Hobbling around Provence....

Not much to say!

Managed a few walks but I've been hampered by a pulled muscle in my back.

The route with the 8 runged metal ladder hammered into the rock was interesting - especially with the dodgy back! I had to climb it 'cos I wasn't going back down the way I'd gone up!

All in the mix.........

The weather here is mixed - much like it is in the UK at the moment. It's been warmer than usual for January although plenty of snow in the mountains its high water content has led to some high avalanche warnings for the whole area of the Alps.

{Storm bound}

{Last week - skies are blue and the snow perfect}

I've begun to settle into a regular programme. Downhill skiing on Friday and over the weekend when John is here and cross country efforts for some of the other days of the week. Wednesdays are reserved for cross country expeditions with my neighbour Christiane.

{Christane - first across the road at Pelvoux}

The downhill is going well - the pistes are well looked after and my new skis seem to make turns all on their own!

The cross country has been mixed too. As most of the prepared trails are in the valleys the snow has been a bit icy and sometimes soft and sticky. There has been some falling over and one such tumble resulted in a nicely bruised knee!

{Heavy clouds moving away}

Yesterday the sun eventually came through the clouds which were left over after a stormy night. Skiing seemed a step too far so I decided to walk along the river Durance. John had told me there was a new trail, signposted for bikes, towards St. Crepin.

I had lunch first and lazily drove down to the car park at the bottom of the hill.

Much of the night's snow was melting or melted and the path was muddy, icy, and slushy in places, but pleasant beside the river.

{Photo taken on the way back - shows typical condition of the path!}

I was searching for a new bridge which John said was after the camp site. The path continued but I couldn't see a bridge. The sun having dropped behind the mountain by then, I turned back and retraced my steps.

{Passing through the Municipal camp site}

{No sign of a bridge here!}

My Sorel snow boots have developed a problem with the zips. I have had them for about 10 years so I've replaced them with some winter Keen boots called Revels. These have an insulated sole. I'm finding them extremely useful and comfortable. They're great for general use in winter weather and for walking in snow. When I get round to it they'll be good for snowshoeing too! They have a hook at the front to attach gaiters - very practical. I used them yesterday for the walk along the riverside. Despite plunging my feet into deep slushy snow and puddles they didn't leak.

{The fishing ponds at the car park- closed for winter}

{Best view of the day - looking back towards the car park}

Wearing the shoes.......

I sent for a pair of Inov-8 Ladies Terrocs 308 after this year's Challenge. My boots are generally comfortable but during the two weeks my feet had become blistered and eventually I lost five toenails - big and small.

{Brand spanking new - first outing}

The shoes arrived and seemed comfortable - much lighter and cooler for the feet. I took them with me to Alnmouth for two weeks walk leading in June but didn't pluck up the courage to wear them at all.

They had their first proper outing when Louise and I walked the 7 Bridges from Ballater.

{Showing off the new shoes}

There was a big day with Mick & Gayle when we found our way to the top of Creag nam Ban and a trot up to the bottom of Glas Tulaichean exploring the old railway in Glen Lochsie. Both these walks had tested the way the water soaks into the shoes - cold at first but then hardly noticeable. In Glen Lochsie I had waded across the river a few times with no ill effects. Last week 13 miles over soggy Culblean was no problem.....

{Underwater in Glen Lochsie}

What I did notice after wetting my feet properly was that when I arrived home and took out the insoles they had begun to fall apart. These were not the insoles that came with the shoes but a pair of my own that I felt were more supportive. A search on the internet came up with Crocs RX Silver insoles which I've been using ever since.

Since then I have been wearing the shoes for all my walks. First exploring the hills of the Borders, then standing up to my shins in wet marsh on Harris followed by two weeks in Whitby for HF, established that they were really enjoyable to use on day long routes too. Although my feet were wet they were never uncomfortable. And best of all - no blisters or lost toenails!

The soles are very grippy and I haven't had a problem going up or down tracks in wet or dry conditions.

{Wear and tear after several months of use}

This is all very positive but there is one thing which is not very pleasing. The inside of the heels of the shoes have worn quite badly. I've stuck on some moleskin tape now to prevent them wearing to pieces which is OK but needs replaced regularly. However I have gone ahead and bought a second pair - possibly to use for the Challenge next year - while they are available.

I do wonder how they will be when I'm carrying a heavy backpacking rucksack and perhaps walking on harder stony tracks so I haven't completely made up my mind about using them in May. A slightly thicker insole might be appropriate for more cushioning under foot. But I'm looking forward to the river crossings!

I'll continue to use this pair until they fall apart. At the moment there is no sign of wear on the soles or the uppers. They've been washed in running water after particularly 'peaty' outings and they dry quickly. The insoles are looking worn but I expected that.

Altogether I'm liking my 'dancing' shoes......

Just visiting.............

For a long time I've harboured a desire to visit the Islands off the west coast of Scotland so when I saw an advert for the Harris Mountain Festival I made a decision to go along. There was no charge for the walks offered and there was a good deal on accommodation at the Scaladale Centre. Travel wouldn't be a problem - I could use my bus pass to get to Ullapool then use the ferry as a foot passenger to Stornoway.

I dreamed of blue sky, golden beaches and wild mountain places. Mmmm!

The travelling was a doddle although the grave warnings of gale force winds sent me running to Boots to buy some anti-travel sickness pills for the ferry - boats not being my favourite way to go - especially those that go up and down and round.......

While waiting for the delayed ferry in Ullapool I took one of the pills and then watched a couple of harbour seals popping their heads up in the bay - obviously also waiting for the ferry to arrive.

There was a good deal of up and down and round but I kind of dozed my way through it all. I was briefly fascinated by my co-travellers. Two ladies knitting, a group playing cards and others laying flat out on the seats covered by coats, sleeping. I suspected they may have been the frequent travellers.

{Finally arriving in Stornoway - the bus station}

{Heb Hostel, Stornoway}

Stornoway was wild, wet and windy but I found a warm welcome at the Heb Hostel. The next bus towards Tarbert wasn't till the next day - giving me time in the morning to take a different bus to the standing stones at Callanish. It was an awe-inspiring place so I spent quite a long time wandering around the stones, although by the time I came to take a couple of pictures there were quite a few people doing the same thing making it difficult to get just the stones in the frame.  Eventually I hid from the wind in the cafe hugging a cappuccino until my bus back to Stornoway was due.

{Main circle of stones at Callanish}

{More standing stones at Callanish}

When I finally arrived at Scaladale there were two other walkers already staying for the Festival. A stroke of luck for me as I discovered that moving around on the island without a car was going to be really difficult. Both of the ladies came from Yorkshire and I thoroughly enjoyed their company during the few days we shared. One of them was interested in the TGO Challenge and has since emailed me to say she's ready to send off her application for 2014! I feel like a missionary.....

I had a short walk up behind the Centre, with great views between the showers over Loch Seaforth. The sudden squalls were accompanied by strong, cold gusts of wind.

{The Scaladale Centre}

{Information board behind the Centre}

{The view from the top}

The walk the next morning was advertised as an 'Eagle Walk'. The assembly point was the car park at Bhiogadail, not far from the Centre, and I had been prepared to walk back along the road to it but gratefully accepted a lift from my two new friends. Quite a big group set off and we scanned the sky for Golden Eagles. The ranger led us to the bealach and then up hill to a small top over looking Loch Langabhat. The storm was still lingering and despite the wind we did get a couple of good sightings of large birds of prey.

{Bird watching....}

{View of Loch Langabhat}

The evening was spent in Tarbert listening to the first time Chris Townsend had delivered his Scottish Watershed Walk talk. Brilliant photos, but the route itself looked very hard.

Until I met the ladies with their car I had been going to miss the thursday walk as there was no way to get there on a bus. Fortunately I was delivered to the start point which was beside the beach at Scarasta. Without a path and sploshing through some very wet pools, the group climbed to the top of Meabhal. There were great views from the top and a trig point for the young ones to play on!

{Trig point on Meabhal}

By the time we had had lunch and descended back to the beach car park the sun was out. At last the blue sky and the golden beaches!

{The beach at Scarasta}

On the way back to the Centre we took a detour to the beach at Losgaintir, wandering through the dunes, looking across the sound to Taransay.

{View from Losgaintir beach}

The beautiful weather didn't last long and by the next morning the heavy mist, wind and rain were back. I ditched plans for the hill above Tarbert and took the bus all the way to Leverburgh. I had planned to walk along to the old Chapel and get the later bus back. Getting off the bus was difficult, the wind was so strong it nearly took my legs from under me. I wandered about for about 8 minutes, then, as the original bus was still there, I hopped back on, to the amusement of the driver and went back to the Centre!

{Windswept Leverburgh}

Next morning I made my way back, eventually, to Aberdeenshire - where it appeared to have been a lovely sunny and warm week. My island adventure was done.

Till the next time.................................

Walking in the Borders...........

Once the gales had calmed down the weather improved during the week, reached a peak then deteriorated rapidly again to a huge storm on the Friday night. A new D of E group had arrived by then, and I watched them struggling to put up some big flappy tents.

Later, as the rain and wind became more persistent, I decided to make a last dash to the toilet block. Opening the door I was met by the sight of ALL of these D of E girls, rucksack contents tipped onto the floor, wet clothing hanging over every door, and so much damp air my glasses instantly steamed up.....not quite the experience they were supposed to be having!

Apparently, by the morning, two of their tents had collapsed and some of the girls had been taken home. That accounted for the cars which came and went in the middle of the night.....worried parents!  I wondered whether those girls would ever camp again.

Anyway.....the Walks............

1. Innerleithen Circular - This walk on the first day was not really the one I signed up to do. I met a group by accident at the St. Ronan's Wells visitor centre and was invited by the leader to join them for the afternoon. After the tea and cake we wandered on down to the river banks while the leader told us about the historical background to Innerleithen. The town had once had several large mills and warehouses. The proximity of the Tweed and Innerleithen Water being key to those industries.

{Buses were organised to/from walks - all part of the daily charge}

2. Tweedbank to Clovenfords by Torweedlee Broch - This walk was lead by a Ranger from the Scottish Borders Council Ranger Service. It took in the northern part of the Gala Circuit and we had some good views of the Eildon Hills. After exploring the site of the ruined Broch, we finished up sitting outside the Inn at Clovenfords waiting for our bus, a large glass of blackcurrant and soda with ice in my hand.....other drinks were available......

{Sir Walter Scott's statue outside the Inn at Clovenfords}

3. Stobo Circular - I chose a shorter walk for the day so that I could hop off the bus in Peebles and go to the John Buchan Centre. In the end I didn't do that as it was such a glorious day I walked the six miles back to Innerleithen from Peebles on a newly opened footpath alongside the river, mostly along the line of the old railway.

{Glorious views from the Peebles to Innerleithen path}

{Halfway to Innerleithen - the old railway station is put to good use}

The circular walk beside Stobo Castle was a pleasant wander partly on the John Buchan Way. Dropping down towards the Castle (now an 'exclusive' health club) we only had time to peer into the Japanese Gardens. At the start the local farmer had entertained us with a rather lengthy talk about his life and work which meant the pace of the walk was a little faster than was comfortable for some of the group. Trying to 'hurry' doesn't really work as the time taken waiting for the back of the group to catch up slows the whole thing down drastically. In my opinion it's better to keep a steady reasonable pace for everyone.....

{Lunch spot on the edge of the forest}

 4. Blackhopebyre to Innerleithen - This was a rough walk over wild ground above Innerleithen. We climbed Windlestraw Law and Glede Knowe. Our morning break was taken in the grouse butts and there were great views over the hills. Fortunately the ground was not too wet and we managed to skip lightly over the boggy stuff on the tops.

{View from my grouse butt.....}

{Reaching the trig point..............}

5.  Rhymer's Walk - This was probably my favourite walk of the week. First we visited (or rather didn't visit) the Eildon Tree Stone. This stone marks the spot where Thomas the Rhymer first met the Faery Queen. After this he acquired prophetic powers enabling him to make some significant predictions - I can't remember what they were! The group leader showed us the stone from about 50 m away........it was a shame we didn't just go and look at it!

The route then took us above Melrose, between the Eildon Hills over Bowden Moor to Cauldshiels Loch. The return to Melrose through Rhymer's Glen was stunning. This last part of the walk took us onto the land once owned by Sir Walter Scott as part of the Abottsford House estate.  Waiting for the bus in Melrose we found an ice-cream shop.............

{Looking over Melrose}

{Cauldshiels Loch}

{Follow the Leader - down to Rhymer's Wood}

{Spooky - but stunning! The path through Rhymer's Glen}

6. Abbotsford House - Friday dawned wet and misty. The previous evening after the Rhymer's walk I had decided that a visit to Abbotsford House was a good way to end the trip to this part of the Borders. I have long been a fan of Sir Walter Scott; my Kindle has a collection of his work which I dip into from time to time. The rain hammered down the whole time I was there. The visitor's centre was very informative, and I bought a couple of books in the shop. Tours of the house are taken with audio units, and very interesting it was too.

{Abbotsford House}

Because I was camping I didn't attend any of the evening events that were on offer - and I had to leave before the last day and missed the closing ceremony and parade through Innerleithen. However, I did enjoy the Festival. The walks were really well organised, and a reasonable cost (£6) which included bus transport as required. At the end of every day there were cakes and tea available for a donation. The organising team were friendly, helpful and cheerful......I'm going to look out for the Festival next year when it'll be based around Jedburgh.

{Memorable view from the tent}

Base camping in the Scottish Borders.......

Languishing with the grandchildren in France I realised I was missing my regular two or three walks each week and gradually becoming rather lethargic as a consequence. I searched on the magic web for a remedy once we had waved goodbye to the Shanghai contingent and it had all gone very quiet.

Without too much effort I found that the Scottish Borders Walking Festival was due to run from 1st to 7th September. There were four or more walks every day and it was being hosted jointly by Innerleithen, Walkerburn and Clovenfords for 2013. More investigation followed and I discovered there was a campsite in Innerleithen - so a plan was beginning to form..........

When first I was old enough for my bus pass I had had a vague plan to use it for a Grand Tour all round Scotland so it appeared fairly painless to use the pass and travel to Innerleithen. I could catch the service bus to Aberdeen, Citylink to Edinburgh then another service bus to Innerleithen - it would cost me the booking fee for Citylink - 50 p.

I had resealed some small tears in the fly sheet of my MSR Hubba backpacking tent so I was looking forward to testing it out. Thinking about base-camping in a very small tent I decided I would have to take a few extra 'luxuries' to make day-to-day living more comfortable. I splashed out on a new 60 litre duffle bag to hold my camping stuff, clothes and a restricted amount of clothing - made by Osprey, it has rucksack straps to carry it though I had to take a day sack as well for the daily walks.

The 'extras' I decided on were my Kindle loaded with a good choice of books, one of those camping mat seat contraptions and an extra 99p plastic groundsheet to put at the entrance of the tent.

The camp site was booked (£9 per night) and the walks chosen at £6 per day.

{Helpful signs in the village}

{Sunday's Registration centre was easy to find}

The travel plan went well and I arrived in good order, struggled a bit walking with the bags down to the camp site but had no problem later finding the place to register for the next morning.

The camp site was quite full when I arrived - a couple of D of E groups, weekend caravanners and the camping field was chock-a-block with a group of motor bikers. I found a fairly sheltered alternative pitch next to a caravan and behind a hedge. More by luck and laziness than judgement, I stayed there for the week and managed to avoid the flooding at the end of the week!

{My pitched tent - after a heavy shower}

{First morning - still wet and windy too!}

An extremely windy first night meant I didn't sleep at all so after registering at the Walk centre I withdrew from the first day's walking, had a quiet morning dozing in the tent and then investigated the town instead.

{St Ronan's Well}

In the afternoon, after a sandwich and coffee in the local cafe, I wandered up to St Ronan's Well. This is an historic spa, popularised by Sir Walter Scott, and well-known as a health resort during the nineteenth century. From here the first bottled mineral spring water 'St Ronan's' was given Royal approval in 1900.  The museum was open and I was welcomed with a cup of tea and a piece of cake and joined the members of one of the shorter walks for the remainder of the afternoon.

Back with the group at the Registration centre - there was more tea and plenty of cake! So the day which had started badly in the morning turned out to be quite a good introduction for the rest of the week.............

{Just a sample..........}

Rainy Day

Today's heavy rain has forced me to start actually typing up my diary from the recent TGO Challenge. You can find it in the Pages menu to the right-hand side of the blog.

I have decided to just transcribe the diary I kept and post the photos I took, day by day. There's not a lot of detail about my route in the writing and my camera got very wet and eventually died along the way......

{Blue skies at Alnmouth!}

The last two weeks I've spent walking in glorious sunshine in Northumberland based at Alnmouth. I have a few photographs which are still on my phone so I'm going to try and post them directly from there.....
Wish me luck with that.....................

[copied the photo from my own Facebook page - haven't had the courage to fiddle with the phone yet!]

Overnight camping on the Dava Way.......

It's only a short while until the set-off date for this year's TGO Challenge - but there is still a lot of training needed......

One thing left to do was to have an overnight camp somewhere wild(ish) to test out the patching on my tent fly after last year's disaster when it all flew away in a 100 mile an hour gust of wind. I've bought a new footprint as the original one was completely shredded and the inner seems un-damaged. Unfortunately there are abrasion marks and small splits in the fly sheet. After seeking advice from MSR I have used some patches they kindly sent me along with some seam-sealer to try and make it watertight again.

After pitching it in the dining room for a few days it was time to test it out.

Louise and I arranged for me to get the bus to Forres so we could have a night out on the Dava Way. This is the route of an old railway line which ran from Forres to Grantown-on-Spey (more info here). The weather forecast was rather mixed but not altogether miserable.

I tried to pack all the essentials for the Challenge with a few exceptions. I wasn't carrying the obligatory pile of maps, days of food, wading sandals, and a few other odds and ends I like to shove in the bag just before I leave. My lightweight Paramo Velez jacket was going to get a try out to replace the 3rd Element Paramo and I took an old Paramo shirt instead of my Challenge fleece. There was a new Alpkit waterproof cover to put over the rucksack and I hadn't attempted to carry such a heavy pack since I broke my shoulder last summer.

{Setting off along the track}

{A frog/toad on the path..}

We didn't intend to WALK very far on this trip so after plodding along, trying a little puddle jumping, we started to look out for somewhere to pitch the tents. Louise has a new Terra Nova number which she wanted to try. The pitch needed to score at least 7 on the scale of 'good places to wild camp'. The first requirement was 'out of the wind' which was forecast to be a bit blustery by morning. A bit of a view would be nice too and hopefully not on too wet or muddy ground.......

Further along than we thought we would have to go, we eventually decided to leave the Way and explore a farm steading at Bogeney behind the Knock of Braemoray. The land immediately beside the old walls was too stoney and lumpy but by following the track above the ruin we found a good spot and after a bit of a faff while we worked out which way to face the tents, we pitched and settled in.

{Just getting organised....}

During the night I discovered (in no particular order) that I had pitched over a lump, my sleeping bag needed more shaking to properly distribute the down, using spare clothes as a pillow is fine until you need to wear them, low flying aircraft and helicopters sound very close in the dark, the ground was exceptionally cold and settling down to go to sleep before 9 pm means I need to get up before morning to visit the bushes........but it did rain and the fly didn't leak....... Louise will probably mention the snipe drumming and the curlew calls......and an owl or two....

One of the things I hadn't taken was a spare battery for the phone so I turned it off which meant when getting up at dawn I couldn't take a photo but it was spectacular.....the sky was golden and the tents were frozen solid.....magic!

{Packed up and ready to leave....}

There was no hurry, so we chatted and packed up after cups of tea and flapjacks. (Thank you Louise, chocolate and ginger goodies - mmmm!). Just as the tents were stuffed away there was a heavy hail storm....

We strolled along to Logie Steading. Viewranger wasn't engaged so I have no idea how far it was.....maybe about 7 miles......we passed the Half Way Hut with its smart benches and picture boards, then over the Divie Viaduct with its 7 arches, a detour past an old station platform and had a coffee break at the Dunphail Breathing Place.

{Rucksacks resting outside at Logie Steading...}

Lunch was eaten and then David (Louise's husband) came to pick us up and I caught a much-delayed bus back to Aberdeen.

Now the kitchen smells of wet tent and I'm resting and reflecting .........