Hillwalking Thread

[Benjamin_Nevis]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Stac Pollaidh is the most difficult mainland summit to reach. There was a move about halfway along the ridge I thought was worse. The exposure was wild and involved stepping down to a hold I could barely see at first.

[invergowrie arab]

I went half way up and chickened out due to exposure on the right and having to basically lean out over it.

Maybe it's no harder than Beinn Avon but you know you can only fall 15 feet there.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

Probably the last walk of my holiday - another glorious day on Sail Mhor. It's an easy walk, although thanks to it pishing down last night was a largely pathless bogfest. Views from the top were fantastic.

[the aggressive beggar]

Managed to get lost in Rothiemurchus Forest today.  Took the dog a walk to the area to the south of Coylumbridge Hotel and followed what I thought was a track going into the woods which I assumed would link up with a track I'd seen earlier. 

Big mistake, as the track gradually disappeared leaving us completely disoriented, only had a compass app on my phone which wouldn't calibrate.  Tried to retrace our steps which didn't go well.

After about an hour we started getting seriously worried and the wife was giving me deserved verbals.  We had about an hour of daylight left and I was just about to phone 999 when I saw a runner in a bright pink jacket in the distance.   Incredible feeling of relief when we reached the path.

Lessons learned from today.  Feel like a total tit and that last 10 minutes felt fkn horrible.

[Chinatoon Bairn]

Anyone had any luck exporting Viewranger routes into GPX files? Seems like it should be simple enough going by their FAQs but I can't actually see the option to do it. Have tried it on both free and paid routes so stumped as to what the issue is.

[Futureboy]

Photo from my lunch stop during yesterday's wander. Probably one of the most snapped views in the Cairngorms, but it never disappoints.

[Swello]

49 minutes ago, Chinatoon Bairn said:

Anyone had any luck exporting Viewranger routes into GPX files? Seems like it should be simple enough going by their FAQs but I can't actually see the option to do it. Have tried it on both free and paid routes so stumped as to what the issue is.

to be clear - you are trying to export routes that you have created in Viewranger to a GPX file?

If that's the case - press the little "person" icon, select routes, select the route you want, <android> press the 3 dots and select "Export to GPX"

Edited September 30, 2020 by Swello

[Chinatoon Bairn]

51 minutes ago, Swello said:

to be clear - you are trying to export routes that you have created in Viewranger to a GPX file?

If that's the case - press the little "person" icon, select routes, select the route you want, <android> press the 3 dots and select "Export to GPX"

Not routes that I have created no, trying to export Walkhighlands routes to GPX. Have tried on both the mobile app and the website without any luck. Can't see an option to export to GPX anywhere.

[Swello]

15 minutes ago, Chinatoon Bairn said:

Not routes that I have created no, trying to export Walkhighlands routes to GPX. Have tried on both the mobile app and the website without any luck. Can't see an option to export to GPX anywhere.

I've never used the Viewranger routes  - I tried it there and the option to export to GPX disappears on their routes - so it looks like they don't want people using them outside the app - export is only available for your own routes. That seems a bit short-sighted if true - and in any case, if I really wanted to copy one of their routes, it would take me 5 mins on my mapping software to re-create it.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Swello

[invergowrie arab]

2 hours ago, Chinatoon Bairn said:

Not routes that I have created no, trying to export Walkhighlands routes to GPX. Have tried on both the mobile app and the website without any luck. Can't see an option to export to GPX anywhere.

I have done it before but years ago. 

I would just drop a message on the support forum. Paul or Helen usually respond same day.

[paul-r-cfc]

Anyone done much walking round Peebles? I'm working down here now and fancy doing some walks once the October holidays come round. Got a pal coming down to do the Dun Rig Horseshoe which takes in 4 smallish summits. Nice looking walks along the Tweed as well.

[Le Tout P'ti FC]

Anyone done much walking round Peebles? I'm working down here now and fancy doing some walks once the October holidays come round. Got a pal coming down to do the Dun Rig Horseshoe which takes in 4 smallish summits. Nice looking walks along the Tweed as well.

John Buchan Way is a really good day's walking. 14 miles Broughton to Peebles.

Shorter walk up Cademuir Hill Fort and back along the Tweed is worth a trip.

Routes for both on Walk Highlands.

[Swello]

2 hours ago, paul-r-cfc said:

Anyone done much walking round Peebles? I'm working down here now and fancy doing some walks once the October holidays come round. Got a pal coming down to do the Dun Rig Horseshoe which takes in 4 smallish summits. Nice looking walks along the Tweed as well.

Yep - my part of the world. The Dun Rig walk is good on a good day but Dun Rig itself is a massive bog after rain - the drop and re-ascent to do Stob Law might not be worth it depending on how you are feeling at the time - if you are a mad Donald bagger, knock yourself out

The Meldons are both small hills with decent views - 10 min drive to the start from Town. 

Just outside Peebles, a walk from Stobo village up on to Penvalla is a decent short hillwalk with a good view from a nice wee summit - park the car on the other side of the Broughton road as there is no parking in Stobo village to speak of. As above, the Stobo - Broughton section of the Buchan way is a really good walk if you can arrange transport back (there is a limited bus service, not sure of the timetable in Covid world)

An interesting short walk is Loch Eddy in the Glen Estate near Traquair - good circular walk that doesn't take too long...

Manor Valley is a really nice spot - a good short walk is to climb Greenside Law from the road end - there is a decent path up Bitch Craig (nice name) to Fou' Brig (which can be a hellish swamp after rain as the name alludes to but is fine when it's been dry). If you fancy something more testing - a walk up the Thief's Road (I head up to Dead Wives Grave from Hallmanor to pick up the path) - and up over Pykestone and Dollar Law will get you up above 2500feet. I've been out as far as Broad Law but that is getting a bit full-on.

On the Thief's road:

 

[MONKMAN]

Not routes that I have created no, trying to export Walkhighlands routes to GPX. Have tried on both the mobile app and the website without any luck. Can't see an option to export to GPX anywhere.

Use it all the time. Here’s how to do it on iPhone, but I’d imagine other phones are similar. If you click on get route for ViewRanger it tries to charge you, this way is free.  I’ve simply clicked onto Ben Nevis mountain path. Scroll down the page and do the following;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chinatoon Bairn]

10 minutes ago, MONKMAN said:

Use it all the time. Here’s how to do it on iPhone, but I’d imagine other phones are similar. If you click on get route for ViewRanger it tries to charge you, this way is free.  I’ve simply clicked onto Ben Nevis mountain path. Scroll down the page and do the following;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, was trying to do it straight from the Viewranger website rather than from Walkhighlands themselves. Might finally put use to that Garmin I got about a year ago now haha. Cheers 

[Lambie's Pigeon Feed]

Anyone got any recommendations for waterproof walking shoes that are actually waterproof and will last, just sent back a pair of Columbia ones which were anything but.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

Anyone got any recommendations for waterproof walking shoes that are actually waterproof and will last, just sent back a pair of Columbia ones which were anything but.

If I'm going with trail shoes it's usually just a pair of cheap Decathlon efforts with Sealskinz socks tbh.

[invergowrie arab]

6 hours ago, Lambie's Pigeon Feed said:

Anyone got any recommendations for waterproof walking shoes that are actually waterproof and will last, just sent back a pair of Columbia ones which were anything but.

Swear by Scarpa. Expensive but bombproof and last for years.

[Swello]

 

10 hours ago, Lambie's Pigeon Feed said:

Anyone got any recommendations for waterproof walking shoes that are actually waterproof and will last, just sent back a pair of Columbia ones which were anything but.

I've had a pretty bad experience with goretex trail shoes (some of them that cost the same as a decent pair of boots) over the years and have basically stopped using them. The main problem for me was that grit and stones get in over the top too easily and that seems to kill the membrane and they ended up non-waterproof after a few proper walks. The other issue is being a shoe that water gets in over the top pretty easily and your feet are swimming for the rest of the day as the water can't get out.

For trail shoes, I use Inov-8 trail runners which let water in like a sieve - they also let water back out and dry really quickly and are stupidly light. I wear merino socks so that my feet stay a decent temperature and that's it. 

Edited October 1, 2020 by Swello

[Florentine_Pogen]

Apropos recent posts re. Jock's Road, interesting wee article from today's paper :-

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/oct/06/walking-adventure-in-scottish-highlands-jocks-road-history-grampian-scenery