What I've Been Reading Online Recently No. 2

The snow returns. Strathspey. January 27.

Here's the second instalment of interesting pieces I've been reading online. This covers the last two weeks.

OUTDOORS

The winter Cape Wrath Trail gear list 

Nest month Alex Roddie sets out to walk the Cape Wrath Trail. Here he lists the gear he'll be using and his thinking behind his choices.

How to go Munro bagging by train

Fiona Outdoors describes some excellent Munro walks that can be accessed by train.

What is a thru-hike?

Paul Mags looks at possible definitions of thru-hiking.

The CDT Gear Guide: Class of 2018 Survey

A detailed look at the gear used by Continental Divide Trail hikers last year. It's very different from the stuff I used in 1985 when I hiked this magnificent route.

How Does The Insulation In A Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Work?

Philip Werner explains how these air mattresses keep you warm.

How Scotland can create a network of world-class walking routes 

Some ideas from Scottish Wildlife Trust chief executive Jonny Hughes

Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Uberlite sleeping pad review

Comprehensive review and test report of this astonishingly light new sleeping mat by Andrew Marshall.


CONSERVATION & ENVIRONMENT

Trust pays tribute to legendary mountain ecologist Adam Watson

Adam Watson: an appreciation

The sad death of mountaineer, conservationist and Cairngorms expert Adam Waston is marked in these tributes from The John Muir Trust and Cairngormswanderer.

Insect collapse: "We are destroying our life support systems"

Disturbing piece about the disappearance of insects

It's time to make space for nature

Jonny Hughes of the Scottish Wildlife Trust worries about the homogenization of nature

What is a wildcat?

Dr Andrew Kitchener of Scottish Wildcat Action looks at the different types of wildcats

Is wilderness our home?

Thought-provoking essay on the dangers of idealising wilderness

Oceans Are Warming Faster Than Expected

Worrying climate change report

Evolution is Not the Cause of Selfish Capitalism

Douglas Rushkoff says nature is a collaborative act

Adam Watson R.I.P.

Today the sad news of the death of Adam Watson was announced. Mountaineer, naturalist, conservationist, writer, expert on the Cairngorms Adam Watson has been a key figure in the Scottish outdoors field for many decades.

I never met him personally but I did attend a number of events at which he spoke. I particularly remember a rally in Glen Feshie protesting about the way the then owner was mismanaging the estate. Adam Watson have a fiery speech packed with passion and intellectual rigour.

His books are key for anyone wishing to understand the Cairngorms. I have several of them, my favourite being his SMC Guide, which I refer to often. I'll be reading it tonight.

For a much longer detailed account of Adam Watson's life and importance see this excellent piece by Bob Reid. 

Two Little Video Clips on Cairn Gorm

On my trip in the Cairngorms described in my last post I took a couple of very short video clips both to show the wonderful views and weather and to see how I managed hand holding the camera. I need to practise! I also need to clean the sensor. I can't work out how to get rid of that dust spot in the videos.

Snow & Sunshine in the Cairngorms

After Sunset on Cairn Gorm

Clouds & mist & sun & snow: a glorious day in the Cairngorms

A distant Creag Meagaidh rises above a sea of clouds

Some days the weather is perfect and grey skies, bitter winds and dull light are forgotten. Such was yesterday. A day of deep blue skies and vast views. At least high in the Cairngorms. To the south and west clouds filled the glens. Down there the day would be dismal and damp.

A summit just pokes above the cloud in Strathspey

On the tops the air was calm, cold and bright. The only sound the crunching of my boots in the thin crisp snow. The hills felt vast as they stretched out to fade away in distant horizons.

On Cnap Coire na Spreidhe

As I headed up Cairn Gorm I watched a long cloud forming over Meall a'Bhuachaille and Creagan Gorm. I wandered over for a better look. This was a day for meandering, for going where my curiosity rather than following a set route. This cloud was unusual, just sitting along the summits. I've not seen this here before. Someone on one of those lower hills would think the day misty yet only a short way in any direction they'd have clear views.

Cloud on Meall a'Bhuachaille

On Cairn Gorm several groups were leaving the summit as I arrived. They missed the best of the light. The summit to myself, I wandered round, absorbing the views and the beauty. The moon, almost full, rose into the sky above a line of darkening pink.

Cairn Gorm Weather Station

The sun sank into the clouds. Beyond the now shadowed Cairngorm Plateau Cairn Toul and Sgor an Lochan Uaine rose into an orange sky.

Cairn Toul and Sgor an Lochan Uaine

I lingered until the final colour began to fade, reluctant to leave. A final flourish of searingly bright red far out to the west and it was time to head down into the moonlit night.

Last light

Out Into The White World

The snow fell, the wind dropped, the air stilled. A frozen afternoon, the snow crisp underfoot. No sound other than my boots crunching through the whiteness. Pause and the absolute silence was vast and shocking. The world is rarely so quiet.

Trees dark against the pale ground. Only a few had caught the snow from the wind. In the distance the hills, almost insubstantial, faded into the sky.

The land felt empty. There were no birds in the sky. Nothing moved bar a few rabbits scurrying into their burrows. Fox tracks cut in a straight purposeful line across the fields and vanished into the trees.

The sky was grey and flat, streaked with thin clouds. As I made my way back home as the day faded into night the light deepened into a cold blue. A waxing moon shone through the thin hazy clouds.

Winter has come.

The snow's back!

After a mild and snowless first half of January the snow returned late this afternoon. Light rain turned to thin sleet, then wet snow, then big flakes, then, as the temperature dropped below zero, steady fine dry cold snow. By 10pm there was about an inch lying here at 300 metres in Strathspey. I'm due to go on an igloo building trip this weekend. It looked like being cancelled. Maybe it'll take place after all. We'll decide tomorrow evening.

Yesterday I went for a stroll by the River Spey, which was fuller than I've seen it for many weeks. With no snow visible on the Cromdale Hills and the temperature well above freezing - no need for hat or gloves - it felt almost spring like. It will be different tomorrow.

Photo notes: the top photo was taken on my Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone at 4.35 pm  - it was getting dark and snowing heavily, not ideal conditions for this camera. Settings: 1/13 second at F1.7. ISO 800.

The River Spey images were taken on the Sony a6000 with Sony E 55-210 lens at 55mm.. Settings for upper photo: 1/160 second at F8, ISO 400. Settings for lower photo: 1/50 second at F8, ISO 400.

What I've Been Reading Online Recently

Hazy January Cairngorms

This is the first in an occasional series covering pieces I've read online that I think worth sharing. I've pinched the idea from Alex Roddie who's been running a regular 'What i've been reading this week' for some time now. I share pieces I like on social media already but it's occurred to me that posts there are often ephemeral. They should be a bit longer lasting here.

OUTDOORS

Warm baths and soggy underpants, and getting #AdventureSmart 

Entertaining and informative piece by Judy Whiteside about mountain rescue and the changes since the 1940s.

SUL Sub-3lb Winter Backpacking List 

A clever piece designed to make backpackers think by Paul Mags.

I Know Where I'm Going - but does anyone else? 

Following break-ins at the Glen Feshie car park Cameron McNeish looks at protecting your car and how to let people know where you are.

Unbalancing Act: Reflections on Thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

A realistic look at long-distance hiking and it's aftermath by thru-hiker Kara Kieffer. It doesn't have to be life-changing or bring revelations to be worthwhile.

Skills: Gaelic for Hillwalkers

Kevin Woods looks at how understanding the Gaelic names of hills and topographical features can enhance the enjoyment of hillwalking.

Britain's 44-mile walk where you won't cross a road - what's involved? 

Robin Wallace considers the recent claim that you can walk a 44-mile straight line across the Cairngorms without crossing a road.


BOOKS & MAPS

The Spellbinding Power of Reading Nature's "Lost" Words Aloud

An in-depth review of Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris's The Lost Words by Lila MacClellan looking at the amazing effect this wonderful book has had.

Off the chart: the big comeback of paper maps 

Stanfords travel bookshop can print any map you want and says paper maps are on the way back says Kevin Rushby.

Jonathan Franzen's Controversial Stance on Climate Action

Interview with the novelist by Serena Renner about his views on environmental issues and his new non-fiction book The End of the End of the Earth. 


CONSERVATION 

The New Wild 

Anna Tsing writes about 'invasive' species and how we react to them.

When the ice melts: the catastrophe of vanishing glaciers

Mountaineer Dahr Jamail on the disastrous changes climate change is having on the world's mountains.