Lockdown lifting part 3...or 4?...whatever.

This time round it seemed to have been a long dark winter in lockdown with ice covering the pavements for a number of weeks. 6am runs in the sleet on pavements that more often than not resembled ice rinks were normal but then so were some lovely sunrises witnessed on early morning running and ski outings around Hazlehead park so it wasn’t all completely grim. 

 The first lockdown was easier to cope with, everyone had to stay within 5 miles of their house and it was just the luck of the draw whether you lived in Aboyne and could run up a hill or whether you were consigned to the city, but this time it was harder. Someone who lived in Stonehaven or indeed who lived just 2 miles to the south of where I stay could drive all the way to Braemar to run or ski on the Cairngorms yet I was stuck due to an arbitrary boundary. This made no sense. However, I stuck to it as it seemed like the right thing to do and came up with some creative routes of my own in order to entertain myself and then when some of the restrictions were relaxed and group training was allowed we made the most of the urban trails around the city and it has to be said, Aberdeen is well off for parks and open spaces. 

As has been the pattern throughout the year on the morning that each lockdown has been lifted I have headed off to the hills for a quick pre-work trot on the hills just to relish in the freedom of being on the hills. Due to my antisocial start times I haven’t had any company on my previous morning runs but this time Bob Sheridan joined me. I think he was feeling sorry for me as Deeside runners were well underway with their checkpoint challenge but there was only 1 out of the 100 checkpoints I could have grabbed while staying within the lockdown rules. Now it was my opportunity to start my attempt on the checkpoint challenge – a morning jaunt up and down Mount Shade. 

Standing around in the car park waiting for Bob was quite a weird sensation, I didn’t actually feel as though I should be there. Had too much lockdown time in the house made me agoraphobic?! I was worried too about the climb as I was very out of practice on hills, Bob was going to have to seriously slow down a lot to run with me. It was a glorious morning though, clear blue skies and great views as we did the little route to take in the summit checkpoint, Bob led the way and I did my best to keep up while Bob did his best not to get annoyed at my inane excitable chatter – I can’t help it, don’t get out much these days. After a slow steady climb up the inevitable summit photos were taken and then we headed back down to the car park. There wasn’t even enough time for post run coffee as I had to get back home in time for work. How antisocial or a first hill run back. There was cake though. 

Once again it was great to be free of hill related lockdown restrictions and being able to get back on to the hills (and chasing down those checkpoints) but I couldn’t help being more hesitant in celebrating this time round. Would another lockdown be on its way in a few months time? Surely not.

A Winter in Lockdown

 Like, well, almost everyone else Scotland I haven’t ventured too far since before xmas so I do hope that you are not expecting this blog post to be very exciting because it isn't. Local we were told it had to be and so local it has been. For weeks. I’m not actually too sure what I have been up to over the last few months since the last lockdown kicked in as life has taken on a sort of groundhog day feeling, a sort of constant repeating rhythm without the real highs and lows of life pre-covid. Having said that I seem to have plenty of photos of the great outdoors so I must have been up to something. I don’t seem to have too much to write about just now so I think I will just fill this blog post with photos.

These are the pre-lockdown ones

The Cairngorms before lockdown part.....whatever kicked in

A winter wonderland on Lochnagar

The summit of Lochnagar

Poppies 

Everythings going to be alright....

Creag Choinnich

The last group runs before lockdown

After Xmas the mini beast from the east struck and we had the best snow in ages and then couldn’t go play on the ski slopes because of lockdown restrictions. I was miffed, which is putting it mildly. Oh well, no point in grumbling, just had to make the best of it and the best of it was at Hazelhead park at dawn or after nightfall to avoid the crowds at weekends. My new skis are a dream and fish scales are a revelation, especially after last year when I had been coating my xc skis in glide wax rather than grip wax. That made ascending particularly tricky and descending particularly exciting and it was only after a clumsy night ski at the Clash when Colin suggested this could be the issue did the penny drop. What do you mean how could I have got that the wrong way round? The instructions on the wax were in Russian. I managed some nice wee trips on the new skis and only one descent into a snow covered bunker on the golf course where I got stuck in the same manner as a beetle on its back.

And these are the post lockdown pics

Sunrise skiing

Combined with the snow and ice came the inevitable winter storms (the ones that have names) and then the thaw where the river burst its banks and the paths disappeared under water and running turned into paddling. On the plus side though “inclement weather” means there are less people venturing out on the trails and so sometimes the local paths and trails were a little bit quieter.

A submerged park bench

In amongst the snowy days there seemed to be many when the pavements and trails were covered in sheet ice and runs were often reduced to stretches of slow jogging or walking but going out running meant I was rewarded with amazing sun rises and wintery scenes. And then there were the dark evenings and the early mornings when the sleet battered off the windows and the run still had to be done. Creative challenges from various Cosmics members did make getting out the door that bit easier – the animals challenge, the bridges challenge, the water features challenge, the of course 12 hills of Xmas challenge. Although nothing compared to the hills our Aberdeenshire dwelling friends (aka lucky b%$&*) have access to there are some smaller hills within the city boundary and so 12 were selected for this particular challenge for between xmas and new year. The instructions were simple, get to the top and take a selfie for the Cosmics Facebook page. It did result in some pretty terrible selfies alongside the stunning wintery sunrise and sunset shots.

Who is hunting whom?

Snowy riverbank

Snowstorm moving in

Sheet ice and mud

Just sheet ice

Early morning mists

A (covid legitimate) trip to Edinburgh

In case anyone is wondering the 12 hills within the Aberdeen city council boundary that make up the 12 hills of Xmas challenge are as follows, Broad hill, Tullos hill, Kincorth hill, Tollohill, Kirkhill (The Tappie), Hill of Marcus, Elrick Hill, Brimmond Hill, Kings seat, Gairn Hill, Gallowhill and, very tenuously, Castlehill (it has hill in the name and there was a castle there once upon a time so it counts. Afterall, these are desperate times)

Icy trails to the hill of Marcus

Brimmond hill summit

Castlehill

Gallows Hill

Broad Hill

Tullos Hill

Sunny winter days

Halloween Hills

2020 style Halloween lantern.

I am only writing about this now as I haven’t felt very…well…bloggy in recent months (is that an adjective or have I just made that up?) I suspect it’s an effect of lockdown as much as anything else, its not really giving me much in the way of mountain related adventures to write about is it? and even less to look forward to so it seems at times. Sitting here in the city centre in yet another lockdown looking back at past adventures on the hills has at times been a little depressing but at the same time I guess its good to have those adventures to look back on. If this pandemic has taught us anything it is that time and freedom are not things to be squandered lightly. 

This was an idea of Jason’s, a torchlit Halloween run up and down Morven thus ensuring that I have now run up and down Morven more times in the dark than I have in daylight. As per usual for any Morven run, work commitments made me late in leaving Aberdeen and my usual attempt on the land speed record in a ever so slightly clapped out 15 year old Mazda ensued but even the best attempts of my poor little car were not enough and as I screeched into the car park I could see the row of headtorches heading up the slope of the mountain into the enveloping darkness. I quickly hauled on a waterproof top, chucked a spare headtorch battery into my backpack along with a chocolate bar and scampered up the field to the foot of the field in pursuit of the headtorches. Happily, the row of headtorches had come to a halt as they spotted me and kindly waited and it wasn’t too long before I caught up. 

The climb up

We climbed up the usual walker’s path squelching through the boggy bits chatting away. It was not particularly cold to start with but as always the exposed ridge had a cold wind swirling across it and it was noticeable how the temperature dropped there as ice crystals were starting to form on the ground higher up. Behind us the sky was fading to a deep blue with a pinky glow on the horizon and it really didn’t seem too long before we were at the summit and sheltering behind the cairn to pull on warmer layers. 

Colin and Bob had come prepared with Halloween costumes – I had failed to find my grim reaper costume which is inevitably hauled out of the attic for every Halloween event and so I borrowed Colin's crow puppet and we did our best to look suitably scary – not there was anybody to scare on the summit of Morven in the Friday night in the dark on the last day of October but that’s not the point, its the thought that counts. We hung round the summit taking photos of the summit cairn enjoying the clear night with the backdrop of a full moon and the lights twinkling in the distance. A moments freedom from the next seemingly inevitable lockdown.

The summit of Morven

Halloween costumes stowed away in backpacks, we descended by the race route which at times caused a little route-finding-in-the dark-based-discussion (it always happens, even in daylight) and squelched our way back down through the boggy tracks and through the field past the derelict cottage (derelict in most people’s opinion, nice little "do-er upper" in my opinion) to the car park. Little mini adventures on the mountains like this are perfect, when the next easing of lockdown comes I will be grabbing the chance to do many more as they are not something to be taken for granted.

Photo Credit Bob E

Photo Credit Bob E