AN American backpacker, Dr Robert Wehrman, has written a definite biography of Colin Fletcher, a Welsh/American whose works have inspired legions of backpackers across the globe, including Chris Townsend and myself. Indeed Chris and I have probably spent hours hiking and discussing what we know about Fletcher, or more pertinently, what we don’t know about Fletcher, for he was an extremely private person and it would seem there is plenty we don’t know. But what we don’t know, Bob Wehrman does. Wehrman has been looking for some financial help in publishing the biography and initially set up a Kickstarter fund,…

SEVERAL nights ago when the temperature dropped to unusually low levels even for this poor summer I put some logs on the wood burning stove, poured myself a large dram and settled down to read. But it wasn’t a book I was reading – it was the brand new Harveys map of Assynt. This new 1:40,000 scale map had dropped through my letterbox a few days earlier and it covers what many would regard as one of the finest areas of wild land in Scotland. The poet Norman MacCaig was passionate in his love for this area – he claimed…

THE hills of Scotland have a long tradition of the supernatural, which is hardly surprising since the indigenous highlander, even to-day, tends to superstition, and the history of Gaeldom is splattered with tales of the second sight, the little people, and tales from beyond the grave. My one and only encounter with anything remotely resembling spectral things occurred in Glen Banchor near my home in Newtonmore. I had taken my dogs for a walk on a local hill on a day of mist and rain, and as we returned along a well-trodden hill path we could see the glen road…

THREE years ago the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park authority introduced bylaws to combat the loutish behaviour that was turning the east shore of Loch Lomond between Balmaha and Rowardennan into a midden. At certain times of the year, notably Bank Holidays, hordes of visitors descended on this area, set up camp on the lochside, lit bonfires, consumed lots of alcohol and occasionally fought with each other. Then they would go home, leaving much of their rubbish and mayhem behind them. That, at least, was the story I was sold when the last East Loch Lomond bylaws were proposed.…

TO suggest I was shocked to get a press release the other day telling me about a new waterproof jacket that retails for £750, with matching over-trousers that cost £630, would be an understatement. Someone later sent me details of a snowboarding jacket that cost a cool £1200! Has the outdoor industry gone berserk? I thought we were living in times of austerity? Apparently not for some… Like many hill goers I’ve gone through periods of being a bit of a gear junkie. Having edited outdoor magazines for over 30 years I’ve pretty much had access to the best of…