Outdoors
The gear that I would have taken on the 2020 TGO Challenge
Sadly the 2020 TGO Challenge is not to be, but here’s the gear I would have been taking on my journey across Scotland… As I write this, I should be in Oban, preparing to set out on my very first TGO Challenge (here is a little about the route
How you can help support outdoor writers during the Coronavirus pandemic
Although writers are less affected by the current crisis than many others, these are challenging times. Here’s how you can help. We may not be able to travel to the hills or wild places right now, but writers help us plan our next trips and travel there in our
A Walk in the Woods – hiking Norway’s Jotunheimstien
Alex Roddie discovers a long-distance trail that begins in Oslo city centre, plunging into a forest paradise brimming with wildlife. This feature was first published in The Great Outdoors magazine (2018 Scandinavia Supplement) It isn’t every day that you get to start a long-distance trail from a city centre.
My features in the March 2020 issue of TGO magazine
I have a couple of short pieces in the latest issue of The Great Outdoors, which has just started going out to subscribers. The first, called ‘Scotland’s Wrath’ (I didn’t pick that title, honest!) is the final piece of my TGO content for the 2019 winter Cape Wrath
Images from a local wood that is being destroyed
Please read this blog post for an update, including further images of the damage. This morning, on my daily walk, I was shocked to discover that a local stand of woodland is in the process of being bulldozed. Most mornings for the last three years, I’ve walked past a
Wild perspectives: a twilight nature encounter at Snipe Dales
One of the last things I did in 2019 was to go for a walk in the woods, and I caught a glimpse of the wild perspectives that govern hidden corners of our world. It was to be a walk in search of some birds to photograph, but it ended
My top ten wild camps of 2019
Ten of the best from the mountains of Scotland and the Pyrenees As I mentioned in my year in review, I spent a total of 67 nights under canvas this year, of which 47 were ‘wild’ camps. It’s been a fantastic year for wild camps. The Haute Route Pyrenees
TGO Challenge 2020 route submitted for vetting
After a few weeks spent pondering maps, my planned route for the 2020 TGO Challenge has now been submitted. For background on the Challenge, and why I decided to participate, see this blog post. It’s an annual non-competitive backpacking event in which hundreds of people cross Scotland on foot
A pillaged ecology in the Scottish Highlands: ‘I am angry beyond words’
An environmental consultant expresses anger and concern about landscape mismanagement and the impact of deer in the Scottish Highlands Last week, after I put up a post on Twitter and LinkedIn describing how I was writing a piece about the ‘pillaged ecology in the Highlands’, I received an email from
A Single Moment: Alpine Bivouac
This feature was first published in Sidetracked magazine, February 2018. Suddenly I’m not sure I want to go through with this, but there’s no chance to go back now. Not unless I want to descend that ridge in the dark. I’ve climbed to the summit of Stockhorn,
