Wild Lochaber Blogs
The latest bleats from the sheep on the street...
Blogs (web logs) and blogspots provide a unique insight into Highland life and nature in Lochaber and The West Highlands.
We have put together a collection of Lochaber blogs to highlight the traditions, culture and wildlife in the various regions, including the West Coast Islands.
We show entries from the last 100 days, organised by region, topic and blog. The titles and text snippets give a taste of each entry with direct links to the main blog entry on the host website. We hope you will find time to explore the full articles and further information on the host blog sites.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions for blogs you would like to see here.
Highland Titles
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Female wildcat kitten Only 13% of millennials (16-37-year-olds surveyed) were able to correctly identify at least one of the most endangered Scottish wildlife species, according to a new study. Somewhat surprisingly, only 37% of all people surveyed thought that golden eagles could be found...
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The Ultimate Guide To Rob Roy MacGregor Rob Roy Macgregor: legendary outlaw, raider and cattle stealer, a man who wasn’t averse to blackmail and the subject of several films and movies – why do the Scottish love him? He sounds like a miscreant to our domesticated modern ears. To comprehend...
Scottish Islands Explorer
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Love And Music Will Endure is an historical novel by Liz Macrae Smith based on the life, times and words of Mary MacDonald of Skye (1821 - 1898) who became the acclaimed Gaelic poet and activist, Mairi Mhor nan Oran. The author will be giving a talk on her subject at the Museum Nan Eilean,...
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This photograph was taken at 04.44 yesterday morning from Rousay, Orkney, by John Vetterlein. His observations about the phenomenon can be read and further images seen here.Scottish Islands Explorer - comes out regularly, not once in a blue moonDigital Edition: copies streak across the skies to...
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The appeal to re-populate the island of Ulva has stirred many people to think about and to show an interest in re-settling there. Read about this phenomenon in yesterday's edition of The Times or remind yourself of the effort to invigorate the community through an earlier blog.Scottish Islands...
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Here's the Tarbert terminal on Harris without the CalMac ferry in dock. Closure for five or so days is unavoidable and imminent while updated facilities are installed. So the route from Uig, on Skye, will involve crossing to Lochmaddy, on North Uist, and taking the Sound of Harris ferry. Read...
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From 1890 until 1915 a 2ft narrow-gauge railway operated along a 2.7-mile track at Lealt, on Skye, in order to take extracted diatomite to a jetty. It has recently come into the news for part of its track has been footpath which is to be removed. The story is in The Press and Journal....
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There has been over the past few years a revival of interest in the life and work of Dr John Rae (1813-1893), the eminent Orcadian, Arctic explorer. His name has been entered for a posthumous mapping award. Go to The Orcadian for details.Scottish Islands Explorer - will it receive an...
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The Road Equivalent Tariff on CalMac's services on the West Coast has seen a reduction in fares and an increase in use. However, local residents sometimes have problems at peak times in booking cars because visitors have secured places well in advance. So there is a proposal to introduce higher...
West Coast Mountain Guides
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I was back on Ben Nevis today, this time with Clay, who had an ascent of Ben Nevis via Tower Ridge on his tick list before heading back to the States. With all the fresh snow we've had recently, an ascent of Tower Ridge was never going to be easy, but we followed a pair up to the approach of...
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As I left the house this morning, the snow was coming down thick and fast at sea level, but as Naveen and I set off this morning, it had stopped, and it soon cleared up to give a very pleasant winter's day. This was Naveen's first time on Ben Nevis, and we decided to follow Dave and...
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For James and Neil's second day, we decided that a classic route on Ben Nevis was in order, and so made an ascent of Castle Ridge. The day started off quite cloudy and with a bit of drizzle low down it felt very different to yesterday. As we reached the start of the ridge, the drizzle had...
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Well, that was without a doubt the finest day of this season so far! I was out with James and Neil, and along with a number of other teams, headed round to the Summit Ribs on the West Face of Aonach Mor. Despite being accessed via the Nevis Range Gondola, the climbs here have a remote and...
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For the fifth and final day of our Introduction to Winter Climbing Course, we decided to go for a classic route on Ben Nevis; Castle Ridge. With absolutely no chance of any avalanches coming down from either of the Castle Gullies, we were able to take a direct approach, which is much easier than it...
Nevis Range Blog
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Winter is Here! Things are starting to look just how we like it on the hill! Snow has continued to fall throughout the week. We need a wee bit more before we can get the slopes open! Sledging & Touring also available on site! Sledges can be purchased at the Ticket Office or Hired from Ski Hire...
Treshnish Farm
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Farmer got ahead of himself after New Year and had the sheep through the fank and back to the hill quite quickly. This involves bringing all the sheep in from the fields where they have been over the 6 weeks of the middle winter. The tups are taken off, and the ewes given a...
Simon Willis
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It will be at Glenuig on 16th February.This weekend the tides were almost the same as they'll be on the day of the swim, so three of us did a recce.The video of the swim is below. Oh and if you're a kayaker please come - we need support kayakers!The tide will be coming in so we'll swim with...
Alan Halewood
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Haven't blogged in quite a while but today was so good I've got to put some pics up:Its getting tough to find routes Claire hasn't done as we've been hitting the winter hills together for 6 or 7 years. Ken suggested Solitaire as I was bemoaning this fact and as its one of the few lines I don't know...
wondering wanderers
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Way back on my birthday in 2017 we took a walk up the newly repaired path part way up into Rum’s hills. The path leads up to Coire Dubh, the place where most of Rum’s houses get their electric and water supply from as there is a dam there. When we did the walk in 2017 I found it really...
Hunter Mountaineering Courses and Guiding
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Winter Climbing with Ed Abbley in Dec ‘about’ 2002 – Cairngorms Down in South Wales when I was a Teacher of Outdoor Education, I worked with Ed, and so we got to have lots of adventures together. We often drove up to Scotland for winter climbing – and in doing so I...
