Archive for River Kayaking

River Allen

October 30th, 2011 • River Kayaking
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Carrying on Somhairle’s water vibe…

Camera 2 took a hell a beating at the weekend.  I was just trying to persuade him might be time to think about retirement – a ‘well deserved rest’ it would be.  Round and round, recirculating under a weir he went, long after I had got out of there.  Not many would make it through that,especially after the life he’s had, but I think he was throwing down the gauntlet, as there’s a new camera in town – and by god did he not show the young guns how it’s done -even at that grand old age.  He’s just been wandering about the house since then with a extra spring in his step, babbling on about nights in the desert, days on mountains and about new cameras not being up to much  ’ I’ll show them 9 point auto-focus’.

Sazava

December 9th, 2010 • 1 comment River Kayaking

The Czech Republic’s River Sazava on a early October trip.  It runs right through the middle of fairytale country.

9 days in Assynt

May 11th, 2010 • Hill walking, River Kayaking

What might’ve seemed like an ambitious plan at the start – to invite 40-ish people to the remote North West of Scotland – came together beautifully, largely because all those involved came to make it happen.  We swam in the Sea, danced like loonies,  played crab football, ate mussels, climbed mountains, rolled about, and a laughed a lot.  After 9 Days in Assynt I found it difficult to leave.

World Class

April 13th, 2010 • River Kayaking
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Being Scottish it’s easy to get the impression that Scotland is the small country that’s always lagging behind everyone else.  Well, if your thinking about football, or most of the TV sports you’d be right, but take the time to scratch through the façade, and a different picture emerges.  The hills, glens and waters of Scotland play host to some truly world class experiences with recent years seeing outdoor sports rise to new levels of popularity.  Ironically while a majority sit glued to TV screens watching Scotland getting gubbed at the football, in the mountains many of the hardest mixed climbs in the world are being put up.  Indeed, there are many fields in which Scotland makes original contributions on the world stage, be it in Sea Kayaking or Mountain Biking.  The wonderful thing, is that the landscape which provides a great amphitheatre to these great challenges and achievements, is accessible to all, and in fact the very best experiences often aren’t the most technically difficult.  The more I experience the classic days out the more I realise how lucky we are.  What has again reminded me of this, is a recent Sea Kayaking trip round the Oa Penninsula of Islay, a day long expedition lead by Douglas Wilcox, who is currently putting together book of Sea Kayaking trips off the west coast of Scotland which be be published in the forthcoming year.

Scotstoun Gentleman’s Club – AGM – August 09

October 1st, 2009 • 1 comment Gorge Walking, Hill walking, Mountainbiking, River Kayaking
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For the second year running we (Somhairle, John, Spad & Hamish) made our annual pilgrimage to Torridon. We rented a great wee cottage in the grounds of Torridon House (seat of Lovelace) and have found it to be a great base for exploring Wester Ross. This year the weather was changeable to say the least.

Myself and Hamish had a great first day climbing Ben Damh. This is a great hill with staggering views and some technical walking. Without the use of a decent map we found our way up without bother on the well trodden path. On the way down the path petered out and decided to make our way down Spidean-Coir-an-Laoigh which was steep but manageable. Later to discover there was a decent path down the ridge to the east.

The next day took us to Meall a’ Ghiuthais which is a fairly small hill 887m. We set out up the well bolstered foot path from the car park on Loch Maree. This path is steep but very will built and has stunning view of the loch and Slioch. When we set out it was 25º and blazing sun but soon after we left the path for the scramble up Meall a’ Ghiuthais the cloud thundered in and visibility became very low. Walking between the two summits we found the corrie the guidebook suggested for descent. Somewhere along our walk between the summits something had gone a-wry and we ended up wandering west in to Glen Grudie. We only noticed our mistake once we saw through some small breaks in the cloud; instead of seeing Loch Maree we were looking at the Glen. A long detour above Druim Grudaich brought us back to the path and glourios sunshine. This trip was a valuable lesson in checking and double checking your bearing in poor visibilty. If the cloud hadn’t broken slightly we may have walked into the plateaux and been faced with a very long walk out. Aye, lesson learnt.

As the week progressed the weather got worse, but undeterred me and Spad set out to mountain-bike up the path alongside Abhainn Coire Mhic Nobuil between Litahach and Ben Eighe. The day started out in the sun with the odd shower, the trail was fun and good going apart from a puncture of one of the square edged water bars.  However as we came alongside Ben Dearg the rain and wind swept in with gusto. The trail also conspired against us becoming totally un-rideble, rugged and undulating over ancient merrain. Things became morbid when we found it impossible to stop and eat due to hash weather and lack of shelter, so we soldiered on hungry, wet and cold. Once we reached the Coire Dubh Mor of Ben Eighe the weather and trail improved giving us a welcom re-fuel ready for the descent. To say this descent is gnarly is an understatement, it is one of the most technical descents i have ever done. With gargantuan boulders, sharp water bars loose rock, sand and steep rock garden steps it is not one for the faint hearted. Riding it I was on the edge of me abilities having to hop, track stand, manual… You needed all the  tricks in the book to clear every section. There was no let up and nowhere to recover. Add to this the un-mistakble grind of metal on metal as the sandstone crud disolved my brake pads, reinforcing the uncompromising rugged harshness of this epic place. A quick burn along the road down Glen Torridon in team time trial style got us home and dry.

We took things a little easier the rest of the week, having a fine day out in the rain on Gairloch sands beach, mucking around in surf canoes and wind surfing. John, Hamish and Spad had a gorge walk up the Abhainn Alligin (i think) while I sat on the couch and licked my wounds. A great wee mountain bike ride round Loch Damh and there was the obligatory night on the shot with Thorburn and Porch. then the depressing drive back over the border (highland) into the lowlands.

If you get the chance to go to Torridon. GO!

Somhairle

Suilven by Kayak

August 28th, 2009 • Camping, Hill walking, River Kayaking
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Some pictures from a trip earlier in the year to Suilven.  We kayaked out to the mountain from Elphin and camped near the summit.  Weather was spectacular but quite windy up high (suilven doesn’t get much shelter as it’s got no neighbours).  This has to be one of the classic Scottish trips.

More photos to follow hopefully (any other contibutions welcome – email them to misha@high-8.com)

here are robins: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/robin4c/SulivenJune09#

About High-8

High-8 is a loose gathering of like minded adventurists who document first person, on the ground experiences with words, photos and film. The hope is to form a rough guide to outdoor adventure sports in Scotland and provide a warts and all, honest representation of what we find. No sport is excluded from mountaineering and mountain biking to gorge walking and kayak all are welcome and encouraged.

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We have compiled a list of usefull weather forecasts to help with planning trips. This list is designed to work on mobile phones, so it can be used when out in the wilds. Signal willing of course...

The Code

The Country Code, which most of us learned in school (and we probably haven't read since!), was updated in 2004 when it became the Countryside Code. Here's the updated version:
  • Be safe - plan ahead and follow any signs
  • Leave gates and property as you find them
  • Protect plants and animals, and take your litter home
  • Keep dogs under close control
  • Consider other people
In Scotland, where there is a more general right of access, there also exists the Scottish Outdoor Access Code:
  • Take responsibility for your own actions
  • Respect people’s privacy and peace of mind
  • Help farmers, landowners and others to work safely and effectively
  • Care for the environment
  • Keep your dog under proper control
  • Take extra care if you are organising a group, an event or running a business.
There's obviously a lot to to be learned from these - it's amazing how many people get out to enjoy the countryside but are still happy to leave it in a mess. Even with the recent updates, the Countryside Codes seem slightly outdated when considering the wider issues involved when lots of people get out into the countryside. Some places just can't handle high volumes of people, no matter how they behave and publicity, no matter how interesting or well-done , has the potential to attract lots of people to an area. Blogs including video, pictures or words, form part the the wider media which could easily contribute to tipping the balance, and so we as bloggers have to consider the implications of what we decide to post. Can the place we're writing about take more people, and if not, it might be wiser to leave maps, place names or grid references out of posts. In Scotland, the Mountain Bothies Association has been careful to protect the location of some Bothies due to mis-treatment and, in some cases, even malicious vandalism. That is not to say they would not advocate people using them - in fact, a well used, maintained and loved network of bothies exist, and the MBA as an organisation is there to encourage this. Some bothies are busier than others but generally it is the less remote places which are more susceptible to abuse - something which might be worth considering when deciding whether to post information. It must be said, in most cases it's obvious what should or shouldn't be publisiced, but it's worth taking these considerations to mind.

Please note: The Code is constantly being revised and added to. If you like to add something login in to the discussion on the forum.