Justice for Jonesy

A while ago I wrote about the fantastic book The Hills are Stuffed With Swedish Girls. Well it turns out that Ordnance Survey don't like the cover of the book. Richard Happer the author is fighting back with a Facebook Campaign Justice for Jonesy.

While we were in the west highlands this weekend we just happened to come across one of Jonesy's offspring as we were about to go into The Real Food Cafe, obviously a cat with good taste.

Sarah Heward, the owner of The Real Food Cafe was very interested in the story along with Liz, one of the Killin MRT. With Jones Junior looking longingly at my ever scrummy fish and chips we filled Sarah & Liz in on the story so far.

We need to spread the word. So if you haven't joined the Facebook Campaign yet get over there now. And Keep an eye out for Jones Junior whilst you're on your travels.............

Ben Hiant

Ardgour is often overlooked as it doesn't have any Munros but what it does have is some absolutely fantastic hills with very rugged terrain. Sandy, who had joined us for the day, admitted he'd never even thought of venturing over this direction. The weather was playing ball for once, the rest of Scotland appearing to be under cloud according to the forecast. A few options were bandied about over breakfast but we decided to head far west towards Ardnamurchan Point for Ben Hiant and boy what a good decision that was. Nick Williams Pocket Mountains West Highlands was Steve's inspiration for our route but this day was more about going out and heading where we fancied.

The bay at Camas nan Geall where we started was idyllic with the coos drinking from the loch. There were a couple of enclosures one of which had a really old standing stone with a cross on it. No one is sure how old the stone is but there is a suggestion that it could be Bronze Age, more info here. Stupid here didn't bother taking a photo as she was too busy looking at the cows on the beach!! Ah well.

As you can see it was just glorious weather as we headed over towards the next bay Port a' Chamais.

We were having a great time wandering, enjoying the views and messing about with the stuff we found on the beach.

Enough messing, time to head up hill and it was a bit steep. We were treated to loads of deer on the horizon too as we wandered up. What I wasn't expecting when we reached a wee plateau just below the summit was the view out to Eigg and Rum - the photo doesn't do it justice. I was so excited that I was jumping about like a loon and the boys were wondering what I was on!!

A hazy Rum & Eigg in the background 

Over towards Ardnamurchan Point 

 

On the summit of Ben Hiant 

From the summit we were able to see the extensive cloud that was covering the rest of the country and were very glad to be where we were. The views were breathtaking. We were also able to see the path that winds it way down the north east ridge to the road, the route given in the SMC Corbett book. This was our way down and where Sandy found himself in perilous danger!! ;-)

Yet another stunning day on the hill :-D

Thank You Morely's Mystery Tours :-)

A birthday weekend, a surprise destination. At least this year I didn't try and give Steve directions when I'd no idea where I was going!! Morely's Mystery Tours promised a fun packed weekend and that is what I got in Ardgour. Our base for the weeekend was The Inn at Ardgour which was lovely as ever and we finished their supply of the scrumptious Red MacGregor. Better get more in for us for the next visit Luke ;-) I've taken too many photos as ever but here's a taster and I shall tell more of the adventures later

Camas nan Geall & Ben Hiant

Ben Resipol

Decathlon Quechua Bionassay Trousers

I spoke a while back about my winter trouser dilemma and after doing battle with Decathlon over their overt sex discrimination in the pricing of the Quechua Bionassay Trousers, I thought I might as well give these £39.95 trousers a go. They've been on half a dozen times so far and they are certainly going to get used on my next few outings too.

They're packed with features that a lot of top end winter troos don't have. Made of Decathlon's own version of softshell which seems quite tough and so far has handled drizzly damp stuff and snow very well. Not had them in persistent precipitation yet so unsure how they'll respond.

I ended up with the male version, not because the women's didn't fit (the usual reason) but because the men's had a thigh pocket, something that I find invaluable in giving me easier access to small stuff than putting it in the two zipped hip pocket. The fit is reasonable though I need to keep the braces on as they do tend to drift south without them. The waist band doesn't have belt loops and its part elasticated which does loosen off as the day goes on. Other than that no real gripes about the fit.

The things I really like about these trousers are the thigh vents and the nifty internal gaiter. I've seen many trousers with thigh vents but so many of them end up exposing bare flesh to all the elements, not something you want. These troos vents have mesh so you're able to preserve some decency on the hill along with doing the job they are designed to do. So far the weather has been cold enough for me to be wearing my merino leggings underneath which has kept me toasty. Even on the days I've not had the leggings on the temperature control has been good. Only condensation I've had so far is on the waterproof sac I keep my phone in when I took it out the thigh pocket. Will be interesting to see how the breathability is when it's raining.

The gaiter is made of two materials, the lower is tough nylon the upper softer polyester which zips into the trouser. It has a metal clip to attach to your boot and velcro closing. At first I thought this might be uncomfortable and possibly rub but I've had no issues. I was surprised at how well the gaiter coped in the thigh deep snow I've found myself in on the last few outings with only minimal moisture getting through. Securing the bottom of it with the Kahtoola microspikes worked a treat at stopping it ride up. The inside ankle of the trouser has reinforced patches, zips and velcro closings.

You can't deny that for just under £40 they pack a lot of features and have so far delivered the goods, even keeping my rear end dry when I have done some tactical sliding in the snow :-D

 

The Hills are Stuffed With Swedish Girls

Strange title for a blog post but it's the name of the book that I'm currently chuckling my way through. For years I've had male friends go on about how they had met/were going to meet the Swedish netball team on their hill adventures. Richard Happer has combined this hill goers myth with that of another quintessential hill rite of passage, the West Highland Way and what a combination.

There are few books that make me laugh out loud but this is one that is making me do it every other page. I'll be sorry to finish it.

Maybe I'll just have to go on the West Highland Way again myself to see what adventures I can have to write about myself :-)