The Bevvy Bivvy
“Right,” I announced, swaying slightly in the near dark as I swirled the dregs of my can. “I’m going to crack open another beer for the final push to the summit”. My brother leant forward, bracing himself for a hearty guffaw. “You do realise that you said exactly the same thing, standing on exactly the […]
National Cycle Route 78 and the Great Glen Way by MTB
Every working day for the last 12 years I have used my swipe card to raise the same striped barrier. No longer. On April 7th I handed in my card, laptop and phone and left the protective umbrella of corporate work behind. Though I am excited about the future this change has inevitably left a hole in my life. My […]
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 […]
Fedden and Loch Arkaig Corbetts: November’s Outdoor Sleep
Meall an Tagraidh from Gleann Cia-aig The ruined house of Fedden lies to the west of the Great Glen, behind the great peaks of Meall na Teanga and Sron a’Choire Garbh. These are hill that I see often as I drive up and down the Great Glen. An intriguing track snakes up to the Cam […]
Corrour Night Ride
Winter in Scotland is cold, dark and wet. But that is no reason to curtail sporting activity. What better way to embrace the change in seasons than by undertaking a 20 mile night ride through wild, unlit moor and forest in torrential rain? At 2031 we loaded our bikes aboard the Caledonian Sleeper at […]
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 […]
Winter Highlights Feb – Mar 2013
Been reasonably busy of late but haven’t managed to find the time for any blogging. Here’s a quick, photo-heavy post to set things straight. Ski Touring: Glen Feshie A quick blast up Sgor Gaoith, following the snowiest lines. Winter Climbing: Golden Oldy, Aonach Mor Readers of this blog might be surprised to learn that I used to […]
Glen Roy: landscape interpretation through the ages
View up Glen Roy from the viewpoint. The famous Parallel Roads are discernible if you look hard enough. The Scottish landscape as we know it – the shape of the hills, the contours of the land, the courses of the rivers – has existed for around 10,000 years, since the ice melted at the end of the […]
Plan A: Coll and Tiree by bike. Plan B: Coll by bike and Mull by van.
Traigh Feall at the western end of Col The Isle of Bute is, as the tourist board have long maintained, a beautiful island. But is not Hebridean. It lacks that Hebridean magic, the great luminosity which Murray attributed to light reflected from the surrounding sea. That Bute belongs to the B list of islands became clear […]
A tale of two visits to Creag Meagaidh
Creag Meagaidh occupies a central position in Scotland both geographically and in terms of mountain sports. Its cliffs, the view of which unfolds throughout the approach to Coire Ardair like the plot of a good novel, are rivaled in scale only by the likes of Ben Nevis and Ben Lair. Walking the last few km […]