Spring

I started the sketch below last week whilst waiting  for the Corran ferry . I had just enough time to get some paint down before I had to drive onto the ferry. On Friday I was again waiting for the ferry so added some finishing touches to the sketch.. I realised that I had missed out a patch of green ;or rather the green hadn't been there last week. In the last few days the leaves have appeared on the birch trees. I wonder how it is that all the birch trees in Lochaber can be so well synchronised as to come in to leaf within a few days of each other; is it the daylength or the temperature?
This evening running home from work, the late evening  sun was shining on the woods near Torlundy The newly emerged leaves were glinting and  shimmering in the golden light. It was  glorious!  In the other direction  Ben Nevis looked majestic and formidable with its cap of snow and  deep shadows creeping  up the corries. As I ran roe deer crossed the track in front of me. Primroses and  wood anemones peppered the woodland floor. Finally crossing the Spean Bridge I saw a cloud of bats wheeling and darting above the river. Truly Sprng is here!

Ben Keil from Corran.

Boring Cardio ?

I read a few blogs on fitness health and  weightloss .Many of them offer really good advice; up to date information on how to get fit and stay healthy . The current trend seems to be away from continuous"cardio" ie excercise that raises ones heart rate and therefore improves cardiovascular health. and towards strength training and H.I.I.T. ( high intensity interval training) . The feeling is that prolonged moderate exercise e.g running long distances, causes inflammation , overuse injuries and doesn't in the long term promote weight loss or good general health . There seems to be sweet spot where exercise increases  cardiovascular health but doing more and more aerobic excercise actually decreases the benefits to one's heart . H.I.I.T. involves very short bursts of about 30 seconds of maximum effort with a short interval between.and this appears to be the most effective way to get fit and to burn fat .Strength training increases muscle and counteracts the age related drop in muscle strength .
I take this on board ,  The science  suggests that ultra running may not be good for you.
However I draw the line when some well respected health gurus talk about 'boring cardio' as in  "You don't need to do all that boring cardio just follow my training regime for 15 minutes a day." This really annoys me; I want  to do all that "boring" cardio.
 To me cardio is no more boring than breathing . 'cardio ' or at least running all day in the hills has given me most of what I love in life .
It is through hill running  that I met my wife and from that first day our relationship has flourished through our shared passion of running. It has helped me though some  difficult and  lonely times in my life. Years ago when I was working very long hours including every other weekend  on call, I would never have coped if I didn't spend all of my time off running in the mountains. I think that running has given me more pleasure and  periods of intense joy than any other activity I have ever engaged in. It has made me who I am, it has shaped and  coloured my life.
Boring  cardio ? If you're bored with cardio you are bored with life!

Sketch of Ben Nevis  from  Banavie 

Visit to Essex

 I have now resolved my scanner problems so I am posting  again !

We had a trip south to see relatives last month. Above is a watercolour sketch of the mudflats of the Blackwater from the historic Hythe in Maldon.
Maldon was once an important port and even in the early part of the 20th centuy was a centre for the sailing  barge trade taking  hay, straw and grain from Essex farms to London to feed the horses and  returning with loads of horse manure to fertilize the fields.

 We did the normal  things of going to cafes and pubs for coffee and snacks- always a good opportunity to sketch.

Cafe in Maldon

On the way home , a cafe in Glasgow,.

 To get back to Scotland  I tried the sleeper bus. It was very cheap and  did exactly what it said on the tin.I got on the bus in London at 11pm slotted myself in to the narrow bed and fell asleep. I woke up at 6.30 am as the bus was pulling  in to the bus station in Glasgow, It was great !

Trees in Glen Nevis

Since I have been back we have some dry weather and we have had some  really good runs on the West Highland Way. Yesterday we took the train to Bridge of Orchy and  then ran back to Fort William. The weather was a mixture  of all four seasons  in one day. There were some  snow showers but also some sunny and warm periods and some dull cold windy spells.Unusually though we didn't get any rain.

As always we had a wonderful time on one of our favourite routes.

Quick sketch of the Commando memorial above Spean Bridge

I haven't posted recently partly due to a malfunction with our scanner . Above are two sketches from last week . the first shows the coast near Oban on a beautiful evening . The other  a grey day in Fort William with most off the Ben obscured by cloud . Using a different scanner and computer I haven't worked out to crop the pictures .Hopefully I will get our scanner fixed soon.

Spring - and nature knows best

Sketch  of Loch Linnhe  on Tuesday

 Recently we have had some cold weather with lots of snow on the hills This was interspersed with the normal dreary days of  cold rain that this part of the world is famous for .However last Friday although wet it seemmed warmer . Running home from work in the dark I almost stepped on a frog on two occasions. The frogs were motionless on the path as if unsure whether to go back into hibernation or head for a pool and start mating.  It got me thinking as to what triggers the frogs and  toads to emerge - is it just air temperature, or day length  or some collective decision mysteriously communicated throughout the frog world!To me after all the wintry weather it was recklessly premature , but sure enough at the weekend I noticed large clumps of frog spawn in pools in the forest.
 In this area  there is plenty of fast flowing streams , but few ponds for frogs to spawn into . Instead the eggs are often deposited in small pools and even deep puddles.This makes the spawn more vulnerable to frost , predation or drying out later on. Clearly producing early tadpoles is an advantage in terms of maximizing growth in the first year, but hazardous given the vagaries of scottish weather.

From the road to Kilchoan on a sunny March day

However maybe the frogs and toads knew something I didn't, because this week an area of high pressure has settled over the U.K. pushing the jet stream north . It has been unbelievably sunny and  warm (albeit with some overnight frost ).
On Monday I had a busy day travelling  to Strontian and then Kilchoan - the most western point of mainland Britain. It was just gorgeous  in the warm balmy weather!  Yesterday I sketched outside for I think the first time this year without getting cold fingers.

Loch Eil from  Blaich

The other two are small paintings I completed today, both are from recent photographs.

Painting Day

Today I spent some time at home painting and have been quite pleased with the two pictures I have completed so far. Firstly a small picture of Aonach Mor with mist in the valley below. Then a painting of Loch Linnhe from Ardgour. I have also worked on some drawings.

Snow this morning has given way to rain but it looks like it's stopping so I should get a dry run later on.

Aonach Mor

Loch Linnhe

Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis from The Mooring's Hotel

This weekend has been glorious weather. Yesterday I went for a run from the Ben Nevis Centre intending to go up to the Half Way Lochan then across to the Allt a Mhuilinn and up to the C.I.C hut .In the event  it was so nice that I continued up Ben Nevis . There was thick snow underfoot but it was  very warm in the sun . Three quarters of the way up the zig zags Helen phoned saying that she was heading up to the C.I.C. hut to meet me, so I went back.down. It was fun descending through the snow ; so much nicer than the bone jarring rocky path in the summer.
 As soon as I turned the corner beyond the lochan into the deep shadow cast by the North Face the temperature plummeted. At this time of year there is often a steep snow bank covering the path. Not having  brought  my ice axe I bypassed this by descending  and crossing the stream  to the east side of the glen.The stream was very cold! I met Helen and we ran back to the ski centre together.

Today I went for a low level run to Gairlochy , along the Caledonian Canal to  Banavie along the road to Torlundy then back home through the forest. We stopped at the Mooring's Hotel which is one of my favourite sketching haunts. I never tire of painting Ben Nevis from there.