Operation Marigold

Well the work on oilrigs is paying off. Im stuck in the middle of no where for two weeks, serving time but all is not lost. Decent food, gym twice a day and plenty of decent sleep and,easy work. Coming back to land is great aswell as I can concentrate on decorating the flat and also climbing midweek when and where I want, gone are the days of the wet weekend.
Coming back from my last job I was motivated to climb and it was Dumby Dave that mentioned the Kraken, where my project sits. A decent sized roof. So I headed to his pad for 2 days and went on the project. To my suprise the move I had been failing on last time was actually not my problem now and I started to get good links. The good thing with meeting for a climb with Dave is, he is like a in situ video camera that rewinds and reminds me of where my feet where or how I could reach a hold with more ease. Plus his wife Claire is a mean cook that quite frankly cooks the best food Ive tasted, apart from Mairi that is.
Today I managed to snatch 4 redpoints and am basically going for the final jug before the easy climbing kicks in, so on a positive its better than before and im starting to dare I say it, enter the final stages of "Operation Marigold".
Im scratching my head and wondering Why?, as ive not climbed at a wall in ages and hardly even fuss about getting out as much. Maybe before I was doing too much climbing indoors, who knows. Maybe its messing about with my obsession of doing frontlevers or Bruce Lees mad leg raises, who cares. The jug is in sight.

Cairngorms

Well summer wheather and i got out of Marks wee red devil and all my kit got blown down the cairngorm carpark. I would catch up with one item pick it up then another one wpould get blown away. My thoughts of running through the gorms in perfect warm wheather was shattered.

The route we planned was up cairngorm along the top of Stob Coire an t-Sneachda and Cairn Lochan then gently up to the top of Ben Macdui. Drop down into the Larig Ghru then back to the carpark.
The run was 5 stars in every way the terrain perfect. Once on Cairngorm the views were outstanding. I usaually see the gorms with snow and mist so seeing it with perfect views was a excellent feeling. The running is relativley easy with gradual ascents and descents.

Running up to the top of Ben Macdui was great but there were no views due to a wee bit of mist. We had a quick hit of energy spunk and headed back down. Once out of the mist we headed down to the Lairig Ghru. This was a bad move as it is riddled with bloody small boulders. We got down in to the ghru and the watch said 2 hours.Not bad time as we were not exactly going fast.

Looking up Mark was descending and slipping. I keep forgeting that Mark had a bad break on his ankle so this must be pretty horrible. As he got nearer he was cursing the loose rocks. I gave him a bit of chocolate ripple which he then gagged on like a Fulmar. The rest of the run got spoilt by the fact we never took the right turn of the Lairig Ghru. We headed down to the army lodge which meant we headed further down and ended up on the road a mile away from Glenmore lodge.

We stopped more or less at the road and started to hitch back. No lifts and sore legs all we could look at was the tar mac road winding up to the carpark. At the lower carpark a ski lift worky gave us a lift to the carpark were the wee red devil was waiting with fresh socks.

Do not use the Lairig groove for a run it sucks however Braeriach, Cairn Toul and Sgor an Lochan Uaine look amazing.

Then to Mambos for a Ireeeeeeeeee Burger.

Cairngorms again i think. If you have done a good run in the gorms feel free to tell me so we can have it on the hit list.

Loch Eck

Theres two huge boulders up there honest, as i sat in the COYLET pub with my auntie and uncle I looked at the old black and white piccies on the wall. The picture.. the pub many moons ago. Back then the hill behind the pub was bare, no forestry or bloody rhoddy bushes.

Theres two HUGE boulders up there now lost in the bracken, forestry and rhoddys. Ive walk in amongst the jungle of the west and the most memorable trip was the back of the Coylet. I stumbled and fell, got soaked bitten and worn down so much I then gave up..........Ach theres nothing up there.

Now in my head i see the two boulders. Ive seen them in black and white. The picture cannot lie. When the coolness of autumn comes back and the greenery has gone. Think I know where I will be.........for a little while anyway.

work. What a pain

Who says work cant be fun. This is me aiding up the Leven Bridge in Fife. 70metres of testing and attaching hangers. The bridge cables had to be inspected and accessed from the top. Would of thought the designer could have designed a quick and efficient way up the thing. Still who cares getting payed for it was a bonus. This is the sort of stuff i would of dreamt about doing as a kid.

The Ring Of Steall Run

The Begining.

A couple of photos one of me dad spying the steepness that is the Kraken. Weird how many times i actually sat up there and never really cared about the lumps of rock staring me in the face.
Things are changing in the other photo. Here i am boring me brother Paul and me mum. Hey look you guys, look at them shadows on those lumps of rock. Enter rock log.