Finnmark 2019 here I come!

I've always wanted to visit Norway, and also I'd heard about a mountain race in the Arctic Circle - Offroad Finnmark. I thought that if I entered the race it would give me a reason to go, and a real challenge for 2019. So after a couple of drams one night when Abi was away I bit the bullet and signed up online (what had I done!)!

Time to get shot!

I've entered the easiest category, 150km in a 16 hour cut off. Interestingly I'd asked someone who attempted it last year and they said 'if you are going all of that way do the 300km at least'! I think that the 150km will be enough of a challenge for me...

the lovely bit, good track, sunny!

I've spent the last 2 weeks hassling cycling friends to help come up with a training programme and I now have an excel spreadsheet that may well take over my life in 2019! My training officially starts in 2019... but I feel excited by going to Norway and it has inspired me out on my bike already.

Looking at North Kessock, Kessock Bridge and Inverness 20 miles away!

So yesterday I went for a leg spin in the wilds of Srathfarrar, a nearby glen. The route was only about 22km, and I'd read some of the tracks were much better after a dry period (its been mild and wet lately). It started off well, on a good track that gained height and gave great views... But soon deteriorated and because wet and boggy!

Lush forest - if only it luted longer (before the swamp)

I pushed on (literally), seeing lots of deer and I think an Eagle soaring high up in the sky... After an eternity of hard slog (eventually) I started the descent back to the tree line on a great steep track in the old forest - yip yip. But the good cycling quickly ended. The last few miles were very rowdy, wild river crossings, barely a trail, swamp riding, shoulder high bushwhacking, fallen tree's, wet roots, hidden holes to fall in!

One of the interesting crossings!

I rode carefully and I thought afterwards this was probably the slippiest most difficult trip I've done in 2018! The 22km took 3.5 hrs!!! But I really, really enjoyed myself. So glad I got out :-).

Rumble in the Jumble (of blocs)

Full of a cold I needed an easy day out at the weekend to blow away the cobwebs but not be too taxing! Jack and some Invernesians were going to Torridon on Sunday for a bouldering session so I decided to head over with Callum from Avoch (who I met on the Adventure Photographer Course) to do a little photography and maybe scamper on some rocks, depending upon how I felt. So the Invernesians were to be our models whether they liked it or not!

warm up wall - unknown climber

Unfortunately they hadn't read the memo and were all wearing dark/black clothes which was rubbish. Check the two pictures on 'worry bomb'. I persuaded Eelco to turn his jacket inside out to get the orange - some colour thank god. But if Fin had on at least a colourful top this would have been better. 

Fin on 'worry bomb' f7a

Also I had to crop 'Fins' shot quite heavily to get some folk out of it who were just standing around. I thought it would be a good shot with just a single climber in frame so persuaded Jack to stay a short time, take off his coat (nice blue top) and play on the problem a little more.

Jack on 'worry bomb' f7a

The number of boulders at Torridon seems infinite, its just such an amazing place. There were around 10 folk there on Sunday which made it seem reasonably busy for the Highlands. The ship boulder is the most iconic bloc in the Highlands. 'We' lay on our bouldering mats a few hundred meters from it taking some shots through the cotton grass. The first image (below) is okay showing two different problems being tackled, and again enhanced by Jack's red trousers. Unfortunately the sun had gone at this point.

Ship boulder - the most famous bloc in the Highlands

The second shot caught a brief moment of nice light.. but I had to crop the left side of the boulder as the other 2 boulderers weren't doing anything and were distracting in shot. Jack did eventually complete the highball arete and I wished I'd waited, but it would have meant lying for quite a while. I guess I learnt that patience could of paid off in this instance.

Jack on the f6b highball arete

It was a cold wind so trying to find sheltered problems was the key. We stayed for 4 hours before retreating. I hope to go back when on better form to try more problems now that I have seen what's on offer. What a great craic.

Fin looking for the pads and an escape..

Trying to keep up with Abi long legs

With glorious weather forecast I persuaded long legs to come walking at the weekend. I don't think either of us have walked in the hills since spring so I was pretty excited :-).

The lovely approach

I was mindful of the reduced daylight now that we are into winter, I had endless ideas, but settled upon Slioch because its not far away and looks spectacular. Online it suggested it took 7 - 9 hours and was a 12 mile walk so perfect for a gentle return to the hills!

Nice morning light

Rest loch at ~ 700m

We got to kinlochewe and set off at 8am on a glorious crisp morning. I was surprised by the un-forecasted strong winds when we set off, and I thought that these must be katabatic winds. Pretty sure they were as the vanished within an hour as the day broke.

Meall Each is the small lump in the background

The initial miles along the valley and then following the shore of loch Maree surprised me as it was so beautiful with some lovely trees, something that I'd not really thought about or expected.

another wee rest

the top!

After crossing the footbridge at Fasagh we started climbing uphill and into the sun. It was quite a slog but great to be in the hills on such a glorious day. It was great to reach the 500m bealach next to Meall Each and we sat in the sun for 10 mins. Meandering up the Coire na Sleaghaigh it was hard not to be amazed by the scale and grandeur of the place.

Looking back to Torridon and spotting another
walker who's following our route

On to the next top - can you spot 'legs'

We rested again at a beautiful unnamed lochan (on my map) before finally getting to the top of Slioch for 12 noon. The views in all directions were amazing, looking out to sea, to Skye, the Western Isles to the NW, and the view of the letterewe estate and Fisherfields was even more appealing.

Finally heading down

With time in hand we headed East and went across to another hill, Sgurr an Tuill Bhain before heading South and rejoining the outward route. On this section long legs was so quick that I could barely catch her in shot with the camera!!

Just about to lose the sun as we get back to
Loch Maree's shoreline

When we finally rejoined loch maree we were both quite tired and by the time that we got back to the car at 4pm we were both pretty glad to have made it. A great walk though, with fantastic weather.

Bike Bonding Weekend

I reconnected with with my bike Trek at the weekend.

Lately we just haven't been getting along... not sure why, but there has been a definite tension! So I spend Saturday replacing the rear mech as the old one had lost its 'spring' and was very cranky and being awkward.

I saw the bracken and had to take this shot!

I was patient and spend ages re-tuning the gears, which is a job I hate, but I think Trek appreciated this TLC as 'it' seemed content.

Hikers across the river from a mile away

The next day we went to explore some new trails in Glen Feshie, Cairngorms. It was windy as we skipped joyfully South following the river Feshie. I love time alone with Trek, as we can dance to our own tune.

On top of the Corbet

I did spend a little too long messing around taking photo's (I enjoy it, Trek got annoyed!) and had to slightly cut the route short having forgotten a head torch, and not knowing whether the rivers would be fordable at the far end of my original idea/route.

But it worked out well because I detoured onto the top of Carn Dearg Mor (857m) and found a great track not marked on the map, leading all the way from the summit, North for 3-4 km back to the estate tracks. It was a great descent bar the last trackless 150m which saw me completing a forward roll dismount as the front wheel fell into a big hole.

Derelict Croft

So Trek and I are back on good terms and after a little spruce up when we got home I tucked 'it' up nicely with a little fresh oil in the shed.. A bientot old friend.

Adventure Photography

I've just spent a weekend on an Adventure Photography course run by Nadir Khan based at Glenmore Lodge.. I'd considered doing it last year but bought new skis instead! As the Saturday came closer I got stick from Loz as it had snowed and there were winter routes to be climbed! Torn! Why don't time machines exist so that we can do everything?!

The trees give a magical feel with the dusting of snow

Love the depth and colours

Birds or branches!

We met on Saturday and headed straight out with Nad and Mark our 'model'! Immediately it was great. We were lucky with the weather, crisp, a dusting of snow and vibrant Autumn colours in abundance. We didn't particularly wander far, learning lots of skills and tips heading past the green lochan towards Ryvoan. Towards the end of the day it snowed and we had a brief blizzard which was atmospheric, and nice to shoot in!

Love the colours and silver birch reflections on the water

just love this kind of shot - Nadir and other at far side

dreamy grasses with sun and snow

On Saturday the main learning points for me were composition, positioning (often getting down on the ground is an example) and making the most of natural features, creating depth in the shot. In the evening we spent some time editing photo's. It was really interesting watching Nadir edit a fairly basic shot of a tree with Autumnal leaves. After his edit it really stood out and was then a memorable shot. I never really do much post production on my images, and will now consider this aspect more often. Quite a full on day!

What I particularly like the Cairngorms for - this middle ground

Posed for sure, but snow and bright colours = thumbs up

Dave talking to Nadir, love the relaxed posture

Sunday dawned another fine day, sunnier so we headed towards the Chalamain Gap again stopping regularly to work on various shots. I learnt lots about using my camera manually from capturing movement, and using features as leading lines for the shot to looking for 'the drama' and using this element in the composition.

texture and movement 

Dave concentrating

Shooting into the sun

 A really great course that I think will have helped my photography for sure. I've included my favourite 14 shots from the 800 I took over 2 days. They are possibly quite staged in one way, but I still like them and each one taught me something new about photography and therefore was a success. Cheers Nadir!

Merely to show the good weather

The Affric Kintail Way on Tattie Day..

I've fancied biking the Affric Way for a while and with the Highland 'tattie day' (public holiday) it gave me an extra day to play with. So I decided not to pick potatoes for which the day was given and load up the bike....

Lets hustle

Its interesting that 'bike packing' has become so popular/mainstream and trendy, even featuring on Countryfile! I guess I'm inadvertently 'on trend', which for those who know me (and me for that matter) is very amusing!

Love an old concrete bus station with village notice board

So I loaded up the bike and managed to get a lift part way to Drumnadrochit the official start of the trail. It's interesting riding a mt bike that's laden with stuff, almost immediately a slower travelling pace is forced upon you as you and the bike are less nimble. It was a (slower) joy to cycle the forest trails through to Cannich. I definitely observed more around me travelling this way stopping frequently to look at the magical Autumn colours.

Love a good log too..!

I nearly rode the route in a day, but really wanted to stay in the bothy so deliberately split it into 2 days. Getting to Cannich around noon I did slightly panic that I would get to the bothy very early and wish I'd pushed through but I shouldn't have worried....

Glen Affric - amazing colours at the moment (bike and trees)

The Autumn colours were spectacular around Glen Affric too, and I met two hikers fully loaded up with massive packs near the end of the Glen Affric road who said that they were also heading to the bothy.... but I never saw them again - guess they didn't get that far.

Open country 

My pace had to slow after Loch Affric as the track roughened and it took longer than I anticipated to get to the YHA, now boarded up for the winter. I had a break here and looked at the cosy winter room that they leave open for travellers (one to remember).

Guess its this way!

Up until this point I had managed to keep my feet dry, but the 3km from the YHA to the bothy was very wet with bog and river crossings so the legs were firmly damp by the time I arrived at the bothy. It had also started to rain and sadly my sleeping bad was a tad damp when I got it out of the waterproof bag at the bothy! Oh dear!

I'd heard mediocre reports of the Camban bothy, but it was pretty good with 2 livable rooms with a fire place in each. There was a guy in one room already with kit scattered (filling) the whole room and after a brief chat it seemed like he didn't want company, so I took the other roof and made myself at home.

Hoping I didn't end up like this hiker..

I was so glad I'd bought the candles and firelog, and once it got dark it was nice and cozy. It was great to have some hot food and bed down, occasionally waking to hear the stags roaring out on the hillside. I slept well, about 14 hours on and off!

The shut up hostel

The other guy was chatty in the morning complaining of a long night and I got away just as the darkness turned into a gloomy morning light. Unfortunately the rain had now set in but it didn't matter.

Yay - Camban bothy

The section of trail from the bothy to Morvich is brilliant, at first amazing rideable single track that I 'stumbled' through in the morning gloom before it goes through the spectacular pass thats steep and rocky which I didn't risk riding.. I mulled over that if I had a (Santa Cruz) Bronson with dropper post and no bags on the bike most of it would go (I can dream)!

Cosy bothy night

I only took one picture on this section as the day got wetter and wetter, in fact by the time I hit the road I was fairly wet and cold... There didn't appear to be anything at Morvich, but to be fair I cracked on North on the coast road looking for a cafe. Sadly there wasn't a cafe (or anything open) at Dornie so I pressed on for Kyle hoping to get the early train back home to Inverness. This wet slog was mentally draining but only lasted a couple of hours and I made the early train. It was great to board the train after standing shivering at the station in all of my clothes waiting patiently with the holiday makers who had been to Skye and were now homeward bound. I was the only muddy cyclist so slightly stood out. Typically (as lots of stuff shuts down in the Highlands in winter) the station toilets, waiting room and cafe were all 'closed for the season'!

Last picture before the rain made me put the camera away

So what did I learn!?
1) Well the Alpkit bike packing kit works really well apart from the leaky bag which I'm sure Alpkit will sort out.
2) Bike packing is a great way to travel, I covered 65 miles in a day and a half (as opposed to walking the route over maybe 4 days).
3) Its quite tough!
4) Finally I definitely need a frame bag. I had to use a 30 ltr rucksack as well for food and cooking stuff, so transferring this to the bike in a frame bag would be brilliant... Just need to measure up and get one now! A really fun adventure.

Homeward bound