When the restrictions of the pandemic hit, outdoor author John D. Burns, could no longer visit the remote bothies that are his passion. John’s latest book, The Hot Tent Diaries, tells the story of his search for another way to experience wild places. A Hot Tent is simply a tent capable of being heated by a woodburning stove and for John they have opened up an exciting new way to explore our hills and glens. It’s almost dark by the time I get the rest of my equipment into the tent and fix the storm guys in place. The tent…

The big man grunted as he drove the shovel into the earth, his breath misting in the cold winter air. His two companions watched the spade rise and fall as the mound of soil grew. They stood beside the pile of earth – one stocky and bald, the other a thin and mouse-like creature with a black hat crammed onto his head. Every few moments the small man’s gaze would dart into the surrounding forest and he would scan the snow-covered fir trees in the steep-sided valley. He searched uncertain of what he might find but fearful of anything that…

These are difficult times for all of us. If you love the outdoors it can be difficult to be separated from the hills. From his home in Inverness, John D Burns (author of The Last Hillwalker and Sky Dance) looks for the lighter side of confinement and gives us something to smile about. I’m indoors, isolated and trying write my next book on my PC but the words won’t come. I’ve not been more than a few hundred yards from my flat door for two weeks, and the confinement is getting to me. I’m staring at the keyboard, trying to…