Ron Strickland comments on Grizzly Bears and Razor Clams: Updated 22/12/11

View from the Pacific Northwest Trail on the High Divide in the Olympic Mountains.

Ron Strickland, the creator of the Pacific Northwest Trail and author of the PNT guidebook and the excellent Pathfinder, had a look at the blurb on the publisher's website for my book on the trail and decided it didn't really cover everything so he put in a passionate and eloquent suggestion of his own. I won't reproduce it as Sandstone Press has published it on its and you can read it here. I must say though that I've never been compared to Burton or Speke before! And I love the idea of the American Congress making me a special gift of the trail. Thanks Ron.

The book itself is virtually finished. The last pages will be with Sandstone Press tomorrow.

Update: Some good comments on the Sandstone blog. Thanks!

And the book was finished on time. 

Grizzly Bears And Razor Clams: Coming Next Year!

Above is the cover of my book on the Pacific Northwest Trail, designed by Heather MacPherson for Sandstone Press. I like it very much. Thanks Heather! The picture was taken in the Pasayten Wilderness in the Cascade Mountains. The book will be published next year. The Sandstone Press announcement can be found here.

Thoughts of Winter

With the first big storm of winter just past I've started thinking about trips in the snow and winter camping and walking so I thought I'd post this piece which I wrote for TGO a year ago after the first big winter storm of 2010. My thoughts haven't changed.

THOUGHTS OF WINTER

 As I write this in late November the snow lies deep across much of Britain and winter has set in hard with record low temperatures. The weather has brought the usual chaos to the roads but once it settles down the hills and wild places should be superb for winter backpacking. For me this snow has brought a feeling of excitement and desire that never comes with grey skies and rain, the norm on too many winter days. I have visions of climbing pristine white slopes with a perfect mountain world spread out all around and then camping beneath a star-filled sky with a crisp frost sharpening the senses and making every sound ring. I relish the thought of lying in my warm sleeping bag with a mug of hot chocolate watching the snow drifting gently across the landscape. Winter camping can be a joy. And when the wind picks up and rattles the tent and sends swirling snow into every crevice I love feeling secure inside my tent, listening to the storm thrashing the land.

Before the snow that closed the lowlands came there was already snow in the hills and I had made two overnight trips into the frozen mountains. Both of these brought the pleasures of winter backpacking and also the pains. The first was to a favourite spot of mine, the great cliff-ringed bowl at the head of Loch Avon, arguably the finest corrie in the Cairngorms. The forecast was for clearing weather but the hills were shrouded in dense cloud and drizzle was falling when I set off. The wet summer and autumn and recent heavy rain meant the lower ground was saturated and the streams full. I climbed up the Fiacaill a’Choire Chais into the wet mist, crossed below the invisible summit of Stob Coire an t-Sneachda and descended into boggy Coire Domhain from where a badly eroded stony path lead steeply down to the corrie and long Loch Avon. As I dropped out of the cloud the loch appeared, grey and windswept, while whitewater streams roared down the hillsides. The floor of the corrie was sodden and I had to pitch on damp ground, choosing a spot that didn’t squelch too much under my boots. As the chilling drizzle continued I was soon inside the tent in my sleeping bag with a hot drink wondering what had happened to the drier, clearer weather. During the early part of the night gusts of wind shook the tent and rain rattled on the nylon. Awake before dawn I noticed whiteness around the edge of the porch, a light dusting of snow. The temperature was now below freezing and there was ice on my water bottles. Looking out I could see stars. Daylight came with a bright sky, hazy sunshine and dappled clouds. The mountains were spattered with snow, stark and dramatic. The tent was frozen to the ground. Back up on the Cairngorm plateau the sky was blue and I could see far out to the west. The fine weather didn’t last long though and by the time I reached the summit of Cairn Gorm the clouds had rolled back in and all I could see was the weather station, plastered with frost and snow. The rain returned as I descended back to the car. I didn’t mind. The glorious morning had made the trip worthwhile.

My second trip was to Creag Meagaidh and another favourite spot, Coire Ardair with its little lochan nestling under huge jagged cliffs. Again the forecast suggested fine, cold weather. Again it was only partly correct. I camped beside cold, dark Lochan a’Choire with the rock walls, shattered pinnacles and stony gullies rising above me into grey clouds. There was only a smattering of old snow on the corrie floor but not far above the slanting slabs were white. Venturing into one of the wide stony gullies I could see long icefalls spreading over the cliffs high above.

During the night there were flurries of snow and when I woke the ground was frosty and crunched underfoot. Clouds still hung over the summits and a chill wind blew. Not wanting to move camp higher in these conditions – especially as the tent was a previously untried test model – I made a round trip to Creag Meagaidh, a real winter excursion requiring use of ice axe and crampons. I kicked steps up the crusty snow filling the wide steep cleft leading up to the notch called The Window. Above this the snow was thinner and icier so I used crampons for security on the slope up to the huge gently tilted plateau of Creag Meagaidh. I was in the cloud now and found it hard at times to distinguish between the air and the ground. Both were white and hazy with only ripples in the snow and the occasional rock giving me anything to focus on. Compass bearings led me to the summit and a sharp cold wind. Chilly though it was I welcomed this wind as it sometimes tore apart the whirling clouds to give brief views of the surrounding peaks and down to dark glens. A silver sun pulsated weakly through the clouds. The light and the clouds changed every second and the world felt very unstable. Only the snow-encrusted rocks of the summit cairn seemed solid and fixed. I followed my steps back across the plateau to The Window then dropped below the cloud and back to camp. From above my little grey tent looked tiny and fragile against the immensity of the landscape. It had kept off the wind and snow however and provided a warm shelter for a hot drink before I packed up and descended out of the mountains.

As with many winter trips there were only short periods of clear weather on these ventures and the tops were often in cloud. However one of the delights of winter backpacking is being out there in the wilds during times of magical light, clearing skies and frosty sunshine even if these are brief. This is very much the time of year to welcome any sunshine, any abatement of the wind, any clearance of the clouds. It’s also a time to enjoy the comforts of camp. In summer with the long hours of daylight I resent spending much time in the tent, impatient to be outside and walking. In winter I’m happy to lie in the tent, warm and snug, listening to the wind, watching the snow fall, staring out at the ice-bound landscape. I don’t close the tent up unless the weather is really stormy, unlike in summer when midges often force me to zip myself in, and so don’t lose my contact with the outdoors. And when storms do mean closing the doors then I’m happy to lie and read a book and make endless brews and mugs of soup. Even in bad weather winter backpacking can be fun.

New TGO: Bothies, Fleece, Keeping Warm At Night & Primus OmniLite Ti review

The January 2012 issue of TGO is out - so of course, given the odd way magazines use dates, it contains a Christmas Gift Guide. Amongst the suggested items is the latest edition of The Backpacker's Handbook, which keeps me happy.

In this issue my backpacking column, headed Shelter from the Storm, is about bothies while in the Hill Skills section I look at how to keep warm at night when winter camping. In the gear pages there's my test report on the new Primus OmniLite Ti multi-fuel stove, which is excellent, and a review of sixteen fleece jackets, which is good timing as winter weather has just begun.

Also useful for the cold is John Manning's review of fifteen down jackets, which is illustrated with some entertaining pictures of Mr Manning bundled up in various of the garments.

Keeping with the cold theme there's a section on Winter's Magic that includes winter walks on various mountains such as Snowdon, described by Jim Perrin, and Creag Meagaidh, described by Cameron McNeish. Also in Winter's Magic is advice from Heather Morning, the Mountain Safety Adviser for the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, on skills and gear for the winter hills. In the Hill Skills section, but very relevant to winter, is a useful piece by John White on driving in freezing conditions and preparing your vehicle for the cold.

Elsewhere in the magazine, which is a fat one at 130 pages, Mark Diggins describes his work as co-ordinator of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service; Roger Smith is rightly concerned at plans for a new town in the Cairngorms National Park; Ed Byrne tries his hand at fishing; Cameron McNeish says let Mallory and Irvine rest in peace; Ronald Turnbull praises Rannoch Moor; Carey Davies tackles the Fairfield Horseshoe; Andrew Terrill has a chilly Christmas long-distance walk in the Dolomites; Jim Perrin celebrates George Borrow's Wild Wales; Nathan Skinner explores the Black Mountains and extreme climber Andy Kirkpatrick ponders reconciling adventure and fatherhood. It'll take me a while to get through all of that!

First Tracks

More snow overnight and some consolidation of the lying snow by the wind made conditions look good for the first ski tour of the year, a short venture into the woods and fields round home. December 7 is very late to start skiing. Most years I expect to ski in October. But the season has started and I am pleased. The snow was good in the open fields, packed down by the wind, and I could glide quite well. In the forest the snow was softer, deeper and stickier and skiing was hard work and slow. But still fun and easier than walking would have been.

The trees were heavy with snow, their branches touching the ground in places. Here they were surrounded by rabbit tracks as the animals came out to gnaw on the twigs and bark. A few rabbits streaked across the snow at my approach, sending up little puffs of snow. A cock pheasant shot into the air squawking loudly from almost under my skis. Nothing else stirred on this cold, windswept day.

The sky above was clear but in the west and north heavy, dark clouds hid the hills. At dusk – 3.30pm at this time of year – there were some faint pink touches on the streaks of cloud in the eastern sky but these soon faded as the sun was overwhelmed by the thick north-western darkness. An almost full moon shone above the land as I made my way home. 

Interviews for BBC Radio Scotland Out of Doors

In Okanagon country on the Pacific Northwest Trail

Today I was interviewed by Mark Stephen for the Out of Doors BBC Radio Scotland programme about my A Year In The Life Of The Cairngorms book and about my Pacific Northwest Trail walk. The first interview should be broadcast this weekend - the programme goes out at 6.30 am on Saturday, repeated at 11.05 am on Sunday - and the next a week later. The programe will also be available on iPlayer.

As Mark was coming from Aberdeen and I was coming from Grantown-on-Spey we met in Keith, where we had an excellent lunch (brocolli and stilton soup) in the wonderfully named Boogie Woogie Cafe before finding a quite spot for the interviews. Getting to Keith was quite interesting given the snow which, despite it being December when snow in Scotland is hardly unexpected, has caused some problems on the roads. I had five miles of minor roads before reaching the A95 main road. None of those minor roads had been cleared of snow and every bend (and there were plenty) was quite slippery even though I have snow tyres fitted. Not once did I go above 15mph or get out of second gear. The A95 had been ploughed and gritted but there were still slippery snow patches on some of the sheltered stretches deep in shady hollows. I was more concerned though by some of the other drivers, especially those who decided that because of snow on the edges of the road they should drive down the middle, expecting anything coming towards them to get out of the way. I crept along the verge a few times while the other vehicle sailed past taking up most of the road. But the journey there and back was completed safely, even if it did take much longer than expected. More snow is forecast, perhaps up to 10cms, so I'm glad I don't have to drive anywhere tomorrow. Maybe it'll be time for skis or snowshoes instead.

Out In The Snow

Flurries of snow at low levels have come and gone over the last week, mostly just leaving a dusting that vanished within hours. Last night though the big thick flakes were settling and by midnight the ground was completely white. By this morning the snow lay some eight centimetres deep. Not yet enough for skis or snowshoes but enough to say ‘this is winter’ and enough to tempt me out to walk in the fields and woods. In many places there were deeper drifts as the snow had come on a strong north-west wind. Today there were snow flurries, dark clouds and bursts of sunshine with layers of brightness and colour in the sky. The land was quiet with only a few rabbits venturing out into the snow, though I saw plenty of tracks of rabbits, pheasants and roe deer. High overhead a skein of geese flew past, calling wildly; an appropriate sound for the snow, which brings wildness and freshness to the landscape.

The temperature never rose above freezing today and with cold weather and more snow forecast for the next few days these wintry conditions should be around for some time. For the first time today I could try some of the insulated boots I have to test. I hope I’ll be using them much more in the near future.