Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

Now that the accommodation side of things has been organised, I think that I can be brave enough to share the scheme for a planned trip to Scotland that now seems to be very much in the offing. The destination this time is the Western Isles and it would be my first visit to these parts. The journey that is coming into place takes me from Skye onto Harris and then to Lochboisdale before I return to the mainland at Oban.

The weather looks as if it could be a mixed bag when I’m up there but it’s hard both to discern the future and to get a sense of the Scottish weather patterns from England anyway. As it happens, I seem to get the sense that those Scottish weather trends sometimes pass by those of us who live south of the border and that might explain how I got surprised by the perfect conditions that I enjoyed when I visited Argyll in May. Nevertheless, so long as ferry crossings are unaffected, there are some dry sunny spells and it isn’t a case of constantly getting soaked, I should be kept happy.

Sketching out some walking ideas is next on the planning to do list. I won’t be spending so much time on Skye but the prospects for some ambling cannot be ruled out. Getting to know a little of Harris, South Uist and what lies in between is the main point of the outing and some promising hill country exists on Harris and South Uist looks promising so I should not be short of ideas. In fact, perusal of the maps and guidebooks that are in my possession is already paying dividends. If rain intrudes on play, having a few "foul" weather alternatives in mind is no load since any wandering that helps me to get know these islands a little will be worthwhile.

Of course, the matter of deciding what to take and what rucksack to use to carry it is ahead of me too. My weighty Karrimor is not in the running so a recently acquired Osprey Aether 60 or my well travelled Atmos 50 could be making the journey with me. The former has on offer its 60 litre capacity but the tardis-like Atmos cannot be discounted either. Not only did it work very well for me on weekend visits to Lochaber and Argyll earlier this year but other examples have served well on a LEJOG and a two week crossing of Scotland on the Southern Upland Way. Whatever rucksack I take, the weight being carried will need watching since I’ll be travelling about; it’s not as if I will be fanning out from a single base. That weight watching will be balanced against what is needed to cope with whatever weather I meet and any terrain that I’ll be crossing. However, having sorted out a roof over my head for every night, that will help on keeping down the weight that I’ll be carrying too.

Getting ready for that trip up north has followed all the usual patterns for my trips away: arranging transport and accommodation, thinking out ideas for walks, sorting out what to take and doing the packing. Because I am heading for somewhere new and making a number of sea crossings, the planning might be a bit more deliberate than usual but common elements still are shared with a day hike or a weekend away. My preparations are still not complete and may not be so until just before I finally go out that door and set off. Even then, there can remain a certain amount of unfinished business with walking ideas or needing to pick up some needed item on the way. I certainly hope that there isn’t too much of that this time so I need to get cracking on making sure that everything is sorted out before I go.

When I buy a pair of walking boots, a number of months elapse before I take them out on a full day’s walking. While trail shoes might suffice for a lot of my trips, I tend to prefer boots for their better ability to keep out mud and water. With boots, there’s always the risk of ending up with the "stiff and stout" variety because so many are like that. In fact, conventional wisdom is that strong supportive footwear is what is needed for traversing hill country and mentioning the idea of using flexible footwear could result in a tide of disapproval heading in your direction. Solid ankle support and stiff footbeds are very much part of this usual line of thought.

While my Scarpas very much fit in with convention, I am inclined to wonder I need quiet as much ankle support as they provide. Their predecessors were similar in this regard and their ankle cuffs gave me grief on a walk in North Wales one evening, an experience that taught me a lot; a back up pair of Columbia trail shoes were extricated from my rucksack so that relief could be provided. I usually don’t seem to have trouble with how boots fit my feet but its my experience with ankle cuffs that taught me that a good run in period is in order and that’s what I have been doing with my Scarpas since the longer evenings came upon us. The boots seem to doing OK but I am not planning to use them on all day walks straight away but am pondering taking them on half day hikes instead; taking them out in the Derbyshire Dales has come to mind. Whatever happens, I shall be keeping an eye on those ankle cuffs as well as doing more work on my lacing so that my feet are held in them that bit more securely.

Even with all this preparation of the Scarpas for use as my main pair of walking boots, I am beginning to think ahead to the future and what I really need in a pair of walking boots. An ability to take the rough stuff and keeping out water, mud and such like is all very fine but fit has to be a major consideration. This is why I am challenging the idea of high and somewhat less flexible ankle cuffs. It might be that I include that need on my list should I need a new pair of boots in the future. Another notion is percolating into my mind too: having different boots for different types of walking. The Scarpas could remain in use for rougher terrain while a lighter pair of boots, that are quicker to break in, would do a trek along good tracks and paths, keeping feet dry along the way. Along with the fit and comfort side of things, there are other advantages to having two pairs of boots such as spreading the wear across both, making them last longer, and having a dry pair ready after the other has been used on a hike through waterlogged terrain. With all the other demands on my income, I am not planning to rush out and buy anything just yet but there is enough going for the idea that it might take hold sometime.

Usually I write my trip reports in the order in which the trips took place but I am considering making an exception to that convention and writing up last weekend’s excursion to Cumbria before the previous weekend’s visit to Argyll. The day trek should be quicker to share and I can devote more time to telling of the various walks I did in Scotland, perhaps over a number of blog entries. All of that has had to wait because yesterday evening provided yet another distraction from sitting in front of a computer: a sunny end to a day with a wet start coaxed me out for a local trot that further broke in my Scarpas. The cornucopia of recent hikes are making the old Salomons look more and more worn so getting the new boots ready for longer outings is becoming more necessary by the day. In fact, the thought has crossed my mind that it might be sensible to get another pair of walking footwear, perhaps a pair of lightweight boots, for summer walking. However, that might be a luxury too far in the current economic climate…

Given our desire for clear blue skies and bright sunshine, it might seem strange to say it but seeing the countryside draped in a misty damp murkiness has a certain allure, a somewhat primordial feel in fact. That isn’t what is at the heart of this post because I succumbed to the lure of soft shell clothing with the purchase of a North Face Apex Elixir jacket and these conditions presented an ideal opportunity to try it out in damper conditions than it has been seeing since I got it. The idea of soft shell is that there is at least some water repellency on offer though heavy downpours always will require something better suited to those conditions. If the Elixir keeps out drizzle and light rain like it has been doing (I am aware that Montane has something that is better in this regard), then the waterproof jacket can stay in the rucksack just a bit more.

Otherwise, the jacket has come in very handy on recent dry weather trips to Teesdale, North Wales and Argyll as well as going to and from work. It’s a lightweight affair, a good thing for when it stays in the rucksack, but that does not stop its allowing you to warm up on the move. Even so, I am not convinced that this is a cold weather item, at least not without additional layers, so the Polartec fleece remains the jacket of choice for those times. They are a while away yet so I won’t be dwelling on the prospect. If things continue as they been going, it looks as if my summertime fleeces could have their place usurped by the newcomer. The pockets are big enough to take a map, even if getting one in to and out of them is a bit of an art. The sleeves are roomy and can be rolled up for ventilation or cinched at the wrist if it gets a bit nippier. All in all, the jacket is a versatile thing that is seeing a lot of use, which is just as well seeing that it cost me £90.

Alan Sloman may have been carrying his the length of Great Britain this time last year but I always thought that my penchant for carrying two SLR cameras (one film, one digital) with me precluded my using my Osprey Atmos 50 for anything other than day walks. However, this past weekend’s escapade in Scotland has changed my mind. Apart from walking boots, the Atmos swallowed all that I was taking and I was able put most things on my back so that my hands were free while wandering along glen, by loch and under ben. In fact, I was left wanting for nothing and that was without my putting anything in the cavity formed by the curved back.

Heretofore, my weekend pack was a heavyweight Karrimor Cougar that I recently have adjudged to be overkill for the task. Thoughts of its replacement had percolated into my brain only to be thrown into confusion by last weekend. Before then, options such as GoLite’s Quest or Osprey’s Aether 70 made their way onto a tentative shopping list. I now am inclined to regard a 70 litre sack as being too big for a weekend or a few days away and contend that 55-60 litres would be sufficient if I need something a little bigger than the Atmos. That means that Gregory’s Z55 and Osprey’s Aether 60 come into the frame but, for the moment, I will continue to assess my current needs and what I may need in the future. While that’s going on, the Atmos may be seeing a few more weekend outings yet.

Update: I have discovered since that Osprey make an Atmos 65 and I wonder if any have made it across the Atlantic. I’ll be sticking with the "50" but, on paper, its big brother doesn’t seem that dissimilar in its characteristics apart from the volume and weight that it can carry.

It’s a slightly strange sensation to pick up a computer magazine and encounter a review of products relevant to the outdoors community therein. I suppose that it is natural given how computer technology has pervaded many aspects of our lives that a review of mapping software might sooner or later appear in a mainstream magazine such as PC Plus. As it so happens, its latest edition features a review that considers familiar names such as Anquet, Memory Map and Mapyx’s Quo while also bringing an unfamiliar name, Tracklogs, to my notice.

As is habitual for many PC Plus comparisons, a general piece setting the general context  takes up most of the article and, as part of this, they consider the differences between what is found on the web free of charge and what we tend to buy for our walking needs. The given overview is general in its scope and, where it does make mention of subjects such as route planning capability, it does so in not too much depth. Nevertheless, it could be seen as a reasonable introduction to the outdoors digital mapping market.

As to the results of the comparison itself, Anquet seems to score best in test and Quo gets a nod for its value for money, even if its crashes and the need to contact technical support get a mention. Another thing to note is that Anquet and Mapyx sell mapping data online while the others don’t. Memory Map comes out as being being the most expensive and it looks as if all that money is going towards a user interface that attracted favourable comment in the review.

In any event, I’ll be sticking with Anquet because that works for me but it remained intriguing to see the line taken by a computer magazine. However, a comparative review by an outdoors type might be even more interesting…