Can it get too hot for walking?
14th August 2008 We humans are a fickle bunch when it comes to weather, and I am no different. My ideal walking conditions involve a dry sunny day with a bit of a breeze and temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees Celsius (I have to say that the Fahrenheit temperature scale is next to meaningless for me). Over the course of this year, I have been battling that easy inclination to stay at home on grey days or any time when rain threatens. While it can be a good way of keeping you at home to get things done, you can overdo it too and never get out there at all.
I think that you could ask any walker, and they'd suggest that soggy days are a turn-off, but I have thought of another one: hot boiling sweltering sunny days like what we had at the end of July. Some adore these, yet I doubt that they've ever really suited me; I suppose that we all differ from one other. To me, it could be seen as being just as unpleasant for hiking as getting constantly soaked. In fact, if you don't watch it, the health consequences of being out in boiling heat could be worse than wet weather. Hydration is very much part of this, and Outdoors Magic recently posted a very useful article on the subject that provides some food for thought. Otherwise, head coverage, keeping well watered, using good sunscreen and finding the occasional shady rest spot to keep yourself together is all very much in order.
What put this idea into my head was my going for a circular hike around Welshpool that took in a part of the Offa's Dyke Path a few weeks back. I experienced the sort of weather whose absence is the source of many a moan. Last year was a case in point, but those who were on the receiving end of the deluges last July really did have cause for complaint. Its timing was unfortunate in the sense that it happened during the summer school holidays, and it might be all that some remember of 2007, a travesty given the wonderful start that the year had. Even though I too have fallen victim to this notion of a summer climax, I am beginning to come around to the delights of a cooler if damper summer, particularly when it comes to wandering through hill country. Another downside to this idea of there being a climax to the year is that your outdoor outings plummet in frequency once August has passed. It's all too easy to do, and I know because it tends to happen to me. It's almost as if I hibernate until December, when I manage to get going in earnest again. That's a pity because autumn can have many special moments to offer.
Speaking of autumn, it has a lot to offer those who wander through hill country. The days might be shorter, but they are cooler as well and without being too chilly. Destinations that are thronged in July and August are quieter, just like they were in April and May. After all of that, there's the glorious autumnal colour that can come upon us, depending on the year (drier summers are better for this, apparently). The ambiance might be like the calm after a storm or, if you prefer, after the climax, but there's much to savour in the mellowness.
I have often talked of my liking of spring on here and I now want to make better use of the delights of autumn, but there's another matter taking up occupancy in my head: is it worthwhile scaling back summer walking a little and devoting a bit more attention to the rest of the year? For one thing. The ever present threat of global warming might well make this approach something of a necessity.
A plan is coming into place
7th August 2008 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.
A wander around Welshpool in hot weather
30th July 2008 After a mini-heatwave, we seem to have returned to more run-of-the-mill British weather again. Not being a fan of hot weather, I am not sorry, even if it means that things are a little damper. That heat made the past weekend none too ideal for a spot of hill wandering, but July seemed to slip by without such an outing and, on Sunday, I headed off to Welshpool for a circular hike regardless. It was to be a day for protecting oneself from the effects of strong sun and intense heat. There was a threat of showers, but I was long ensconced at home by the time that one happened in Macclesfield, and none was to cool me down on my way around Montgomeryshire.
The travel arrangements were easy: take a train to Wolverhampton and change there for the last leg of the journey, both on the way out and the way back. Public transport arrangements aren't that easy sometimes, so this was one of the simpler days. The journey wasn't too long either, with a departure not long before 09:00 landing me in Welshpool at around 11:25. Even with departing at about 18:50, I was back home well before 22:00.
Being allotted a good amount of time, I decided not to force myself and to watch how much walking I was doing, understandable given the weather on the day. I started with a quick amble around Welshpool before heading for the hills, and it actually looks a reasonably pleasant town. My escape into the countryside took me north along the Montgomery canal, part of the Severn Way, until I approached the Offa's Dyke Path. Crossing from one trail to the other did mean some crossing of busy roads and a building site for a new livestock market. Once past those obstacles, I joined the aforementioned national trail at Buttington to proceed through fields where cereals are growing before I hit the slopes. The hinterland of the Severn clearly has its fertile spots.
As with other parts of the Offa's Dyke Path, the hills to the east of Welshpool are not that high, but they are steep-sided. I found the same sort of topography around Knighton and the hill country north around Ruthin, Llangollen and Chirk also shares this characteristic. The day was getting hotter all the while, so I took my time ascending the slopes until they levelled out a bit as I neared Beacon Ring fort, the highest point of my hike at around 400 metres above sea level. From there on, the terrain stayed more friendly with its ups and downs and forest cover was on offer for a good of the journey down to Forden, where I left the Offa's Dyke Path to return to Welshpool.
That return involved a lot of road walking, never a pleasant thing and not helped by boiling heat or having to keep an eye out for combine harvesters and their ilk. A plan for using the public footpath network to cut down on the tarmac bashing came to nought when I saw what my map's suggestion crossed: a field with growing crops and no obvious way through. In any case, it was better not to attempt tricky navigation in the heat.
As I continued on, I took advantage of any shade for a rest when it offered, and it is for that reason that I took a break beside a high hedge near Welshpool's airport. After negotiating a roundabout that thankfully wasn't too busy at the time, I made my way up a quiet lane that took me again onto the Montgomery canal and the Severn Way for the last stretch of the way into Welshpool. By now, the heat was such that I was glad to be reaching my journey's end for the day and, when I did make Welshpool, I found a quiet and well appreciated shady spot for a bit of recuperation before catching the train home again.
A weekend around Argyll: Part 3
26th July 2008 Sometimes, it's just very hard to get oneself home from a very beautiful location and, if the weather's being very exceptional, then it's so much harder. That's how it felt on leaving Oban to head south again on the bank holiday Monday. Add to that the feeling that I had I had not made the most of what had been granted to me and a certain heaviness of heart results. I did have some good walking in that tramp from Inverarnan to Dalmally and the views that I encountered on my Sunday ambling were superb but it's amazing what perfect weather does to you.
That maelstrom going on in my mind caused me to leave Oban early to allow a stop in Taynuilt to savour a bit more of the area before I completely left it. I planned a two hour stopover and a stroll in the general direction of Glen Noe on the shore of Loch Etive got me as far as Inverawe Country Park. If I had allotted more time, then I might have reached Glen Noe and made the journey to Glasgow smoother than was the case.
My plan was to go to Glasgow via Tyndrum and that's what I did. A change of coach was needed in Tyndrum and it's here where things started to unravel; the onward connection was full and couldn't carry me. It's being the 11:00 from Fort William on a sunny bank holiday easily explained what happened and I suppose that I should have thought of that. That left me with next to two hours to spend and I didn't waste a minute by wandering over and back along the West Highland Way. The Crianlarich hills appeared so beguiling that they thwarted any notions of catching the 14:00 train to Glasgow Queen Street.
Like a cat with nine lives, I was left with other options. Chief among these was the 14:20 Citylink service but that didn't arrive because of a problem with the vehicle. It was cutting things a bit fine but the 15:20 would have conveyed me to Glasgow with plenty of time left to catch the first train on a southbound railway relay that would have got me to Macclesfield at a not insensible time. However, the bank holiday jinx struck again with heavy traffic on the A82 north of the Balloch roundabout putting paid to that idea. It is little wonder that a campaign to upgrade the said road is under way.
Nevertheless, I discovered a late evening service that would get me all of the way to Manchester. There was a wait before it departed so I enjoyed the evening sunshine in George Square before setting off. Once in Manchester, I made my way to its airport and picked up a reasonably priced taxi home from there. My arrival time was much later than intended but I was home anyway and enjoyed some snatched opportunities to savour more of Scotland's wilder country at its best. I had left wanting more, never a bad thing.
All in all, this was a return journey that was anything but smooth. It was almost as if Scotland was using everything in its power to hang onto me: fantastic weather, wonderful countryside and a busy transport system. I have been left wondering if a better plan for any bank holiday excursion to Scotland would be to add a day off to the break and use that to return home. The traffic should be lighter and I might even enjoy an extra day's walking in brilliant sunshine while everyone else is stuck in the traffic.
A weekend around Argyll: Part 2
22nd July 2008 It's been a while coming, but here's the second part of the trip report for that weekend spent around Argyll at the end of May. The lengthy walk from Inverarnan to Dalmally meant that getting a rest on Saturday evening took more priority than planning where I was going on the day after, so that had to wait. Anyway, two days of lengthy walks back to back might have too much even if I got every encouragement from the weather; it couldn't have been more marvellous. The day after was just as good and left me kicking myself for not taking a day off from work to stay longer. That made me snatch every opportunity available on the way home, and that's for the next installation of the trip report. Sunday was to be an easier day.
So, after getting a few things that needed doing out of the way, the day was clear for walking once I had decided where to go. With Sunday public transport and my exertions the day before, I was left in a quandary, and ended up plumping for Kerrera. Even if I might have felt that I wasn't making the most of the sunny weather, it was no mistake. I had been there before, on a sodden, soggy Friday in November 2002. That time, I did catch it in a dry interlude, but it just didn't compare with the way that I found it this time around. The way there was the same as before: a one or two-mile walk out of Oban and a short ferry ride across the Sound of Kerrera to the island. The obvious thing to have done was to repeat the circular walk around the south of the island, but I was more mindful of time on this occasion. What happened was that I went for a more freestyle wander around the middle of the island, taking the opportunity to savour the views all around me.
Kerrera's position does give it countless advantages when it comes to seeing what surrounds it. The highest point of the island may not exceed 200 metres above sea level, but it really does punch above its weight on the scenery stakes. It really came as a surprise to me that you could see inland as far as Ben Cruachan, and that's near Tyndrum and Dalmally! Looking seaward, Mull does not loom as much in the vistas as you might think but, rather, it's parts of the mainland like Morvern, Ardgour, Sunart and Ardnamurchan that really supply the main mountainous backdrop to the seascapes filling the senses. Those views really were more noteworthy than the freestyle wandering that I did, I ended up near the summit of Barr Dubh at one point on my visit. Otherwise, it was a case of following tracks for parts of their lengths.
I made for the 17:00 ferry. It didn't leave on time thanks to the ferryman, a laid-back character by all accounts, being engrossed in conversation. £4.50 was the return fair to be paid on the way back; it was £3 when I last used it. Once returned safely to the mainland after a short crossing on undulating seas, I plumped for a different course to Oban. Instead of the road, I set off on a right of way that took me through fields and along tracks on what was very much a glorious evening. In the meantime, the Kerrera continue to ply its way at times needed by day visitors to the island rather than any timetable. I suspect that he stopped at 18:00, but it was a welcome sight in this age of command and control.
I ended up on Pulpit Hill before making my way back to my accommodation. Ben Cruachan could be seen here too, and I think that it might offer the best views over Oban too. If my memory serves me correct, I think that I was actually looking down on McCaig's Tower. That November did see me up around the folly, revelling in the only sunshine to be found during the whole time. That was another Sunday and I left Oban in deteriorating weather conditions
There was to be more to my walking that day than an over and back journey to Kerrera. A certain pattern of wandering where the mood took me had been developing all day, and it really showed its colours when I went out again to take in the delights of what remained of the evening. That ambling took me along Oban's Esplanade and I continued out the Ganavan road until I picked up a path towards Dunollie Beg and kept pottering from path to path until I found myself next to the strand at Ganavan after all. I continued a bit further up the coast before turning around and heady back along the road to Oban and my bed for the night, ending a day that might have been taken up with gentler explorations. There are times when that is needed too.
