South Harris Stroll

February 19, 2009 on 4:26 pm | In Hillwalking | No Comments

Saturdays when the wind is howling and the tops of the hills are shrouded in mist are not normally the type of day I would be looking forwards to going out hillwalking. But if you are wanting to train people to navigate in difficult conditions on difficult ground the hills of South Harris and a low cloud base are perfect.

Don and I were taking out Duke of Edinburgh Award leaders for some navigation training. Our mission was to look at how micro-navigation and macro-navigation can be used. We wanted to look at how pacing, bearings and timings could be use however more important is where their limitations lay.

Leaving from the parking place on the West end of the ‘coffin road’ just above Luskyntyre we followed the track for a short while before I started picking small features to navigate too. During the navigation there were successes and several failures but how is it the old saying goes ‘you don’t learn from success’.

Lunch was taken under the shelter of a small overhanging cliff and then the weather gave us a good blast and mixed in drizzle to test the waterproofs.

I enjoyed the day and it just reinforced to me the need for the basic navigation skills of map and compass ready for the day the batteries are flat on your GPS and mobile phone and it would be quite nice to get home, safely.

Tim Pickering
http://www.canoehebrides.com
Living in the world's biggest adventure playground - The Outer Hebrides CanoeHebrides.com - Sea kayaking Expeditions BikeHebrides.com -Quality Mountain Bike Hire

Benbecula - the Dark Isle

February 8, 2009 on 7:47 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Known as the Dark Isle, Benbecula is often over looked as you journey through the islands. I have just strolled back from the Dark Island Hotel to my diggs, the sky was clear, the moon almost full and air frost chilled. With a light dusting of snow the island had the feel of the alps, mountains fringed with snow, stars glistening, footsteps crunching, a magical walk back from the pub.

Walking ‘home’ doesn’t get much better.

Tim Pickering
http://www.canoehebrides.com
Living in the world's biggest adventure playground - The Outer Hebrides CanoeHebrides.com - Sea kayaking Expeditions BikeHebrides.com -Quality Mountain Bike Hire

More Exploring Uist

February 5, 2009 on 11:00 pm | In Hillwalking | 1 Comment

I am co-authoring a Guide Book to Sea Kayaking in the Outer Hebrides for Pesda Press and one of the areas I have to cover in the East coast of Uist. I am down working but the weather is a little wild so the kayak has stayed ashore. I have paddled the coast but I needed to visit Loch Coradail between Thecla and Beinn Corradail. There are some examples of hut circles and a wheel house there which I needed to photograph.

So my Sunday morning dawned with wall to wall blue sky and a bitter cold easterly wind. I parked at Loch Sgiopoirt and walked over the shoulder of Maol Martaig. Visiting the souterains on Thecla’s eastern shoulder on my way. The heather was deep, the ground difficult but the views breathtaking over the Minch. I was treated to a herd of deer who for quite while seemed little bothered by my presence until gently trotting south.

The hut circles didn’t disapoint me and as I sat drinking some stream water and stuffing a chocolate bar, it was the realisation I was the only person for miles which was most profound.

As I sat back at the car I had the wonderful warmth of knowing I had stolen one of winters best days.

Tim Pickering
http://www.canoehebrides.com
Living in the world's biggest adventure playground - The Outer Hebrides CanoeHebrides.com - Sea kayaking Expeditions BikeHebrides.com -Quality Mountain Bike Hire