FionaOutdoors

So it seems (according to the comments on my latest blog) that perhaps the girls do want to have more fun in Scotland’s great outdoors but they are either a) stuck at basecamp while the chaps are out there enjoying themselves instead, or b) feel a bit scared at the prospect getting out and about [...]

I’ve blogged a few times about the seemingly disproportionate number of men enjoying our hills and the great outdoors in general. In fact, every time I’m out and about I make a point of trying to keep a tally of men to women. The proportion is usually very few women to lots of men. So [...]

Yet more glorious hiking and climbing in Scotland’s amazing winter wonderland this weekend. I think perhaps I have struck it lucky and embarked on my first experiences of winter walking during a year of unprecedented stunning conditions! According to so many other people who have walked through other Scottish winters, conditions are normally awful and [...]

I’m not at all great in the cold. My hands and feet freeze up even when I’m sitting indoors so I had never imagined that I’d a) be able to cope b) enjoy myself in winter in Scotland’s great outdoors. But all this was proven wrong a couple of days ago when I headed off [...]

How remarkably different was Sunday’s walking compared to Saturday’s. With only one Munro top to summit to bag we took a more leisurely approach to the day. We were also gratified to find that the weather was stunning. With a low-lying mist (offering numerous wonderfully photogenic opportunities) and bright blue skies with a warm-for-November sun [...]

If you has asked me a year ago to define a Munro bagger I might have suggested they were a little mad and most likely obsessive. Bagging a round of theses Scottish mountains over 3000ft was not something I had planned and one of my main objections was that I was sure that not every [...]

Back home from the Isle of Jersey I headed straight from the plane (thanks Flybe for your superb punctuality arriving in Edinburgh) to Ardrossan for the Arran ferry, picking up Little Miss Outdoors en route. (While I was on Jersey Little Miss had been enjoying her own outdoor adventures during a school activity trip to [...]

PIc: The Cairnwell. At 933mthis is one of the easiestof the 283 Munros. As one of my friends commented after I told him about my recent epic Munro bagging weekend: “That is so typical of you, Fi. You don’t just take on the challenge you take it to the absolute limits of your ability.” Ah, [...]

So far this year I’ve enjoyed most of my outdoor pursuits in fantastic sunshine. This has been a lot to do with luck, and also thanks to unusually good summer weather this year. Therefore, a day of full-on rain and wind could easily have put me off the mountains. Not so, I discovered yesterday. Joining [...]

So now I can see why so many people are Munro bagging addicts. I have always loved the Scottish mountains and almost everything else that goes with our great outdoors but until this weekend I’d somehow managed to resist the pull of the Munro Bagging Bug (MBB). Then, all at once, at the top of [...]