Friday 24 April - Life goes on

Our seeds have now arrived from D T Brown, a delightful company to deal with, and planting has begun. Peas, cress, radish, spring onions, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce. and rocket, named :Rocket Artemis F1. When I pointed out to Lynne that the Artemis programme is NASA's current Moon mission and F1 engines powered the first stage of the Saturn V in the Apollo era, I was met with 'You're obsessed man!'  Oh well.

We also have Nasturtiums and Love in a Mist.

But we're not the only ones planting:

On our walk yesterday we came across this painted stone placed by the fence. Nice touch from someone. Thanks.

I'm beginning to think that a Twitter account might be better suited during the current restrictions than a blog. It's probably a better place to say nothing very much.

My birthday tomorrow, normally spent on a hill, but our usual walk will have to do.

Monday 20 April - I think this rather fine

It's taken a while, but this beautiful larch tree on the route of our daily walk, has come to life.

Taken with iPhone. Click to enlarge.

Sunday 19 April - four weeks on

These daffodils brighten up our daily walk but obviously they've had a close encounter with a tractor, probably delivering hay for the sheep. I like to think they were spared on purpose. Positive thoughts are needed at present.

We met not a soul before turning onto the now familiar single track road to Powmill. In the distance is King's Seat Hill, the snow patches on its steep north east slopes slowly shrinking.

At one of the few houses along our route the friendly dog barks his regular welcome; the cat observes us briefly then turns away, disinterested. It's a cat after all. I like cats. I like dogs for the opposite reason.

A lovely spot with dog, cats and hens.

At home I'm falling into an enjoyable routine, if jumping from one thing to another counts as routine.  
 
I've been uploading photos to Flickr, browsing climbing books and generally living vicariously on the tops and ridges of the Munros and others. I searched the bookshelves for Irvine Butterfield's High Mountains of Britain and Ireland, a book I bought over thirty years ago but never used preferring the SMC's Tables to identify the Munros and Tops using Grid References, then working out routes for ourselves.(Edit: We bought Butterfield’s book in 1988, three years before ‘compleation’ so I assume we thought it simply a book worth having for its own sake. Which it is.)

However, Butterfield's book is an excellent one and his photographs capture the landscape well. I remember a friend pouring over its pages at Ardmair the evening before we set off for Achintee, bound for a day on Bidein a' Choire Sheasgaich and Lurg Mhor. I teased him about using a guide book, and a non-SMC one at that, but he would have none of it!

There are other books to read of course;

Everest - The First Ascent, the untold story of Griffith Pugh, recommended by Sir Hugh and Gimmer.

James Naughtie's On The Road - American Adventures from Nixon to Trump.

The Haldanes of Gleneagles, a Scottish History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day, which Lynne has read but which I might find a bit dry.

Unfortunately, all this is a poor substitute for being on the hills. But never mind. Following the Sunday Times report into the UK Government's handling of the virus outbreak in its early stages, Cameron McNeish has the answer to Scotland's coronavirus problem: "I think it's very clear now that being shackled to England is seriously bad for our health@DissolvetheUnion". Really? Cringeworthy to say the least.
 
To cheer you up (well it cheers me up) I leave you with these:

Cuillin Main Ridge Traverse - approaching the Thearlaich-Dubh Gap (hidden) with Sgurr Thearlaich (right) and Sgurr Alasdair (left). Top of Great Stone Shoot between them.

Cuillin Ridge from near Gars-bheinn

Scanned 35mm slide. Am Basteir, April 1991 two months before we finished our round

Saturday 11 April - Living in the moment

Apart from our daily exercise I've been uploading photographs to Flickr initially because my cousin - we rock climbed together in our youth - asked to see photos of our locality and the hills of the north. I do like Flickr but the free version has a limit of 1000 photos, so sometime soon I'll have to upgrade to Pro and take out a subscription. Looking again at some of the photographs I've uploaded, Corbett trips to Rum, Knoydart and Letterewe, for example, have made us long to be back among those magnificent hills. It's not about the Corbetts, it's about just being there.

In all probability though, it will be next year before we can return so what, we asked ourselves, would be something special to plan and dream about during what will seem, we fear, a very long summer?   Living in the moment is all very well, but a bit of living in the future wouldn't go amiss we told ourselves.

So now we have an idea. A long term project. Plans can be laid. OS Maps can once more can spread on the floor.

In the Cuillin in the days of breeches and ordinary shirts. (from a slide)

The Flickr link for anyone interested is here


If you do have a look, bear in mind that I'm using Flickr for storage so there will be some you'll want to skip through. There are adverts every so often on the free version.

Meantime we await compost and seeds to grow lettuce, peas and cress in our growboxes.

Friday 3 April - So what's been going on?

Well, nothing as far as hills are concerned what with the lockdown and trying to keep ourselves and others safe. We abandoned the idea of walking in the quiet Ochils which would have involved a three mile drive to the nearest parking spot so have enjoyed daily walks from the house instead, meeting only the odd cyclist or dog walker. Kinross-shire is very rural so options for walking are varied but so far we've stuck to the same circuit, a route past farms and open fields with newly born lambs beginning to find their feet.

 Click to enlarge all photos.

The road to Powmill, reached from the house by a pleasant track with sheep and cattle grazing either side. Views to the Ochils all the way

Social Distancing

It seems a long, long time ago since we were out to Skythorn Hill and before that, a favourite walk through Corb Glen and onto the gentle hills nearby - next three photos.

View from the Cadger's Path (and below)

Green Law

Setting out for Skythorn Hill and other tops

and a day on Wether Hill.

So what else is going on?

Yesterday my usual news update from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) included the latest on the Mars 2020 Rover, now named Perseverance following a US wide student competition when 28000 essays were submitted by students explaining their chosen name for the rover. Eventually this number was reduced to 155 then to nine, the eventual winner being from Virginia.

Perseverance at Kennedy Space Centre. The red arrow at the rear shows the plate which carries 10,932,295 names submitted from around the world. Mine included! It also carries the essays of the 155 finalists in the 'Name the Rover' competition. (Photo courtesy NASA, JPL)

The plate - the laser-etched graphic depicts the Earth and Mars joined by the Sun. (Photo courtesy NASA, JPL)

The three chips with the names stencilled by electron beam can be seen top left on the plate which will be visible to cameras on Perseverance's mast. Launch of the Atlas V carrying Perseverance is scheduled for July this year, landing on Mars at Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021. As I said in a previous post, I have my NASA Boarding Pass so am raring to go! By the time it launches I might be wishing I was on the pad in person rather than in name only.

Also on the space exploration front (well, sort of) I have a second, half-built, Saturn V model to complete and a new Apollo 11 Lunar Module to build which will compliment the Apollo Command and Service Module completed in February.

Like everyone else, our summer trips to the hills are off and we have only the faintest of hopes that our usual September holiday at Braemar will take place.

Stay safe and keep well.

Please note: because of one idiot spammer I am now moderating all comments.

Tuesday 25 February - Earth: The Pale Blue Dot

On 14 February 1990 Voyager 1, then 4 billion miles from the Sun, looked back for the last time and took a series of photographs of the Sun and six planets from 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane.  NASA has reprocessed the photograph below. Click to enlarge.

Courtesy Voyager Project, NASA and JP-Caltech who hold the copyright

As a backdrop to my 64cm high model Saturn V rocket which I built a couple of years ago, I have another famous photograph: Earthrise, taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders from lunar orbit on 24 December 1968.

Monday 3 February - Easter Downhill, 361m OS map 58



Easter Downhill from Castlehill Reservoir (February 2019). Castle Hill is an alternative name for the hill. 

A warm balmy Spring day wandering among the hills north of Glendevon village eventually landed us on the 361m summit of Easter Downhill.

That was in 1991 and with us was the latest member of the family: Mist, our Border Collie, rescued six months earlier in a poor state from a farm not far from where we stood. Now healthy and strong, two months later she would climb her first Munros with us on a backpacking trip in Knoydart. That left us one Munro to do, Sgurr Dubh Mòr on Skye which involves scrambling, so we were on our own unfortunately.

Though dry, it was far from balmy when we pulled into the small parking area below Lendrick Hill and, with perfect timing, the forecast rain blew in just as we were putting on our waterproofs. Cameras were stuffed into rucksacks, waterproof (?) covers atta, taken off again to get gloves, car keys dropped in the mud. But no matter, it was good to be out in some rough weather and heading for a top again.

A short walk along the road took us to the farm road to Downhill and the open exposed hillside. The wind battered away at us, sleet showers swept in and just as quickly pushed through, my waterproof rucksack cover blew off, was retrieved, re-attached, blew off again so returned to its zipped pouch. We enjoyed it all.

Lendrick Hill from the top of Eater Downhill.

Castlehill Reservoir  and Seamab Hill 

Distant middle - Whitewisp Hill,  and right Innerdownnie Hill

On the summit, we remembered the day back in 1991, took some photos and Lynne briefly reacquainted herself with the remains of the hillfort, but it was no place to hang about so we departed downwards towards a stand of Scots Pines where lunch could be had in relative calm.

Mellock Hill from our tea break spot. First of the local hills to be threatened by wind farms in early 2002 (I think),  a campaign stopped the development but even more inappropriate locations in the Ochils were chosen instead.

We found a sunny spot with a good view to Mellock Hill and enjoyed a brief halt to enjoy a cup of Lapsang Souchong and a biscuit. Our plan to walk directly back to the farm track was soon abandoned as we sank into the sodden ground. Some may remember that my left Achilles tendon is troubled by wearing boots so I was wearing trail shoes which of course failed to keep my feet dry in such conditions. Lynne's boots performed no better so we ascended some way back up Easter Downhill to escape the worst of the quagmire, dropped to a gate and so to the track.

Heading uphill a bit to escape the bog

The weather was now blustery and invigorating so we decided to continue towards Downhill Farm and have a look at the Castlehill Reservoir dam where we reckoned the overflow would be quite spectacular. The start of the path to the dam is waymarked but obviously not used very much, probably because there is limited parking on the B934 and most people (tourists rather than walkers) use the route near Nether Auchlinsky on the A823.

Approaching Castlehill reservoir with weather closing in again

Plunging to the River Devon to join the River Forth

The photo doesn't capture the overflow's display of power, though a video taken with the iPhone does better.
 
On our return journey we noticed some rusting farm machinery - cultivators - in a field. They had been manufactured by Nicholson of Newark around 1906-1920, perhaps earlier, and unlike old rusting cars found in similar locations their presence didn't jar.

A route by the pines (not the ones where we had tea) looks like an ideal walk on a summer's evening

A nasty chest infection kept me housebound for a large part of January so it was a great relief to
be on a hill again. I did manage to finish my latest model, the Apollo 11 Command and Service Module so the month was not completely wasted.

Our 1991 route as I remember it, minus the Green Knowes Windfarm

Today's route

Sent from my iPhone

Thursday 29 August, Braemar - gloomy

The photo reflects my mood after Johnson prorogued parliament yesterday, just after our arrival here. Then Ruth Davidson confirmed today that she was resigning as Leader of the Scottish Conservatives. At least Nicola Sturgeon is happy.

Wednesday 7 August - NASA-JPL I'm off to Mars in 2020

I launch in July 2020 on an Atlas V-541 rocket from Cape Canaveral Airforce Station and arrive at Jezero Crater, Mars, on 18 February 2021, a journey of 313,586,649 miles. I have my Boarding Pass already.

Atlas V launch (Courtesy Spacenet 101)

Jezero Crater. Courtesy NASA

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California is managed for NASA by the prestigious California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and is the centre for robotic exploration of the solar system. It also manages NASA's Deep Space Network.

Previous JPL missions include Voyagers 1 and 2, Cassini-Huygens, Kepler, Juno and last November, InSight successfully landed on Mars. I watched on NASA TV as Mission Control monitored the "7 minutes of terror" - the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) phase - which worked perfectly. Unfortunately, I missed getting onto the InSight flight.

"What on earth is he talking about", I hear you say.

Well, I subscribe by email to a number of NASA newsletters including JPL's 'Week in Review' and the first item on the 3 August issue concerned the Mars Entry, Descent and Landing Installation 2 (MEDLI2) on the Mars 2020 Aeroshell. The Aeroshell consists of a Thermal Protection System  (heat shield) and a back shell which will protect the Mars 2020 rover as it journeys to Mars and during the entry and descent through the Mars atmosphere at about 12,500 mph, slowing to 2mph in just 6 minutes.

"Flight data will allow the uncertainties in the models [used to predict the performance of an entry vehicle] to be further reduced leading to a more accurate prediction of the loads and performance" (Henry Wright, MEDLI2 project manager).

Currently large margins (100 - 200%) need to be allowed in predictions to ensure safe entry and descent. This data is of course vital for future human missions to Mars.

So what's all this about me going to Mars?

The Microdevices Laboratory at JPL will be using an electron beam to stencil submitted names onto a silicon chip with lines of text smaller than a human hair (75nm). My name is one of them!  The chips will be affixed to the Mars 2020 Rover.

My Boarding Pass, which includes my name of course.Courtesy NASA

JPL - Fuelling the 2020 Rover's power system (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator.) Courtesy NASA JPL

 JPL - The back shell which will protect the Rover during the descent to Jezero Crater. Courtesy NASA JPL

Coutesy NASA, JPL

The Rover's robotic arm will take core samples of the surface and analyse them sending data back to Earth but there's much more to this mission than that. More later perhaps, but in the meantime I'm looking forward to following the preparations for the mission my the long voyage to the surface of Mars. Even if it's just in name.

For now I continue to build my second Saturn V model though the Airfix version is not as enjoyable to build as the Revell was.

Sunday 7 July - Meall Corranaich and Meall a' Choire Lèith

I lost the first attempt at this post so here goes again.

Drive over the hill road by Lochan na Làirige in summer, especially at weekends, and you'll find tents, campervans and bus-like motor homes all over the place. As a motorcaravanner myself I understand the attraction of parking up in such beautiful surroundings (I don't do it though) but it makes it well nigh impossible, sometimes, to get parked for a day on the hill.

With my last point in mind we were early today, it being a Sunday, but not quite early enough to be first at the small roadside cutting just beyond the north end of the Lochan. A young couple (who'd camped the night before) were getting boots on and were soon off up the path with a 'see you later, you'll soon catch us up'. Meall nan Tarmachan, done twice in winter from the dam (1977 and 1993), was a fine prospect, its craggy slopes falling to Lochan nan Làirige. I can't remember why we did it from the dam rather than the 'normal' route but both ascents provided proper mountaineering days as only winter conditions can. I wouldn't mind doing it again next winter - if we get a proper one.

The path across the moor is indistinct in places and we caught up with the couple as they searched for it whereas we just took the best line, faint path or not. By contrast, the path up the SW ridge of Meall Corranaich to the summit is excellent though for a moment I contemplated leaving it and going off-road up the west face's grassy slopes. However, the ridge would give good views across to Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers so I decided against leaving it.

The moorland approach to Meall Corranaich

The excellent path on the ridge with Loch Tay below

For once the weather forecasters had got it right and we were met by the predicted cold north wind as we emerged onto the level ground before the summit cairn. It didn't feel like a July day at all.

Beinn Ghlas

Meall a' Choire Lèith, 3km distant and looking more than that today, was easily reached. We made a diversion to the stony top above Coire Gorm (why I don't really know!) before regaining the north ridge and descending to a bealach at 780m. The final ascent from here skirted the edge of the crags of Coire Liath before reaching the flat summit area and the cairn where we were dismayed to find two rotting banana skins. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. No lovers of hills are you who left these here.

Lynne on Meall a' Choire Lèith

Why? 

We didn't tarry long at the top and could have descended direct to Coire Gorm to the path above the Allt Gleann Dà Eig (not marked on our map) but instead opted for a return to the bealach from where we could take our outward route back, as we did in 1983, or drop down into Coire Gorm.  Down into the corrie it was but it turned out not to be a particularly good choice. If there was a hidden wet hole in the vicinity I managed to find it, the one just before we joined the path being a particularly fine example. Better to just go back over the hills and get the views to Ben Lawers and the rest.

Looking back to Meall a' Choire Lèith

Looking towards Glen Lyon from the Allt Gleann Dà Eig - which meets the River Lyon near Balmenoch

At the car the sun shone and we finished off the tea. The couple arrived and we talked for a while. The girl was French and doing a PhD at St Andrews - her field work was being done in Glen Lyon but I failed to ask her if she was a geographer, geologist, geophysicist or whatever. We agreed that St. Andrews is a great place to be. Glen Lyon isn't a bad 'lab' either, we thought.

And a final point: Meall Corranaich is, in my view, better approached via Coire Odhar starting from the NTS carpark. If you can find a space.