Outdoor sleeping catchup: August to November
I’m now at 21 months straight on this monthly outdoor sleeping challenge and have a real mixed bag over the summer and autumn- from the enlightenment inducing Tien Shan mountains of Kazakhstan to a hungover doss in Strontian campsite. Going to make more of an effort to keep up to date from now on! Loch […]
Outdoor sleeping catchup March to July
Back in February I completed a year of sleeping outdoors at least once per month. I have continued the habit and have now notched up 17 months straight. Here’s a quick catchup. March – otter watching at a small and secret loch Secret loch Re-reading Barry Lopez’s accounts in ‘Arctic Dreams’ of the Eskimo’s amazing […]
A Daylight Approach to Maol Bhuidhe
Some places get inside you, and the remote Maol Bhuidhe bothy is one of those places. My first visit was in the winter of 2008-09 by the most obvious route, a long icy cycle up Glen Elchaig followed by a climb over the Aonach Bhuidhe – Foagaich bealach. We returned a further three times, using a […]
Glen Affric Hammock Camp: December’s Outdoor Sleep
Hammock camp by Loch Beinn A’Mheadhoin I woke in a swaying hammock, too scared to peep over the rim in case four hundred pounds of muscle, tooth and claw was staring back at me. When I first attempted to sleep in a hammock, 13 years ago in the Tolumne Meadows area of Yosemite, this fear […]
2015 Outdoor Sleeping: June
Bikepacking test run I’ve always been a big fan of combining mountain biking and overnight trips. At first I would suffer an uncomfortable time carrying a pack, then I graduated to panniers. Panniers are great when you’re moving, but they make the bike extremely unwieldy when pushing uphill, through bog or across rivers. I became […]
2015 Monthly Outdoor Sleeping: May
A Family Backpacking Adventure The landscape of Coigach was placed out of bounds to car-based campers with the closure of the Achnahaird bay campsite in 2008. At the time I wrote a piece celebrating what it had been, and lamenting the loss of a national treasure. A new site opened up on the opposite side of the […]
A Fannich Microadventure
At this time of year I like to take advantage of the long days and get away for a quick overnight trip. These trips are an ideal way to balance outdoor sport with family life. It’s quite possible to leave home after the children are in bed, have a camp in a lovely remote spot, bag […]
BQ test at Kinbreack bothy
When I was a lad the only quotient anyone ever mentioned was IQ, the Intelligence Quotient. Then a few years ago the Emotional Intelligence or EQ was invented in an effort to explain why gregarious dullards often achieve better life success than socially inept geniuses. Now there is another one to contend with, the Body […]
Summer highlights 2013
I’m going to put it on record that this summer has been one of the best I can remember. After a cold spring it has now been consistently warm and sunny for months. The purpose of this blog post is to bank a few memories of the summer of 2013 so I can refer back […]
Ski touring Fionn Bheinn (Achnasheen)
Approaching the summit of Fionn Bheinn Ask a child about their ambitions and they will tell you that they want be an astronaut or a Formula 1 driver. As I age my ambitions become increasingly mundane and attainable. One was achieved on Saturday, the ski descent off the back of Fionn Bheinn. The last time I […]