Scarpa "Not So" Epic

I bought these Scarpa Epic a few months ago as a replacement for the much worn-out  Inov8 Terocs all down to the Shitty durability of Inov8 soles. 

At first glance they seem upto a replacement for the Inov8  light, grippy and comfy. All is not as it seems with these shoes though, sadly.

Firstly the sizing, it's odd as they come in Euro sizes, so good luck on that.  Padding, there is just far too much, on the tongue  especially and all this foam padding once walking compresses, which allows my heel to move and start rubbing.   I've tried "normal" socks, thinner  x-socks and even those nice Alpkit socks, all resulted in a sore heel.  I've haven't had any blister yet however, I put that down to stopping undoing and re-lacing the shoes more than a few times on a walk.

So the Scarpa Epic are far from epic, if they had alot less foam padding I recon they be alot better.

If Inov8 would only improve the durability of there shoes I would be more than happy to buy some more.

Blink and ya miss it

I spotted this the other day, when is was sunny.  I have seen them before but that was further up the canal just passed the M6 bridge.  Amazing that it still alive, as Warrington council love to hack these canal tow paths.  It was only the other week that they were cut.

I'm no expert, but, I think that it looks like an Orchid.  Possibly an "Orchis Palustris"

Long way to Keswick

With a few people off on long distance walks, I was wondering how do people go about deciding of what route to take.  Maybe it's just a matter of joining the "know" long distance paths together in some way.

Messing with my iPod touch and using the maps apps it lets you plan route either by car, train or by foot,  This is what the map app came up with from Lymm to Keswick.

Out with the new in with the old..

I've always been intrigued by Rangefinder type cameras; how ever, the only digital ones that I know of are Lecia M's, and believe it or not Epson did/do make one. All very nice but cost far too much.
Cosina make film Rangefinder still, but that still worked out at about £600 for just the camera.

One night reading about these cameras I came across information about the rangefinder cameras of the 60s and 70s. Funny really as this type and style of camera is what "they" say people want today: Small prime lens camera with large sensor(35mm film)

So off i surfed to eBay just to have a look to see what was out there.  And now three weeks later I now have 3 which cost £6 at the lowest and £30.  There might be a forth, those Olympus RC do look nice.

First thing I noticed about these cameras are they are very well made, this is 60s and 70s tech here and yet they still function (photos to come ..when I develop them) all I've had to do is replace the light seats. 30+ year and they have turned in to a sticky mess. I had to buy some batteries too, zinc air batteries seem to be the best, as you can't get hold of the Mercury batteries anymore.

These are 99% metal cameras so aren't light weight, the one on the right, Canonet QL19 I'm sure could have been used to club baby seal in its days.  Must say the Konica cameras is okay weight wise, turns out that this little camera has a great lens from what I've read in the camera forums.

This is the first time I have ever used eBay, been a bit cynical about it.  But turns out I was too hasty in my judgement.

Lymm Dam with a dusting of snow

Lymm has had about six inches of snow on Monday night,(another four on Tuesday) which resulted in the roads being too bad to drive on. Well for me at least but a walk in to Lymm village soon showed the chaos: roads closed, cars wheel spinning in the snow and getting no where. A few people just gave up and left their cars by the roadside.

Tuesday seemed like a Saturday in Lymm, lots of people out and about taking advantage off the "Bad Weather" and so did I :-)
Was nicer today as the sun was out.