Alaskan Adventure

Footage of Samuel Johnson and Ryan Hokanson's expedition to the Hayes Range in Alaska courtesy of Black Diamond Equipment and the American Alpine Club. New climbs include routes on Mount Hayes and Mount Balchen.


BD grassroots athlete Samuel Johnson's expedition to Alaska's Hayes Range from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

New Years Camping - Sun 2nd January 2011

I'm not really sure who came up with the idea, but at some point on Sunday morning a plan was hatched. We would drive north and camp overnight somewhere that was close to an atmospheric hostelry.

We quickly packed our minimal camping kit and dog into the car and made our way across the Erskine Bridge and onto the A82 northbound.

At first the plan was to camp by Beinglas Farm and eat at the Drovers Inn, but a quick scout around the campsite told us that things were most certainly shut down for the winter. Plan B was to head up to Loch Tulla and maybe eat at Bridge of Orchy or Inveroran. We later learned that the Bridge of Orchy Hotel had no water supply, The Inveroran Hotel was in darkness up at the bridge camping area. No point in camping here with no place open, and so to Plan C!

Funnily enough the scene of our previous camping exploit would provide us with exactly what we needed, an open bar restaurant and a nearby pitch for our tent. Three cheers for the Kingy! open every day all year round. A good job too as Alfie was getting fed up in the back of the car and darkness was deftly taking over from dingy daylight.

Three tents were already pitched here with an  array of vehicles parked alongside, we parked up and squeezed our small tent on the end of the row. We were using Shona's new backpacking tent, which I'd only seen erected in the shop, so to attempt a first pitch in the cold and dark would be interesting. Fortunately with it being so lightweight and having only one ceiling pole things were never going to be too problematic. With the tent now up and our gear stored inside we locked the car and headed for the warmth of the Kingshouse Hotel now beckoning us on the otherside of the footbridge.

At first I thought we were the only ones gracing the walkers bar but then noticed a few glasses and maps on one of the tables. I ordered some drinks and Alfie got offered a bowl of water too which is always a nice gesture, although he would need to share it later. The occupants of the other table returned from the toilets one by one, three in total, the final gent taking the outer bench thus showing his back to the rest of the bar.

Now that Alfie is into his second year, he has begun to realise that he can sometimes get things by using his special art of cute-communication. He has learned a way of tilting his head and releasing a quiet yet squeeky whine. It's usually performed when he either wishes attention or perhaps sees something he wants in his possession.

The comedy value of what happened next will remain with me for some time i'm sure. Alfie decided to let out a whine aimed at Shona. She leaned forward and asked him "what is up?" Whatever it was that prompted Alfie to whine had in his mind been of the utmost importance and so, on being asked "what's up?" He decided to let fly the sharpest, shrillest of barks, which echoed loudly around the bar due to the slate floor and stoney walls. In the same instance the guy with his back to the rest of the bar jumped about six inches into the air while clutching his pint. The best of it was, he never once looked round after getting such a fright. Well, it must have taken us five minutes to dry the tears from our eyes and get ourselves composed once more.

We ordered some food and more drinks. A gent with an acoustic guitar had crept in and was busy tuning up in the corner near the door. The jumpy guy and his two companions had left and were now replaced by a couple from Kent who were staying at the Hotel and were accompanied by  a young rottweiller with the strangest of names... Hallelujah?

Soon the walkers bar began to fill up. A group of fellow campers arrived to play darts and another couple came through from the main bar, then went to get their two black labradors from their room. We had to keep Alfie on a tight leash now as he had three new doggy friends to annoy.

The guitarist was now singing along to his strumming and the atmosphere was superb. Outside a flurry of snow had started, making the setting feel even more festive. After chatting with one of the campers, we discovered that our paths had already crossed last year when we had been on the summit of Bein Ime, Alfie's first Munro. Stuart recalled having to hide his sandwiches from my ravenous pooch whom he described as that days pacemaker.

Come throwing out time, Shona and I joined Stuart and his friends at the fire they had got going by the camping ground. Tales of hiking and climbing were exchanged as we all huddled round the flames for heat. Later with fuel getting low and the snow falling steadily we all decided to call it a night and hit our sleeping bags.

We awoke in the morning to sleet and rain battering the tent, so quickly got everything sorted and packed away in order that we could speedily dismantle and transfer gear to the car without getting soaked through. 

The plan today was to head down through Glen Coe and south along the coastal route to Connel Bridge. Depending on the weather we might decide to head into Oban for lunch.

At the Bridge, the sleet was still falling quite hard and was beginning to turn to snow. We opted out of heading to Oban and started along the A85 to Dalmally. The weather steadily worsened and snow began to lie on the road. After Taynuilt and Lochawe things got really bad and the traffic ground to a hault. Cars were u-turning further up and it looked as though the road had been deemed impassable. Turning around we planned to take the turn off for Inverary, but at that junction police had closed the road here also. Now our only option was to head back north to Glen Coe which seemed crazy.

Back where we had begun the day, things were looking promising. The roads seemed better up here, but as we cleared the top of Glen Coe we were met with more heavy snow on Rannoch Moor. Again cars began to slow down to a creep and it appeared we might be thwarted once more. It looked like the road was being closed behind us as a few accidents ahead were again prompting travellers to make u-turns. We persevered and passed a lorry which had got stuck. Fingers were crossed that we would at least make it to Bridge of Orchy.

Slowly but surely we rolled along and finally made it to Tyndrum, where ironically the A85 had just been re-opened. Miserable from driving all day, we decided not to risk it by stopping to eat and headed for home while the weather was on our side.

Ben Vorlich and Stuc a' Chroin by Loch Earn - Tuesday 25th May

Pronunciation/Translation: Ben Vorlich - byn vorlick (hill of the bay), Stuc a' Chroin - stook a kroin (peak of danger)

I guess you could say I did more walking than usual last May. Starting off the month with a heavy pack on the West Highland Way, ending with our trip to the Black Cuillins on Skye. In between those two adventures was Beinn Narnain, Ben Vorlich and Stuc a' Chroin. Adding to the mix was loads of local walking with Alfie up around the Glennifer Braes and of course rounds of the park by the house thrice daily!...
...so yeah, my thighs and calves were feeling in good shape. Alfie was reaping the benefits also, his shoulders and hind quarters were really beginning to show great muscle definition.

Tuesday 25th May meant a group walk with the GWHC (Glasgow Walking and Hillwalking Club). The weather was superb for this meet, which was starting from the southern shore of Loch Earn. I decided to drive up along the west of Loch Lomond via Crianlarich, eyes peeled for my nearside wheelarch which had managed to detach from my car at roadworks here two days prior. I had optimistically imagined that someone would find it and rest it against a wall or roadsign, like kind people do with lost gloves all the time. Needless to say the car-parts were never to be seen again.

In total we had twenty humans and one dog doing this Munro today, I say Munro singular, because at this stage it was only in our plans to do Ben Vorlich. Everyone greeted and kitted out, we made our way up the farm road to Ardvorlich House. Alfie was weaving his way among the group, receiving lots of attention and maybe even a biscuit here and there.

The route begins properly at the gate behind the house. A track leads the way up onto the lower grazing slopes past some out-buildings and into Glen Vorlich. Navigation wise this mountain is very simple. The track is clear and runs due south along the western side of the Ardvorlich Burn, rising steadily towards the ridge that takes you to the summit.

Once over the bridge at the Alt a' Choir Bhuidhe tributary the going begins to get much steeper, and at this point the group began to get quite stretched out. We take the opportunity to stop at each false summit to let everyone bunch up again.

I don't really have much option but to stay up at the head of the group, as Alfie is on a mission to set the pace. We are accompanied by Gary and Ross, and keep in radio contact with Barry who is motivating the back-markers.

Sun still beating down on us we all happily make it to the true summit. While we are all sitting enjoying lunch, we can't help but notice how enticing Stuc a' Chroin is looking over to the southwest. It seems that half of us are up for heading across to climb it, the rest agree that they will sit it out in the sun and watch packs for those who want to travel light.

I'm one for keeping my pack on my back no matter what. It always seems to me that the times you're going to need it most will be sometime when you least expect it.
And so we march down the rocky path towards the bealach between the two Munros. The descent was fairly steep, but what lies ahead on the ascent of Stuc a' Chroin is far steeper.

We scramble over the Creag Chasain to the foot of the northeastern rockface. Here the path diminishes and ascending to the summit involves a tricky traverse south onto a steep gully which slowly leads us up onto the ridge. A short but rocky walk up onto the twin summits is then required.

All ten eventually manage onto our second summit of the day. We wave across in the direction of the rest of our group on Ben Vorlich, but can't really pick out any detail. It was a far longer distance than we had imagined when looking across from there.

Not wanting to keep our companions waiting, we quickly head back along our route. The gully we had climbed seemed even more precarious on the way down. Even Alfie was clearly taking his time and choosing his footing (pawing) very carefully.

At the bealach once again I decided to carry on up to Ben Vorlich with Alfie at full pace. He still had lots of energy, and I wanted some of it depleted before we made our way down the long trail to the start/finish. We got back up to the first summit, The others were pleased to see us as the sun had started hiding behind some clouds. With everyone back together we all began our steady descent along the ridge and down to the valley.

Alfie's energy had still to dissipate, and again we found ourselves mostly at the front racing down to where the cars were parked along the Loch shore. While waiting for everyone to get back Alfie decided it would be fun to chase some Mallard ducks who were teasing him just offshore, and Ross managed to capture this great photo of him skirting over the water in retreat.

Summary of Summer Part IV

Beinn Narnain, Arrochar Alps - Sun 23rd May 2010

Pronunciation/Translation: Beinn Narnain - byn narnyn (hill of the notches)

Well, it's been a few weeks since my last posting and not much has been going on with regards to our climbing. The weather has been foul for the most part, constant driving rain and high winds.

Instead I'll take this opportunity to return to the warmer weather of May this year, when we headed to Arrochar to bag Beinn Narnain.

It wasn't hard to remember it was a warm, hazy Sunday, the car park at Succoth was crammed full with vehicles abandoned for a days hiking in the Arrochar Alps. Fortunately we managed to find a small space on the verge to park. Gear quickly adorned we crossed over the A83 road and onto the forest trail that would lead us up onto the main path along the Alt a' Bhalachain.

It was rather warm and so we stopped for a snack at the small dam. Shona took the opportunity to cool her feet in the water and attempted to entice Alfie in for a swim, but he was having none of it. We continued along the path untill our next short stop at the Narnain Boulders. Of course I had to climb the big one beside the path, and made quite a meal of the down climb without the aid of my sticky soles.

It wasn't long before we came to the path junction at Lochan a' Chlaidheimh. Here the options are Ben Arthur (The Cobbler), Beinn Ime or Beinn Narnain. Today we were doing the latter so we followed the path north for a short distance before ascending the ridge eastwards to the summit. The path is steep but easy to follow with only some very light scrambling required further up.

We go from 630m to 850m very quickly and can feel the temperature dipping considerably, the sun is still shining however through the whispy clouds rolling across the summit.

On reaching the top (926m) we take a few photos and hunker down beside the summit shelter to finish off the rest of our lunch. Someone before us has built a little statue out of stones which had managed to survive the whipping winds thus far.

We decide to descend Beinn Narnain in a southeastern direction. This way takes in a steep downwards scramble to The Spearhead, then joins a path onto Cruach nam Miseag.

Continuing southeasterly the path cuts down towards Creag an Fhithich. At about halfway we move south and down the slopes back towards the small dam which we had passed on our way up. No path here, it's just a case of finding your way over gnarly heather, long grass and drainage ditches.

Back onto the main path once again, and it's a nice pleasant descent towards the forest trail and onwards to the car park. Boots off and jumping into the car, yes it's time for our usual post hike meal at the Drovers in Inverarnan.

Trip to the Cuillins of Skye

Pronunciation/Translation: Sgurr Dearg - skoor jerrack (red peak), Sgurr Mhic Choinnich - skoor veek chunyeek (MacKenzie's Peak, named after John MacKenzie the first Skye guide)

One of the highlights of 2010 for me, has to be the trip made to the Isle of Skye back in June for an adventurous jaunt among the Cuillins.

Starting the long drive north around lunchtime on Monday 31st May, car packed full with everything needed for the next five days. I was looking forward to trying out a new mid-sized tent, too weighty for backpacking, but just right for a few days on site at Glen Brittle.

The weather had been fine the week before, and was still holding up as we finally crossed the Skye bridge on this warm sunny evening. Alfie by now had decided that he didn't really like being in the car this long and was beginning to whine at every crest and turn on the narrow roads.

We arrived at the Glen Brittle campsite, situated near the foot of the southwestern slopes of the Cuillins. It was quite busy, but we managed to find a nice spot to pitch beside the coastal fence, not too far from the shower block. Tent up, dinner cooking and a drink in hand...        ...bliss!

Tuesday morning arrived, did I hear a spot of rain last night? Well the view, or lack of it as I unzip the tent flap confirms my fear. Who stole the Cuillins? They were there looking down on us last night, but today they are swamped in thick cloud from top to bottom.
According to todays forecast there would be drier parts in the north of Skye, so we opt for a drive up to Portree and Dunvegan.

Parking in Portree is not easy, there are a number of pay and display zones that have the usual time restrictions etc. Most are full anyway, so we try the parking area just outside of the main town centre. There is an area not far along that appears to have spaces. I'm then informed by a determined looking woman that my space is for buses and coaches only. As I oblige her and resolve to continue my search for a legitimate portion of tarmac, a volkswagen passat seizes my "bus" space. Eventually I find a spot which has a few empty spaces either side, so surely no complaints?

A short walk takes us to the busy hub of Portree town centre, where we drop into the Tourist Information building to buy an OS map and a few prints of the majestic Cuillins. Then it's the obligatory walk down to the harbour and a quick nose around the many little shops that offer tartan, shortbread, malt whisky and those little lighthouses made out of scrap metal.

In one outlet Shona bought a cool Landrover coffee mug. While I was waiting outside with Alfie I decided that one of those lighthouses might look good upon the pebbles in my bathroom, so I go in to get one when Shona returns. Some time later I come out with nothing. It seems I have the knack of becoming invisible when standing waiting to pay at shop counters, both to the customers behind me and the persons serving. In this shop it would seem that dusting the merchandise was way more important than selling it.

Feeling hungry we seek out and find a handy little fish and chip establishment that has nice wooden benches for us to tether Alfie while we fill our bellies. We then head back to continue our tour of Skye. On reaching the car, the driver of the coach next to us informs me that I'm parked in a bus space...    ...Oh really?

Next stop on the tour is the Old Man of Storr. We park up, (not a coach in sight) and start up the path through wooded hillside towards the legendary landmark. The scenery here is beautiful. Dramatic, grey pinnacles of rock forcing their way up through lush green grass. I really want to go back and do some climbing on those jagged faces, although according to Dave MacLeod, who climbed the Old Man in 2009, there is little in the way of reliable protection placements and holds may be plentiful, but likely to break off in your hand!

On to Dunvegan, which was mostly shut, apart from two hotel bars. We plumped for one that had an outside seating area for Alfie, but with the wind getting up, Shona ventured inside to see if it was dog-friendly. She was gone quite a while, so I decided to stick my head in to see what was what. Other than a barmaid there was only one couple in the bar, and it seemed they were determined to make Shona hear all their tales of collies and campervans. It was now my turn to have my ears filled with facts of the aforementioned subjects. After the couple's border collie had performed every trick in it's lengthy repetoire, including jumping upon the pool table and rolling over to collect the cue ball, we made our excuses and got on our way back to the south and those Cuillins.

Dinner tonight would be more fish, oops. We picked up some smoked mackrel earlier in the day, that and the usual baked beans and beer went down a treat. Maybe Shona would disagree?
Off we creep to sleeping bags in the hope that the morning would be cloud free.

Wednesday gave us much the same weather conditions as the previous day. It could deal us this hand daily, so we decided to head up into the mountains anyway. In hindsight I was glad that the Cuillins were shrouded in cloud. It meant that we got to see two very different sides of these awesome mountains.

An easily followed path leads up from the campsite shower block. It winds it's way along for some way and in places hugs the little streams that drain the lochans higher up on the hills. Although it was overcast, the rain had held off so far and we were all still nice and dry. This was about to change as we began heading up into the mist towards the Coire Lagan. The terrain gets much steeper here and in places where there is alot of boulders, you can lose track of the path, especially if there is a lot of low cloud.

We continued up the left side of the gully to the waterfalls cascading from the sublime lochan which plugs the corrie between Sgurr Dearg and Sgurr Alasdair. There were a few other climbers who had chosen the rocks by the lochan as a place to stop for lunch, so we joined them. Having lunch felt quite bizzarre in this setting. It was dark due to the thick cloud shrouding us, and really did feel like it was night. Three guys resting near us asked where we were heading. Well, our plan was just to attempt to get up to the ridge and see how conditions were. These guys were a bit undecided, they were thinking about turning around and heading lower down.

With fuel on board we set off towards the back of the corrie. A large group were just in front and seemed to be searching for the Great Stone Chute which falls down between Sgurr Alasdair and Sgurr Thearlaich. They really didn't seem to be very sure where they were heading and we decided to head north towards a scree slope that would take us up to the ridge between Sgurr Dearg and the Coireachan Ruadha Crags. The ascent here is tough underfoot with piles of rock and scree moving beneath your feet. It's the same on the Great Stone Chute, where we could hear warning shouts and the smashing of rocks being sent down by the large group. Soon we could hear more manic shouting closer to us and realised that the three guys we had spoken to at the lochan were struggling to follow us up the scree.

In these conditions I find this unnecessary shouting quite annoying. If someone truly has fallen it may be drowned out by others vocalising their disgruntlement about the climb.
Fortunately the three were fine, just a bit shaken by the steep scree they'd taken on. They joined Shona, Alfie and I on the ridge then plodded off in search of the Inaccessible Pinnacle.

Visibility up here was still extremely poor. The mist was soaking us and wind was whipping spray across the ridge, poor Alfie wasn't happy. We headed in the other direction along the ridge towards the Coireachan Ruadha Crags for a bit, but soon decided that we would be wiser to descend back to the lochan. On the way up to the ridge, Shona had expressed some concern about how we would manage to get back down. We ended up having the best time ever descending the same scree slope we had climbed up. Safe in the knowledge that there were no drop-offs to negotiate, we virtually surfed the entire way down to the corrie floor. Back on solid ground, we skipped round the lochan and joined up with the path that took us winding back down to a cloud-free altitude.

On returning to the campsite, we noted that the high winds we had encountered on the ridge were still blowing steadily at sea level. Shona rustled up a nice evening meal, and as we sat upon fold-away chairs gazing up at where the Cuillins should be...     ...yes! It was clearing, ever so slowly, but they definately appeared to be coming back into view.

A few hours later and the ridge was standing proud and cloud-free. We went to bed, fingers and toes crossed that tomorrow would be clear also.

An early start on Thursday, I held my breath as I unzipped the tent, hooray! we had good conditions. No time to hang about, we got our gear organised and started up along the route we had taken the previous day. It was like climbing somewhere completely different. Without any cloud to restrict our view, we could see for miles with everything that we had missed before now visible.

On reaching the lochan at the corrie we were both speechless as we glanced up at the formidable scree slopes guarding the ridge. We couldn't believe how high and steep they truly were. Today we decided to skirt the edges of the scree and climb our way to the ridge up the rocks directly under the Inaccessible Pinnacle. This shaved quite a bit of time off our ascent from yesterday, giving us more time to scramble along the ridge towards Sgurr MhicChoinnich and Sgurr Thearlaich. The views up here today were the finest I've encountered while climbing. We moved onwards to Sgurr Alastair but alas the terrain became way too difficult to negotiate with Alfie having to be hoisted from ledge to ledge.

After having spent several hours up on the ridge, we decided to go back the way we had come and do another scree-surf down into the corrie. Again, it wasn't long before we had made it down to the lochan. We stopped here for a rest and chatted to some climbers who had been watching our progress through binoculars. They were amazed, when they noticed we had a spaniel with us on the ridge.

Once more we took to the path for the now familiar, but long walk back down to Glen Brittle, or as the lads yesterday had named it...      ...Glen Brutal!

Back at the tent it was now mid afternoon, and time to dismantle everything and pack up.
We made plans to get going and head for an overnight stop in Fort William. Maybe if we still had enough energy we would climb Ben Nevis tomorrow.

We made it to Fort William in the nick of time. At the Glen Nevis campsite there were only a handful of pitches remaining, due to the World Mountain Bike Championships taking place over the weekend. A quick pitch of the tent and we were off into town to grab some food. Our regular choice of venue in Fort William is the Grog and Gruel Pub, mainly because they are dog friendly, but also the atmosphere is lively and casual.


Friday morning arrived and the weather was still favourable. Our limbs were feeling okay, so a trip up to the summit of Ben Nevis was on the cards. We set ourselves a target and managed to make the ascent in under two and a half hours, which wasn't bad considering the route had been very busy. Up on the summit plateau there was still quite a bit of snow covering even in june! We lifted Alfie up onto the trig point, and for a brief time he became the highest dog in the UK!

After a quick lunch on the summit, we started back down. Again we were making a good steady pace as we planned to head back to Glasgow that day. In no time we were back at the visitor centre. Then it was a pleasant afternoons car journey via Glen Coe, Rannoch Moor and Loch Lomondside then on to the urban sprawl of Glasgow.