. Only the slow slipping of my skis told me I was descending. Keeping the speed low was essential in case of banks or drop-offs and my leg muscles strained as I held the skis back, turning into the hill when I hit patches of fast, icy snow down which the skis wanted to race. Time seemed suspended. I could imagine spending eternity just descending this endless, bottomless slope. Nothing else existed. Snow began to fall, blown against me by the strengthening wind. A sudden drop in temperature and everything damp froze, including my goggles. Iced-up and useless I took them off and strained to see into the clinging whiteness. But there was nothing to focus on, nothing solid or real. Finally, the mist thinned and shivered, dark patches appeared, the forest far below. The world grew and the white-out was over. The cloud was much lower than when I had entered it and the sky was dark and heavy with snow. I hadn’t gone far, just a few kilometres, but it had been an intense experience, alone in that unreal world.

Photo info: A walker in the mouth of Coire an t-Sneachda. Canon EOS 450D, 18-55@55mm, 1/400@ f5.6, ISO 100, raw file cropped and converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.6

Labels: Cairngorms, Cairngorms National Park, mountains, snow, storms, winter

In the March issue of TGO, just out, my backpacking column is about the Continental Divide Trail, the longest hike I have undertaken. In gear I review GPS mapping units and look at the future of GPS for the outdoors. Elsewhere Judy Armstrong reviews waterproof jackets for women, John Manning tests the new Osprey Manta 25 pack and Cameron McNeish describes the gear he used on a backpacking trip at the end of last December in bitterly cold weather.

Other interesting features are Jim Perrin’s column on Thoreau (great to see the latter being promoted but I disagree completely with Jim’s denigration of John Muir), an interview with Helen McDade of the John Muir Trust, a gripping account of being avalanched in the Lake District, the North Pennines explored by Dan Bailey. Paddy Dillon on the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland, the story of a recluse who lived in a remote bothy for over 30 years, Bill Birkett’s favourite Langdale walks and a philosophical piece on the attractions of natural landscapes

Photo info: On the Canada/USA border at the start of the Continental Divide Trail. Pentax MX, Tamron 35-70 lens, Kodachrome 64 film. No exposure details. Scanned slide tweaked in Lightroom 2.5.

Labels: backpacking, Continental Divide Trail, TGO, writing

It’s always interesting to take part in the Big Garden Bird Watch each year and spend an hour seeing just how many birds are coming to the food we put out. Watching the birds regularly we know that the weather plays a huge part in numbers. The garden is quite exposed, facing south across Strathspey to the Cairngorms. In stormy weather there may be no birds at all. In mild weather there may be few birds. Last year it was cold and dry with a strong wind and no snow on the ground. We counted 19 individual birds from 9 species. For 5 species just 1 bird appeared. That was with two people counting so all the feeders and tables were observed throughout the hour. This year I was by myself. Due to the complete snow cover, the +1ºC temperature and the lack of wind I expected many birds, especially as the severe conditions have lasted over six weeks without a break. Counting was difficult at times due to the number of birds and the speed with which they flew in and out but I ended up with a conservative 54 individuals in 10 species. With only 2 species was there just 1 individual. Chaffinches were the most common with 25 seen at one time (probably more but at least that number). Last year there was just one. Other birds seen were 10 coal tits (last year 8), 5 blue tits (last year 2), 3 great tits (last year 2), 3 blackbirds (last year 1), 2 robins (last year 2), 2 great spotted woodpeckers (last year 0), 2 greenfinches (last year 0), 1 dunnock (last year 1) and 1 pheasant (last year 1). The only bird we saw last year that didn’t appear this year was a sparrowhawk, which flew in near the end of the count, ensuring that we saw no more birds.

Photo info: Coal Tits on seed feeder. Canon EOS 450D, 55-250@250mm, 1/400@ f5.6, ISO 100, raw file cropped and converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.6

Labels: bird watching, birds, nature

For forty-seven days the ground has been snow-covered and now the wind has turned to the north, the temperatures have dropped and more snow has fallen. The very slow thaw of the last two weeks has ended with the snow pack much reduced but several inches of complete cover still remained when the snow started again. And another six inches or so has fallen over the last few days with more forecast this week. In the twenty years I have lived here never before has snow stayed so long. This is a real winter. I will be hauling supplied up on a sledge for many days yet. And keeping fit cutting firewood.

Photo info: Rabbit tracks in fresh snow with the Cromdale Hills in the background. Ricoh GR-D, 1/640@ f8, ISO 64, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.6

Labels: Cairngorms National Park, Scottish Highlands, snow, Strathspey, weather

Six and a half years ago I signed a contract to write a guide to the Scottish mountains for Cicerone Press. Three days ago I posted the manuscript and photographs, work that has taken far, far longer than I envisaged back in 2003. Many weeks and months of research, both in the office and on the hills, eventually produced over 200,000 words and 287 photographs. The packed work, over 800 pages plus several CDs, weighed over 5kg and I carried it down the snowed-in track from my house to my car in a rucksack before driving to the post office and seeing it disappear. Finishing the book, which at times seemed always in the far distance, has left me feeling relieved and elated. Now the books and maps piled up next to my desk can be moved back to their shelves, now I no longer need feel at every spare moment that I ought to be working on the Scottish book. Now I can start work on other books!

Photo info: On Ben Loyal after a spring snow storm. Canon EOS 350D, 18-55@30mm, 1/500@ f8, ISO 100, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.6

Labels: books, mountains, Scottish Highlands, writing

The snow has been slowly thawing for over a week now, though the fields are still white and the track to my house is still impassable by car. Bare patches and large chunks of ice mean I can no longer haul up supplies on a sledge so I am using a series of packs I am testing instead. The mass of snow on the trees meant some damage was inevitable and many branches and a few whole trees had already come down before the thaw began. However the slowness of the melt and the refreezing of the wet snowpack on many nights has increased the damage. Instead of a blanket of soft snow the trees have been coated with a thick layer of heavy refrozen icy snow that has snapped branches and smashed smaller trees and shrubs to the ground. In the photograph above those mounds in the foreground are all snow-covered young birches. Many will never recover. The damage caused by rabbits and deer is now apparent too. Some small trees, including rowans and crab apples in our garden, have had two feet of bark completely stripped off. Branches that were weighed down by the snow were gnawed. Now free of their load they look very strange as the bare sections are far higher above the ground than any deer could reach, let alone a rabbit.

The snow was beautiful and made the countryside magical and wild. The aftermath is not so pretty. How the natural world recovers from this will be interesting to watch. And of course there may be more snow yet this winter. A year ago there was no heavy snow until February.

Photo info: Snow covered forest earlier this month. Canon EOS 450D, 18-55@33mm, 1/60@ f5.6, ISO 100, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.6

Labels: forest, snow