Aged 57 or 58 I looked at the results from my first public run and I was astounded to discover that everyone over 40 is considered a ‘veteran’! The running fraternity used to discriminate against women; is ageism also rife in the sports community? The London Times newspaper is fond of health and fitness articles …
The Running Age – Coming to Running at 40, 50, 60, 70! Read More »
It is rare to escape foot injury on a multiday walk. Some soreness on the top of my toes made me reach for the moleskin which, secured by leucatape, was all I needed. There’s a ridge that begins near Milton and over about 18km rises up to the top of Cairngorm – this was my …
Martha and Andrew were heading for Cannich, whereas I wanted to get up high now the weather was improving. My route took me alongside the loch to Monar Lodge; then north on a made track, before veering off to the right up onto the ridge. It is pathless here but the line is easy to …
TGOC – The Great Outdoor Challenge – is a common theme on these pages. Originally described as ‘The Ultimate Challenge’ in the pages of an outdoor magazine in 1980, it involves a self-supported and individually planned multi-day walk from the West Coast of Scotland to the the East. Of course there’s a website where you …
This post currently make use of the free Meow Gallery plugin for WordPress and the (not-free) WP/LR plugin which links pictures from an Adobe Lightroom repository to WordPress. Are these tools good? Well, difficult to say! This is a first attempt, and has left me with a few questions! In 2006 we sat after-hours in …
It’s October. Daylight appears at 7am and lasts until about 6 pm. This makes for a relaxed backpacking plan:- a core of 7 hours walking, topped and tailed by 2 hours for breaking and making camp. [route map at end of post] Arriving late on a Tuesday evening, I had the campsite to myself – …
T was keen to revisit his youth! He had worked as a gillie on an estate while a fresh-faced student. He ran up and down the pathless hills to manoeuvre deer towards the hunters. On his days off he took free and walked to The West reaching the edge of that blank part of the …
Knoydart – a TGO Challenge Pre-amble, or a Post-lockdown Taster? Read More »
The outdoors is an integral part of life for most Norwegians. A sparse population and some dramatic and accessible countryside means that many spend at least some of their free time hiking or skiing or hunting or just hanging out in the wild. There is a mountain hut in most families for indulging this passion. …
[click on any picture to get an enlarged view] Icy cold January winds on the slopes of the Brecons RMC is Reading Mountaineering Club. With a monthly program of trips for walkers, climbers, scramblers, and bikers there are members from far and wide. Last Friday a select group joined the queues on the M4 towards …
In ancient times there were 4 native deer in the UK – elk and reindeer which disappeared around 10,000 years ago, and red deer and roe deer which remain. Because of over-hunting in earlier centuries (1300-1800) there have been several programs to reintroduce both red deer and roe deer. [In addition we now have 4 …