Backpacking in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Photo Essay

Last autumn I undertook a 2 night hike beside Loch Lomond and over Ben Lomond in stormy weather (see post for October 21, 2008). Backpacking Light.com has just published a photo essay on this trip with sixteen images, all with extended captions telling the story of the walk. The photo essay is available to non subscribers to Backpacking Light and can be found here. All the images bar one were taken with the Sigma DP1 compact camera, which I reviewed on Backpacking Light.

Photo info: Rainbow over Loch Lomond. Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS@30mm, 1/160@F5.6, ISO 200, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.

Sigma DP1 on Backpacking Light

My review of the Sigma DP1 camera has just appeared on Backpacking Light.com. I’ve been using this camera since last summer and am very pleased with the images it produces though not so happy with aspects of it in use. It’s of interest to lightweight backpackers because it’s the only digital compact camera with a sensor large enough to produce images comparable to those from a much heavier and larger DSLR. Although other digital compacts are better designed and easier to use the images just don’t compare with the DP1. As well as the images in the review Backpacking Light has published two photo essays with images taken with the DP1 – see my posts for January 8 & 21. There are more DP1 photo essays to come.

Winter in the Cairngorms on Backpacking Light

Last November I wandered across the Cairngorm Plateau to Ben MacDui in wonderful winter conditions (see my blog post for November 3, 2008 First Snow on the Cairngorms). A photo essay on this walk entitled Winter in Cairngorms National Park has just been published on Backpacking Light here. All the photos were taken with the Sigma DP1 compact camera, which I was testing at the time.

Photo info: View across the Lairig Ghru from the slopes of Ben MacDui. Sigma DP1, f5.6@1/800, ISO 50, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.

Cold, Wet Backpacking in TGO, Golden Autumn Wandering in BPL

Last summer I spent a few days at the giant OutDoor trade show in Friedrichshafen strolling round the exhibition halls looking at the new gear for 2009(see post for 24 July 2008). In the following months various interesting items arrived for review and over a couple of wet and windy days last November I took them out for a group test in the southern Cairngorms. A description of this trip with reviews of the gear appears in the February issue of TGO, just published, under the heading Cold Wet Cairngorms. The most interesting items I tried were the Therm-A-Rest NeoAir sleeping mat, a modern airbed, and the Lightwave Wildtrek 60, a tough lightweight pack. Other gear included the Rab Momentum eVENT jacket, Primus TiLite stove, Coleman Falcon X1 tent, Mammut Ajungilak Sphere 195 sleeping bag and Mammut Courmayeur Pants.

The gear test trip was in dull, misty, grey weather – I got to practise my navigation skills yet again – though the autumn as a whole was quite sunny with brighter and deeper colours than usual (see post for 22 October 2008). A selection of my photographs taken on day walks in the woods of Strathspey has just been published under the heading Autumn in Cairngorms National Park on Backpacking Light.com. You don’t need to be a subscriber to see this photo essay, which can be found here.

Photo info: Camp in Glen Baddoch on the Friedrichshafen gear test trip. Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS@30mm, f5.6@1/125, ISO 400, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.

Paramo on Backpacking Light.com and Cold on Cairngorm

Backpacking Light has just published a feature of mine on Paramo waterproofs. You can find it here but you have to be a member to read it in full.

By coincidence I was out today in the Cairngorms trying the new Paramo Velez Adventure Light Smock. The day began calm, clear and sunny though the temperatures remained below zero Celsius. In the last few days fine cold powder snow had fallen and covered everything – heather, rocks, ice, old snow, bogs – which made walking arduous and slow. In places the powder snow was a foot deep but nowhere would it support my weight. Crossing the moor to the east ridge of Cairn Gorm meant plunging through deep snow-covered heather with no idea how far down each step would go and whether my foot would land on springy heather, hard rock or wet bog. Once on the ridge the walking was easier as the bogs and heather had gone and it was just the variable depth of the snow that was challenging. Across Strath Nethy Bynack More was shining in the sun. But out to the west a thin dark line of cloud was slowly advancing. By the time I reached the summit of Cairn Gorm the cloud was thickening and the sun had vanished. The wind was strengthening too and it was bitterly cold. I was wearing a fleece top under my Paramo jacket and had the hood up over my fleece hood and was just warm enough while walking. The descent was even trickier than the ascent as I came down a steeper slope and there was much ice under the snow so I was constantly slipping and skidding and hanging onto my trekking poles. I finished the walk under heavy threatening dark clouds that shrouded the summits. The weather forecast warned of heavy snowfall overnight as I drove home. For once I was glad to be off the hills.

Photo info: The outer edge of the big storm approaching the Cairngorm Weather Station on the summit of Cairn Gorm. Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS@23mm f5.6@1/60, ISO 200, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.