I went for a walk in the woods in the first week of the year. Down by the quiet place where I park my car there is, improbably, a scattering of giant sequoias, the spellbinding, sky-tending redwoods of the High Sierra of the Californian West.
Good path work in recent years has meant that what was often a bog fest followed by an ungainly clamber up a scree is now a much more pleasant walk from the Glen Clova Hotel to Loch Brandy and up on to the promontory known as The Snub.
What started as a one-off event for a TV show has become one of the world’s most iconic races.
It’s one thing if it rains while you’re camping – it’s cosy, almost. It’s quite another when it pours while you’re setting up.
At 1,108m (3,635ft) Meall a’ Bhuiridh is the highest summit in a fine set of hills known as the Blackmount.
A spectacular portion of Scotland’s west coast stretches from Oban to Fort William.
I am heading south through the Sma’Glen on my way to Argaty, near Doune, a 1,300-acre estate owned by the Bowser family, who run the Red Kite Centre.
Any plans for New Year? If you have, I suppose that – following convention and the calendar – you’ll put them into practice on December 31.
An outlier of the Cuillin, Bla Bheinn is regarded by many as the finest mountain on Skye.
Children need to get outside to play, exercise and enjoy themselves. The knock-on benefits are endless – from making them fitter to stopping a rise in short-sightedness from youngsters staring at phones rather than their wider surroundings.
The Ayrshire coast has long been a popular place for day-trippers and was once the destination for Glaswegians during the Fair Fortnight.