Halcyon Daze & the Space beneath my feet...
Posted: Thursday, 20 September 2007 |
"High above Rannoch Moor, in that ethereal blue space that only the mountains offer鈥
A dear old mate of mine, this week kind enough to send me 3 photographs of a past (formulative) period of my life. To me these were the 'Halcyon' days, or daze as I prefer to call them. I only seem to remember the sun drenched rock, the scenery vivid...I presume the damp days were spent in the pub ? But summer did seem longer then.
From around 1982 through to 1996 my entire life revolved around the mountains and rock climbing. To a lesser degree now I still seek the feeling of that 'Space beneath my feet', and even as I put finger to key my palms dampen at the thought of moments we shared. Winter for me in Scotland is a time for winter walking and a bit of solo ice climbing in the easier gullies and on the classic buttresses of the Ben.
Finally making the move to Scotland from North Wales in 1996 seemed to curtail my upwardly mobile antics...and then a move to Tiree some 8 years ago further curtailed life in the vertical realm. (But opened up a world of sailing)
Sweating on the "Axe" 1992.
Britomatis, Gogarth.1994(seem to remember I lost a shoe on this)
We still keep in regular touch, and every year we meet to climb at more modest grades...family, and age seem taken away much of the craving for adrenaline fueled weekends living life in the vertical...but our youthful antics have forged a bond that has stood the test of time and we are hatching the plan to meet in the late autumn and have a go at the everlasting 'last great problem'. The bond forged between to people climbing on a rock face can never be broken. It's referred to as the Brotherhood of the rope...and whether we were in the UK, the Alps or the Himalaya the one thing remained, two people trusting their lives to each other.
Pink Panther, Kilt Rock, Skye
Due to the terrain I suppose my real ambitions or the drive finally dissipated in my move to Tiree some 8 years ago now. And I am all the more cautious having 3 son鈥檚 in my life. But I will have to keep my hand in as if they ever decide to climb I would want them to learn as I did from my father.
So Flat? Tiree my destiny what have you to offer me...one last great problem when my brother visits...you bet.
Crag 'X'
I am told that way down south in the realms of clotted cream the palms have begun to sweat, and what a name for one last climb if we manage to drag our carcasses up the obvious natural line 'Halcyon Daze & the Space Beneath My Feet"鈥
Watch this space鈥
(Cheers Dave & Cheers Belay Bunny...last ones for you)
yep me looking Gormenghast in my silly hat !!!
Comments
inyour first pic are you at the summit of schiehallion??? I've been up to the summit a few times and each time the views knocked me for sick. love your blogs. hope i can get good pics when i go back to nz,espercially from tongarriro crossing(north island) and from my treck on the franz josef(south island)
carol from feeling very,very,homesick
Nice pics, Offshore! Very nice. Lovely columnar basalt in that Kilt Rock pic. I was in Tiree several years ago - Bailephuil - on a Gaelic Course. I remember there were some serious cliffs not far from there - Kennavara - was that the place? Beautiful beaches as well
Mountainman from Mull
Nice photos. I am impressed. Perhaps you could take old fashioned gliding: should still give you solitude, heights and a feeling of accomplishment, and yet not be as risky as certain types of mountain climbing.
mjc from NM, USA
Yikes!!!! Makes me dizzy just looking at the phu otos. Do you concentrate on where your feet should next go [not being too concerned should a shoe fly groundwards] or do you step blithely forth? I admire such daringness [if there is such a word].
Plaid from at ground level
HI All, The climbing photographs were taken by my friends girl friend, now his wife. 1st pic top of Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor). Kilt rock is amazing, too steep for fulmars (little like devils tower Wyoming). Your concentration is totally focused, never think about the mortgage (LOL) as for vertigo...strange but I have always had a keen respect for heights, I hate ladders...and even tie on when I black the roof at home. This blog will change slightly as I pressed publish rather than edit... off out in to the sun...Karl
Offshore View from Libya at work
Mountain man...Knowing there are several worth while climbing venues on Mull that draw the attention of those south of Gretna...crag ' X' needs to be refered to as the sticky outy bit, not the cliffs nr Kenavarra...but of course you are right...
Offshore View from Libya for 2 more weeks then upwardly mobile
"Here the crow starves, here the patient stag/ Breeds for the rifle. Beneath the soft moor/And the soft sky,scarcely room/ To leap or soar" From "Rannoch, by Glencoe.' just to prove that old T S was not just a pussycat.
Hyper-Borean from A not so waste land
beautiful words...to be followed by... Above these white-robed solitudes. A mute, awe-stricken mortal stands Upon the fragment of a world, And, when the rifted clouds are curled, Sees far below the steadfast lands. (Lucius Harwoode Foote) more beautiful words...
An Offshore View from from a sandy land
Hi great blog and stunning pics. I have been to Tiree once and fell in love with the place. On the last trip I took my kites and windsurf kit, but having done a bit of exploring, I will throw in some climbing shoes, rope and some trad gear next time, so if you need a belay buddy.....
Paul from West Sussex
"muterings about life and distant shores...an off shore view"
A World wandering from my Tiree home
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