Features

Gear Review: Dried Backpacking Meals

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Helen Webster

Tasty, nutritious, filling food is as important as weather and scenery to the enjoyment of overnight camps. Exploring some long distance Scottish routes this year while researching a new guidebook has seen us try a number of dried camping meals alongside our “go to” staples of instant mash, cup-a-soups, noodles and couscous. We tried a selection of meals from most brands including meat and vegan, main meals, breakfast and dessert options where available. The selection included brands that dehydrate the whole meal (said to preserve flavour), meals where ingredients are dried separately and then combined, and freeze drying which prolongs…

Posted in Camping, Features, Gear reviews, Magazine

The Hot Tent Diaries

Posted on October 15, 2022 by John Burns

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…

Posted in Features, Magazine

How Mar Lodge very nearly became a ski resort

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Ben Dolphin

I recently had the good fortune to be working in Glen Quoich on three consecutive days. And on each of those occasions I took time to sit quietly among the veteran pines, with my coffee and lunch, and take-in the atmosphere of regenerating Caledonian woodland. It’s one of the most restful places I know. Indeed when we were released from our local authority lockdown limits during the Covid pandemic, this is the first place I visited. Now managed by the National Trust for Scotland, where better to be restored than the very place where restoration hangs in the air? Given…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

Peak Beyond Peak: The Unpublished Scottish Journeys of Isobel Wylie Hutchison

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Isobel Wylie Hutchison

In 2014 a red box file stuffed full of the memoirs of Scottish explorer Isobel Wylie Hutchison found its way into the hands of writer Hazel Buchan Cameron. Looking through the photographic slides, essays, letters and even a postcard from St Kilda, Hazel was entranced and began the arduous task of bringing the voice of one of Scotland’s most remarkable figures back to life. Born 30 May 1889, Isobel Wylie Hutchison was many things: A botanist, explorer, poet and artist, she travelled solo throughout the arctic collecting plant samples, wrote and published extensive volumes of essays and poetry, and was –…

Posted in Features, Magazine

Mind the Gaick

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Sarah Jane Douglas

High anxiety causes heart palpitations that frighten me as I lie in bed at night. Sleep doesn’t come easily (but to be fair, it never has). I’m waiting for my fifth, and final, annual breast clinic check at hospital. My attitude is a little devil may care in the build up to these appointments – I can’t seem to help it. I burn through days on a million mile an hour program of distraction, but all that achieves is exhaustion, tearfulness and emotional chaos (mixed in with an unhelpful dose of self-loathing for not being in control). I have lots…

Posted in Features, Magazine

Yet another outdoors brand refresh – yet more campfires in the woods

Posted on August 30, 2022 by Paul Webster

Every day – as with all media organisations – we receive many press releases here at Walkhighlands. Some are of great interest to those of us who love the outdoors, whilst others are simply advertising or spam competing for attention. But as the world heats up and there are droughts across much of Europe, and wildfire risks become sky-high – there’s one type that’s particularly depressing to receive. It’s the use of photos of irresponsible wildfires – in woodland and forests – for marketing purposes by outdoor brands that really should know better. Today’s was from Jack Wolfskin – here’s…

Posted in Access issues, Features, Magazine

Midges and Keds, Clegs and Ticks. Oh my!

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Ben Dolphin

As the summer progresses and my skin plays host to various biting beasties, I find myself pondering which of them is the most infuriating. Which of them is most likely to sabotage my outdoors enjoyment? I have my own personal torments, but I’m curious what other people think about our wee beasties. Time therefore, for a famously unscientific poll to see how you, the outdoorsy folk, feel about them. I asked…. Which of these lovely wee critters traumatises you the most when you’re trying to enjoy Scotland’s great outdoors? There are of course a whole host of annoyances out there,…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

Our pick: 12 of Scotland’s most fascinating caves

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Paul Webster

Caves are perhaps not the first landscape feature people associate with Scotland. Think high mountains, picturesque glens, rugged coastline and stunning sandy beaches – but caves? Here we list 12 of the most fascinating caves for walkers to visit. The Bone Caves, Inchnadamph, Sutherland The celebrated limestone Bone Caves were excavated in 1889 by the geologists Peach and Horne. They found the remains of now extinct animals which once roamed the Highlands including lynx, polar bear, arctic fox and lemmings. It is believed that the caves may have once sheltered both these animals and also the humans who hunted them.…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Our picks

Behind the headlines: Scottish Mountain Rescue

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Paul Webster

Last year saw a record number of call outs for Scotland’s mountain rescue teams. What was behind this increase – and can the teams cope? Paul Webster interviews Scottish Mountain Rescue statisticians Tom Adams and Andy Morgan to find out the truths behind the heated posts and discussions we often see on social media. PAUL: Can you tell us a bit about yourselves? TOM: I’m Tom Adams, SMR statistician. I have been a member of Oban Mountain Rescue Team for around 9 years. I am a keen walker, scrambler and mountain biker myself. I used to climb a lot but…

Posted in Features, Magazine

I’ve struck oil in the hills!

Posted on June 11, 2022 by Ben Dolphin

Everyone has their favourite Scottish animal, the one they’re always on the lookout for, the one that stops them in their tracks. But while I love a white-tailed eagle or a red squirrel as much as the next person, my favourite Scottish animal isn’t big, fluffy or familiar. It’s small, it’s uncommon and it’s downright weird. Erm…..it’s a beetle. Yes, I can hear your inward groans, but bear with me. It’s actually surprising to encounter something utterly alien. By that I mean, we’re all generally aware that insects are enormously varied in appearance but we nevertheless expect the ones we…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature