A wildlife festival, which returns to Perthshire for the second year, is celebrating news that it will be bringing an internationally famous film festival to the area direct from the UN’s headquarters in New York. Wild Connections, founded in 2010 to showcase Highland Perthshire’s potential as a wildlife tourism destination, will run from 8th – 16th October, offering around 30 events to enthusiasts. Organisers are hailing the inclusion of nine award‐winning short films, brought here by Forestry Commission Scotland as part of the UN’s International Year of the Forests celebrations, as a major coup. They expect visitors will travel from…

With the weather forecast looking a bit dreich for much of Scotland, why not abandon any walking plans and head for Stirling? A whole day dedicated to mountain safety and open to all will be at the Albert Halls in the centre of Stirling this Saturday, 8 October. The day promises a fun mixture of interactive events, presentations and displays – a real one stop shop for information on the Scottish hills and how to enjoy them safely. Entry is FREE and the day should appeal to hill walkers and climbers of all abilities, particularly those wishing to find out…

In 2010 Chris Townsend, outdoor writer, photogrpaher and Gear Editor for TGO magazine, hiked the Pacific Northwest Trail, which runs for 1250 miles from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean through the states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. This is a wilderness route with much challenging terrain and remote country inhabited by bears and wolves. Chris, who was until recently President of mountaineers and climbers organisation the MCofS, will be giving an illustrated talk about the walk on 20 October in Inverness. The talk, to be illustrated with spectacular images of the mountains, is organised by TISO and held…

Northern Constabulary Police have named the hillwalker who died last week following a fall in Glencoe as 58 year old Patricia Hutchison from Glasgow. A search and rescue operation was launched on 29th September following reports that a female hillwalker had fallen in the Lost Valley in Glencoe.