Munros and Other Walks

Hiking With Kids You would think by the title, that this is an outdoor walk in the middle of  sprawling city. Well it's not, it is situated just outside of Blantyre, on the outskirts of Glasgow. The area that the walk is situated is small and is probably only 2-3 miles in total distance. It does take in a pond, where any life would struggle to survive, and a compact walk along the cliff edge.  The most interesting part of the walk was the visit to the old AA battery site. No, not an abandoned Duracell factory (other batteries are available) but a disused WW 2 site which used to contain anti aircraft guns. Some of the buildings are mostly intact, and this is great for kids who want to explore. 

Fort William to Fort Augustus Like any long distance hike, there are places to stay whatever your budget and the Great Glen Way is no exception. There are a range of options to choose from, some free providing you have your own tent or bivvy bag. Other places may push the financial budget a little more.  Fort William Has a range of options for everyone there is a campsite just outside the townext  and there is a range of hotels and Bed and Breakfast's. As you can imagine the list below isn't exhaustive. Camping A couple of good options here is the Glen Nevis campsite which sits at the foot of Ben Nevis and Lochy Campsite, situated just outside of Fort William.  Glen Nevis Camping   has the benefit of being just off the West Highland Way and is a good stopover for people who are looking to do either or both long distance walks. The campsite is just over 2 miles south of Fort William. Lochy Campsite is 2.5 miles north of Fort William a...

Hiking With Kids The Dukes Monument Trail is one of the walks that can be done in the Chatelherault Country Park. The walk itself can  be completed in a couple of hours, and provides a nice visit to the monument, which is situated at the edge of the park, near a housing estate. Map Getting There Chatelherault country park is situated just on the outskirts of Hamilton. It can be reached by train, the station is opposite the park entrance. If driving, head on the M74 south from Glasgow taking the Hamiltion turnoff. Once off the motorway take a left at the next two roundabouts and continue on the A72 towards Ferniegair. The park is a couple of miles outside of Hamilton.  Facilities  The park has a information centre, toilets, cafe and small shop. This is an ideal time to come with the family. There is a play park at the car park which will. happily keeps the children busy.  The Walk There are a range of walks that can be done, of varying l...

Food on the Trail Just Some Apples I had recently noticed that the apple tree in our back garden was still hanging with fruit, obviously the good weather during the summer had worked wonders on the tree. As I brought in the three large bowls of apples I considered what I could make of them. the main candidates were either apple pie or crumble.  Adding Some Cinnamon A few weeks previous, I had sliced up some over ripe bananas and put them in the oven for a couple of hours to make banana chips. This had worked well and were popular with the kids. I thought that this could work again with a few of the apples. I tried this a couple of times, the first I carefully sliced up the apples thinly, taking my time to cut out the little part of the core in the middle of the slice. This took a little bit of time, but the slices turned out great. I had added some cinnamon before the cooking process which added some more flavour. The second time I made them, I didn't bother ...

Product: Newport H2 Sandal Supplier: Amazon Cost: £60 A Brief Footwear History I bought the Keen Newport sandal explicitly for my long distance walk on the West Highland Way. I previously had the Teva sandal, which cost me over £70 at the time. This was back in 2007, and even though the Keen sandals can cost up to £80 in some outdoor stores, I would quite happily pay that cost again once my current Newport sandals end up in the bin. My Teva sandals were, at best, okay and I really wanted to like them. Unfortunately, even after a few years of wearing them they still hurt my feet. The pain was centred around the inside of my feet and at the heal where the sandal rubbed. After that experience I was reticent about buying another pair of sandals. A New Challenge At the start of this year I was asked by a relative to walk with him on the West Highland Way. I had walked this route before and on my first trip, I wore a pair of leather walking boots. It felt like tha...

I would like to take this opportunity to give a big thank you to everyone who has supported myself and Pat on our challenge this summer. The aim was to walk the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way. As we were doing this challenge, we thought it would be a good idea to raise money for a good cause and so we decided to support Cancer Research. Many thanks to this charity for supporting us along our way. We managed to raise £940, which far exceeded our set goal of £500.   The link to our Just Giving page is below, further donations are appreciated to keep up the fight against cancer.  West Highland Way and Great Glen Way Charity Walk

Product: Hydration Water Bladder Stockist: Amazon Price: £11.99 The hydration bladder is a inexpensive version of the camel back bladders that are on the market. This one holds 2 litres, and this was needed for the heat we experienced in the first few days of the West Highland Way. So does it do its job? Yes the bladder can hold almost 2 l of water without leaking. I say almost as the it is difficult to fill the bladder past the fill hole near the top of the bladder. Fill Hole The bladder will also fit snugly in a compartment in your bag. the tube is long enough to use when hiking. the tube itself is robust but the mechanism for releasing the water, by biting on the end and pulling the mouth piece doesn't quite work. Mouth Piece Closed Mouth Piece Open I sometimes either didn't bite hard enough to get any water or I pulled off the mouth piece from the tube. No harm was done and I could quickly re attach the piece as water spilled down my t shirt. I...