Tamanawis » Hill walking

First dusting…

mike — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:40:02 +0000

…of the year. Wind chill must have been -10C on top of Caerketton Hill.

Creaky knees

mike — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:06:52 +0000

It’s been a while since I was out trotting along in the hills, so I took myself up the local hills (Caerketton and Allermuir) for a couple of hours this afternoon. Taking it easy and managed to do all right, despite the creaky knees. Some beautiful light provided a nice treat to finish the weekend.

Foolhardy

mike — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:49:33 +0000

Not sure exactly why, but I’ve just registered for my first hill race. It’s the (reasonably famous) Carnethy 5 here in the Pentland hills. Perhaps it’s a last desperate attempt to feel like I’ve achieved something in my 20s, or perhaps it’s just to see how far away from ‘fit’ I really am. Whatever the case, come February 12th, it’s going to be carnage….

When the rivers freeze over…

mike — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 22:56:34 +0000

…it’s time for forks and tooth picks.

Pentlands by twilight

mike — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:42:22 +0000

A beautiful evening yesterday, after a day with 12 hours of sunshine, the first for quite some weeks. So good in fact that I tottered up along the Pentland ridge for some minutes and ported the wee camera too.

Assynt and the North West Highlands

mike — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:49:00 +0000

Another one for those with access to BBC iPlayer, and a really nice one this time. Cameron McNeish visits the far North West of Scotland, climbing hills and fishing lochs with none other than the great Bruce Sandison.

Click here to view the program, or download it.

Up North

mike — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:02:49 +0000

Was out fishing at the weekend. Didn’t catch anything. A bit rubbish really.

So rather than post photos of a high and dirty river, stoneflies and grass (the summation of Saturday), here are a couple from the weekend before, from way Up North. And I thought the southern part of Scotland was pretty…

Back online

mike — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:46:09 +0000

Been offline for quite a few weeks.. But we still seem to be gripped by cold weather, with snow on the hills and icy breaths. The best solution?

Pie.

Ben Vorlich bin better

mike — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:42:05 +0000

W. H. Murray quote II

mike — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:58:10 +0000

Between the vertical walls of the gully I looked out as though between blinkers. Yet that very restriction had merit. It gave to the hills, arrayed in keen edges against a pale green sky, and flaring a more fiery pink with each passing moment, a framed and focussed power to strike for all time to the mind. The broader and more splendid panorama, prevailing all daylong, confuses the eye with too great a mass of detail – suffers from a diffused interest that too readily fades with time and is forgotten. Moreover, that panorama is not lost through a gully-climb. It comes at the top, a sudden revelation; thus more memorable.

For a few minutes the mountains burned, white and red upon a field of green and gold. In low country one may see so rich and full a glow of colour in the cavernous nave of Chartres Cathedral, when the forenoon sun floods the stained glass and the vast brown flags are flecked by shafts of ruby and blue. But Chartres is not matched elsewhere. To seek such depth of colour, and to find it in yet more noble forms, one must go to mountains.