I’ve found a fluffy wee chick. What should I do?

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Ben Dolphin

A couple of weeks ago my boss phoned just as I was packing up to leave work for the day. She’d received a report from a park visitor who had found an owl chick sitting on one of our mountain bike trails, and was phoning to see if I knew what the general advice was regarding owl chicks found out of their nests. But I didn’t know. My acquisition of wildlife factoids that assist me as a ranger has developed principally on a ‘learn as you go’ basis. Any knowledge that my fusty old brain manages to retain about a…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

Scheme launched for hillwalkers’ to ‘Adopt a Path’ in our National Parks

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Paul Webster

An exciting new campaign encouraging people to help look after Scotland’s most iconic and popular mountains, has been launched today on Conic Hill in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park. The ‘Adopt a Path’ campaign is part of a major £6.1 million project – The Mountains & The People – and is launched on its one year anniversary. ‘Adopt a Path’ asks volunteers who go hillwalking to adopt a favourite hill route in Scotland’s National Parks – Loch Lomond & The Trossachs and Cairngorms – that they will inspect when they go walking and then report back on the…

Posted in Access issues, Nature

MCofS warn walkers not to become too reliant on GPS

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Helen Webster

Navigation in the Scottish Mountains can be challenging; particularly if the cloud comes down and visibility is lost. This is a time when many hill walkers will pull out their GPS, press a few buttons and confidently follow instructions from the small screen in front of them. Heather Morning, Mountain Safety Advisor with The Mountaineering Council of Scotland, discusses whether that GPS ‘safety net’ is indeed the panacea to solving all our navigation and safety concerns or whether we as a hill walking community are becoming so reliant on modern technology that we may be actually losing a part of…

Posted in News

Iconic Highlands bothy reborn as eco-friendly rewilding base

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Helen Webster

An iconic but once derelict mountain bothy in Glen Affric has been transformed into an eco-friendly rewilding base by Trees for Life – creating the springboard for an ambitious 25-year programme of forest restoration which will extend Scotland’s Caledonian Forest towards the country’s west coast. Around 100 people gathered at the remote Athnamulloch Bothy – which lies west of Loch Affric, on the National Forest Estate managed by Forest Enterprise Scotland – on Sunday 29 May to celebrate the building’s £137,000 renovation, which has been funded by generous donations and grants. Broadcaster, writer and Trees for Life Patron Vanessa Collingridge…

Posted in Nature

Walkhighlands MCofS Navigation courses – book now

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Helen Webster

Following the success of the joint Walkhighlands/MCofS navigation courses over the last few years a further 4 course dates are being held this summer. These single day courses will be held at Arrochar on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June, and at the Ochils on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th August. This is the chance to brush up on your navigation skills while meeting other Walkhighlands users on a fun and friendly day. The courses are always very popular and only a few slots are still available – there is one place on Saturday 11 June, 2 on Sunday 12th…

Posted in News, Walkhighlands news

Loch Lomond waterbus service extended for 2016

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Helen Webster

The popular Loch Lomond waterbus service has been extended to take in additional locations around the world-famous loch, meaning visitors now have even more choice when exploring the area. Due to popular demand, the waterbus will now operate a new service between Loch Lomond Shores in Balloch to Inchmurrin and Inchcailloch, giving people the opportunity to explore two of Loch Lomond’s most popular islands. Furthermore the Inchmurrin service includes a morning tea/coffee and scone, or soup and a sandwich at lunchtime, depending on what time you sail. Situated only 50 minutes by train from Glasgow, Balloch is the southern gateway…

Posted in News

Windproof jackets review

Posted on May 28, 2016 by Peter Macfarlane

Your waterproof is windproof, so why carry two things for doing the same job? Waterproofs have got lighter and more breathable, windproofs were an escape from a heavy, sweaty jacket years back, but a windproof is still far better at sweat management and some of the current fabrics are incredibly light but are still pretty durable. Where a waterproof usually has a membrane to keep the rain wet out and transfer the sweat from the inside, windproofs tend to be single skin fabrics that happily absorb the sweat and spread it out through fabric to help it dry faster. You…

Posted in Gear reviews, Jackets

Win a year’s worth of premium whisky to taste

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Helen Webster

With Father’s Day coming soon, we’ve teamed up with the wonderful Whisky Tasting Company to bring you the chance to win a year’s supply of premium and rare whiskies to taste – worth £235! A specialist in premium whisky gift sets, the Whisky Tasting Company has unique agreements with whisky brand owners throughout Scotland & Wales, presenting premium, old and rare whiskies from almost all of the country’s distilleries in our beautiful whisky gift sets. All you need to do is to fill in the form below, including the answer to the question “From which Scottish City is the long…

Posted in News, Walkhighlands news

Human “Wolves” to help restore woodland

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Helen Webster

Project Wolf – a unique new conservation programme in which volunteers replicate the natural disturbance effects of Scotland’s extinct predators – has been launched in the Highlands near Loch Ness by Trees for Life. Project Wolf is being trialled at the charity’s acclaimed Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston, Inverness-shire, lying to the west of Loch Ness. It involves volunteers operating in teams of three ‘wolves’, regularly walking through the ancient woodlands during the night and at dusk and dawn, creating disturbance that will keep deer on the move. “Grazing pressure on young trees by too many deer, today undisturbed by…

Posted in Nature

Going solo

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Linda Cracknell

I was in my sleeping bag by 6:50 PM on the night of the Spring equinox and still able to write by natural light. I looked east, watching through the tent flap as the light died over Meall nan Tarmachan, Ben Vorlich, Stuc a Chroin. I couldn’t see the sunset directly, having pitched my tent at about 750 m on the south-eastern crags of Meall Ghaordaidh to shelter from increasing night winds. However, a sharply demarcated block of shade had risen up the hills, contrasting with a diminishing russet glow on the tops as blue-grey clouds draped over them, the…

Posted in Features, Magazine