Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

I may have not got out for a longer outing but this October has had its appealing moments. True, the deluge that derailed the OMM in Cumbria and caused the ensuing manufactured controversy may be what some remember but there where there was a lot of sun about too. In fact, while rain blighted other parts such as Scotland (various stories from those following the West Highland Way come to mind here), we in Cheshire do not seem to have done as badly at all, even with all of the rain that we did get. Of course, we are in the midst of a cold snap (if my memory doesn’t fail me, there’s always one around this time to bring us down to earth ahead of the winter) but that is having its pleasures too so long as we remain wrapped up. We may have no snow but, whenever the sun is released by the clouds, lively appearances are assured by the light that is unleashed. Today was very much a case in point even if great banks of cloud would have allowed those failing to get out a modicum of reassurance.

However, the weather does seem to have been better during the week than at the weekends, something that conspired along with my tiredness after a working week to keep me at home in place of a longer session spent sampling the outdoors. These days though, I have been getting in short lunchtime walks through some nearby woods and pastures so the autumnal colours have not passed me by; that extra exercise is a bonus too. If anything, visiting woodland as regularly as I have been doing has meant that the oranges, auburns, russets, reds and yellows have been impressed on my memory rather more than otherwise might have been the case. Having had a wet summer, it would be delusional for anyone to expect a display of the calibre of that which greets visitors to New England at this point in the year but there are plenty of delightful sights to savour nonetheless. It’s all balm to anyone being put out by the shortening of days and drops in temperature and just goes to show that there’s something to enjoy at any time of year, even those that are not as celebrated.

A visit to family in Ireland last month allowed me a day trip to the beauty spot that is Gougane Barra; somewhere to which I have devoted a previous post on here. That also followed a day trip there when skies remained resolutely grey with any photos not being the type of thing that I’d share on here. In fact, it seems that many of my trips to Gougane over the years have been on cloudy days. My most recent outing looked as if it might have been the same with the forecast predicted a rain band moving south over Ireland. In the event, we managed to see Gougane under blue skies with the sun making it out from behind any clouds to make photography a more than worthwhile pursuit. The result is that I have some pleasing photos from my excursion and these have now made their way into the West Cork section of the photo gallery and I have taken the chance to freshen up some existing ones too.

The addition of new photos has not been the sole change to that online photo gallery. Some work has gone into simplifying navigation and enhancing the search facility. Behind the scenes, the wonders of ImageMagick (it’s a neat command line tool but that probably makes it best for technophiles) have been such that the process of adding new photos is now more streamlined than it ever was. Even so, the need for devoting some attention to each individual photo doesn’t go away and that is regardless of whether it was made on film or digitally. Nevertheless, any time saved might make me add new photos to the gallery on a more regular basis than has been the case in recent times. After all, there’s a potential new section for the Western Isles on the horizon and more photos from other outings to be shared.

A month ago, this blog passed the second anniversary of its move to WordPress and that has set me to thinking about how this website is structured. There are two main pieces to the jigsaw here, this blog and the photo gallery, so it should come as no surprise that my mind has journeyed towards these as my thoughts have progressed.

With a blog, there is always the temptation to wander off topic and I have to admit there are some off topic pieces in here too. Off topic postings come and go but off topic articles stay the course on the sidebar so they need attention. The outdoors focus will stay and I am going to taking a more conscious approach so as to strengthen it. There will be pieces of website news like this one along with the occasional public transport piece but trips reports and related items will remain its mainstay.

The photo gallery started out as a single slide show and it was only later on that the country and region organisation of the present day started to come into place; the thumbnail gallery was a later addition too. Now though, I am beginning to challenge the sense of having two ways to navigate the gallery. The country and region approach itself is being brought into question by the prospect of a full Pennine Way portion crossing from England into Scotland. All of this is leading me to wonder if the tag and category classifications that are so commonplace these days would be a asset. If so, a way that I could see things working is that you pick you tag or category first and then pick the way which you are to view things. The elements of that way of thinking are already in place so it’s just a matter of turning the current arrangement on its head and making it work without causing too much upheaval. In fact, I can even see a way ahead towards this approach and it might even allow me to add the ability for visitors to "play" a slide show too.

There is another part to this website and that often feels like the Cinderella here: it’s information directory those wanting to visit the places featured in either the blog or the photo gallery. Unfortunately, I have had a tendency to dilute its usefulness with off topic content and it does demand a tightening of focus to make it better. It is with that in mind that I have been trying out a publishing system named Textpattern. Bending it to my will has been going well thus far and my experience with it is contributing to my plans. This is leading me to think that those elements of the website that add background information for the rest could be moved onto it and help me to make those elements of the information directory most applicable to those who enjoy great countryside more prominent. It even is making me ponder the of adding that information as articles to this blog so that it is nearer to hand. If this happens, I’ll ensure that it compliments rather than overwhelms what you already find here. Saying that, such a development makes the case for making those items listed under Feature Articles section on the sidebar even more prominent if I were to go ahead with the idea.

All of the above thoughts are in a state of flux at the moment and some may survive while others don’t. Because there are more things in life than playing around with a website (for one thing, I still intend to make it into the hills whenever I can…), any changes are likely to be incremental rather than taking the form of a big bang. The theme of gradual evolution will stay but you might find that things change their appearance from time to time. Who knows what might come up yet?

At the end of every good trip, there’s the bittersweet experience of the journey home, especially you like the wilder places as much as I do. Nevertheless, this was a journey that had its good points with the surroundings becoming ever more familiar as it continued. The first part of the journey involved a lengthy ferry crossing from Lochboisdale to Oban and I readily admit that I was looking forward to it because places that I have never visited before were to be passed along the way. After breaking my journey in Oban for the night, it was time for travelling on land again, a journey that I had undertaken many times before.

Saturday, August 16th:

Of course, good weather can make any enticing sea journey even more memorable but I wasn’t to be blessed with perfect weather. When I arose on the Saturday of my onward passage, the day was taking a more autumnal aspect with damp greyness being the recurring theme. There was a certain end of season feel too, not at all that inappropriate given that another of Scotland’s school years was to begin on the following Monday.

Drier interludes allowed me out and about for one final stroll in the stillness before the afternoon sailing. However, the dampness was to win over the dryness and cars assembled for the ferry with rain falling. I had by now ensconced myself in the ferry terminal’s waiting room and remained there until the Lord of the Isles made its appearance at the appointed time. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for foot passengers like me to get on board and I went to the cafeteria for a midday meal. A sailing taking around five hours meant that it was never to get overly busy but getting some food was good use of the time taken for all cars to be loaded onto the boat and the rain meant that being outside on the ship’s deck at this stage in the day wouldn’t have been the pleasure that it otherwise might have been.

Thankfully, heading due east meant that the rain was going to be left after us at some point. However, we were in the vicinity of Rum before you could reside on the top deck without your sanity being questioned; it was good timing. In fact, there were flashes of blue sky and Rum was allowed to catch some sun and tease any onlookers. Eigg and Much were gathered about the tantaliser while Skye’s Cuillin loomed in the distance beyond it. I did spy some indentations on the eastern horizon from South Uist and wondered if they belonged to skye or to Rum; I am now inclined to think that it was the former that I had been seeing. Speaking of sightings on a horizon, Colonsay and Tiree may have lain to the south but there was little sign of them.

It was nearly the half way point of the crossing before the mainland made its appearance after my being away from it for the most of a week. Ardnamurchan’s lighthouse was approached and passed as we changed to a more southerly direction to enter the Sound of Mull. The appearance of Mull allowed for some spotting of familiar locations like Tobermory and Craignure while we left Ardnamurchan behind on reaching Morvern. This continuous sight of land did make time go by a lot faster than the earlier expanse of open sea. The sun remained hidden away so my camera was never going to be that useful and so I contented myself with savouring what was on offer. In any event, there’s more to life than being concerned with photographic opportunities every single second when merely taking in the sights is often sufficient.

South of Craignure, I was well into territory frequented on my crossings from Oban to Mull. Landmarks like Torosay Castle, Duart Castle, the island of Lismore, Loch Linnhe, Ben Cruachan and so on all served to remind me that landfall was not far away. Nevertheless, I think that it might have when we passed Kerrera that I went downstairs to collect my belongings. I was well organised by the time that we were to dock, even if remembering where I put the copy of my boarding card took some thinking (you start to wonder what will happen if you can’t can find it…). For sailings into (more) open water, Calmac need you to fill out a boarding card in addition to purchasing your ticket. For the crossing from Skye to Harris, one copy sufficed but two were needed for the South Uist-Argyll sailing; I suppose that it’s an extra check that no one has fallen overboard, not at all a great thought.

After my island hopping and all of the new places that I had explored, you could say that reaching Oban was like a partial homecoming, to what is familiar to me at least. The town caught the sun and a memorable sunset was gifted to those who were out and about. Before all this, I needed to get to the SYHA hostel where I would spend the night. Duly booked in and organised, I then popped out to take in the last of the evening, a perfect end to a good day.

Sunday, August 17th:

The next morning was glorious too and I had some time to enjoy it before catching the midday Citylink coach to Glasgow; familiarity was to reign supreme for the remainder of my travels. The sun did duck and dive behind the clouds but the countryside retained its inviting feel as the bus passed Kilchurn Castle and Loch Awe. A short sunny stop in Inverary allowed for a quick piece of camera action; I don’t believe that I have seen the town and its surroundings catching the sun before. The sun stayed out as we passed Arrochar and Loch Lomond on the way to Glasgow. A flying visit to George Square preceded my onward journey by train, an uneventful journey that is more typical of my experiences of railway travel, that landed me at home at not too unreasonable hour. It was a good end to a wonderful trip to places where I had not gone before and the best bit is that I am left with reasons to return, should the opportunity ever arise.

Friday, August 15th:

After the wonderful weather that I met on Harris and enjoyed from there to South Uist, the skies on the Friday of my week long visit were to have more of a milky consistency. That isn’t to say that the day was a bad one, even if I did get a few light rain showers in the middle of the day. Compared to what other parts of the U.K. had been experiencing, these were minor perturbations and I more than well aware how lucky I was.

My explorations for the day took on something of the feel of a piece of reconnaissance. The hill country around Beinn Mor and Hecla was where I wanted to explore and that did happen, though not necessarily in the way that I had planned. An idea in my mind was to ascend the slopes of Maola Breac and perhaps to continue to the summit of Beinn Mor. However, a spot of confusion induced by the bus driver meant that I got off near Loch Druidibeag National Nature Reserve instead. Naturally, that resulted in a change of plan and, having seen the way in which the hills had sheathed themselves with cloud, it might have been just as well to stay low anyway. Speaking of lower altitudes, I didn’t limit my explorations to hillier locales since I got to sampling South Uist’s machair, one of Scotland’s National Scenic Areas, too. That might have led me to stopping over at Dalabrog (English: Daliburgh) when I otherwise might not have done. May might be the best month for a visit but the flora can be colourful in August too as I discovered.

Equally worthwhile were the sights that I was seeing as I picked up the road for Loch Sgioport after leaving the bus at Groigearraidh. The hills were well in view as I skirted the shores of Loch Druidibeag. The hills were brooding under their cloudy cloak but the sun was lighting up what what was round about me. As I sped along the road, I was making my way through countryside that was getting increasingly rough, hummocky and lochan-studded. The rocky buttresses of Hecla came ever closer while passing Beinn Tarbert revealed views to the north; I believe that I was making out Eaval in the distance.

As is my wont, I eventually made my escape from tarmac tramping to pick up a good track that was signed for Hecla. It’s best not to leave initial appearances fool you though because the maintained track only goes as far as old shielings at Caolas Mor. After that, it’s very much a case of carefully navigating through country until steeper inclines are reached. Keeping by the coast helps because my wanderings revealed how tricky it would be to find your way using a more direct approach. You might have a right to roam but slow going over tussocks soon convinces you that there are easier places to walk. Seeing it with a grey and damp aspect like I did very much reinforces that impression; this was where I got the least clement weather of the day.

In fact, it was while I was wandering over those tussocks that the day was at its most leaden in appearance and dampest in feel but things were set to improve. In fact, the hills were to be uncloaked, allowing for a spot of photographic activity. After my fill of rough country walking, I returned to the road again and followed it to its end, a very dilapidated pier, before retracing my steps through countryside that looked better than before. The route followed on my return wasn’t completely faithful to the outbound one: I followed an inviting track into the nature reserve. Soon, that was become a peaty path that commanded concentration unless one was intent on blundering over heathery hummocks in a manner inconsistent with the retention of one’s dignity. It was still off road walking and with good views over Loch Druidibeag too, all while I was being taken to Stahlaigearraidh (English: Stilligarry) without incident. From there, it was back to Lochboisdale with an evening stop in Dalabrog on the way.