Whilst most were on their way to work last Monday morning I headed north, with Paul and Isaac, to Blair Atholl to hike up Beinn a'Ghlo. After parking at Loch Moraig we headed up good tracks and paths, up through the mist, to Carn Liath, the first of the three mountain tops - all munros …
Tag: scotland
Training for Killimanjaro on Scottish Hills
Over the last two weekends, over five days, I have been out with a family to help them prepare for a trek up Kilimanjaro in October. Visiting the Angus hills the first weekend and and then the Strathfarrar, Affric and Mullardoch hills the second we steadily built up the distances and time on the hill …
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What to take? Hillwalking in Autumn in Scotland
So here's what I'd take for a day hill walk in Scotland. In Autumn you can expect wetter weather, stronger winds and less daylight. So all that means some extra kit and prep is needed to be comfortable in the hills. For info I have noted the brand names of my kit in brackets. 1. …
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My top 10 views, summer 2017
With summer nearly over, here's my top ten views from hiking about Scotland, England and France. 1. Ben More from Stob Binnein. I like the way Ben More is in silhouette behind the rain cloud. I was out hillwalking with Isaac Wilkie. Read about our trip here. 2. Puig Castell Isard and Puig Carlit, French …
Flax Cordage
Flax Phormium tenax is a plant from New Zealand that is pretty common in gardens and public spaces in Scotland. I learnt about the plant from Simon and Carol West, on a recent About Argyll Walking Holidays tour to Orkney in July 2017. The Maori name for flax is harakeke and is used for making …
Bumblebees, rare chickweeds and sundews
It's been a very busy couple of months. We've run lots of Duke of Edinburgh's Award expeditions and in Scotland and in France and I've been guiding up in Shetland, Skye, Galloway and Argyll for About Argyll Walking Holidays. There's been plenty of amazing wildlife encounters like otters, dolphins, eagles and ospreys but I find …
Fire with Quartz and Steel
On Friday I took a wee holdiay, 24 hours camping on the Cowal coast - a place called Asgog Bay. The weather was fantastic, sunny and warm; and with no midgies it was perfect weather for camping. Asgog Bay has a shingle beach with great views of Arran tot eh south. Along the shore there are …
Cruach Ardrain – Stob Binnein Horseshoe
We had some fine April weather on Saturday - sunny, light winds and -1C on the summits - as we hiked round the Cruach Ardrain Stob Binnein horseshoe. It was a big day with 1,744m ascent and lots of steep ground. Beinn Tulaichean, Cruach Ardrain and Stob Binnein are three of the 'Crianlarich 7', a group …
Hammock camping, campfire cooking trail runner
So my plan was to do a big 60km reccy of a gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award route in Perthshire, running it in two days travelling really lightweight, sleeping in my hammock and cooking on a fires - so no stove. My rucksack weighed 7kg with food and water and all my overnight kit. I …
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Glen Rosa
On Friday afternoon, after our first Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition of this season finished up, I did some furious unpacking and repacking to get ready for a weekend on Arran. Out came all the soaking wet kit from a rainy practice expedition and I packed running kit for two sunny days in Arran. I …