20 April - Sunday Afternoon Stroll

The activity recently has definitely be on the leisurely side of "active" but as this blog is just about getting out and enjoying Scotlands fresh air and wide open spaces everythin counts even a sunday afternoon stroll in the woods (followed by a cup of tea and sticky bun)
Watch this space for more adventure coming soon!

19 April - Bike around the Loch

Todays big challenge was biking round Loch Ore. This was a first for all of us. Eilidh hitched a lift with me as her bike was connected to mine, she seems to enjoy that and loves it when I stop pedaling and she powers us both along. Beth pedalled like crazy to get her single speed, small wheeled bike the 4 miles around the Loch. It was a great morning and the carrot at the end was the playpark which is conveniently placed right at the end of the bike track.

15 April - Team Development

This is one of the bonuses of working in the Outdoors. Development time can include fun times like jumping on mountain bikes and heading out for the afternoon. Ok there was a purpose - we were heading out to one of our regular trails to check out some new routes and the general condition of the runs. We also shared some ideas on best tracks to use and how best to manage groups of various ability. All useful stuff but really good fun. This development afternoon was like a tranquil haven in the midst of an otherwise hectic and difficult week.

Sat 12 March - The Big Walk

Ok it was only 5 miles but when you are 8 and trying to keep up with the big boys and girls that can seem like a long way. It didn't take much persuading to get Beth to come along on this walk along a section of the Fife Coastal Path. She loves hanging out with the older kids although she frequently had to break into a run just to keep up. We walked for 2 and a half hours to Aberdour then jumped on a train for 5 minutes to get back to the car. I am glad that 3 out of 4 weather forecasts were correct and the rain stayed away.

31 March - ML Training Course

Have survived and enjoyed the ML training course with Pete Hill and company up at Grantown on Spey. Didn't get into the Cairngorms as conditions there weren't "summer" but had an excellent week with great leaders and a really fun bunch of fellow trainees.

28 March - Bikes and Stags

There is good reason for the blog being quiet for a while. It all started on Wednesday 26 March when Beckie and the girls jetted off south to visit grandparents and left me to look after myself. only for a couple of days as I had plans of my own.

The weekend kicked off on Friday 28 March with a test. Just like being back at school. There is always something new to learn and get qualified in and today it was the Trail Cycle Leader course. I love the bike. It's a great way to get around and explore so now I can do this with groups at the centre as well. Excellent day and quite hard work concentrating for 4 hours out on the trail knowing exactly where you are and how long it will take to get from A to B and dealing with my crazy fellow candidate who decided to go up an extremely steep slope and try and cycle down (this was a scenario of course). Thanks to Andy the assessor (for passing me) and Jess (for not actually cycling down that slope).

After that excitement it was straight in the car and up to Fort William for cousin Johnny's stag weekend. This included some beer, golf, football, table football and some more beer. An excellent weekend finished off on sunday afternoon with a spin round one of the Mountain Bike trails at the Nevis Range.

21 March - A hill with a view

It was actually a mountain not a hill and when you go up one of these in winter, spring, autumn or summer you are not always guaranteed a view. This time we did and it is amazing to look out and see snow capped peaks in every direction. The group this time were all instructors from the Outdoor Ed team all working towards assessments at various levels. We were also joined by Gordon from Glasgow who we met in the car park and was grateful for the company.

Although I have enjoyed quite a number of winter walks over the past few years this was my first opportunity to get stuck into the winter skills of using ice axe and crampons (we didn't use the crampons in the end as the snow stayed quite soft). The wind was a blustery 60mph on the top of Ben Tuallachain, our only peak of the day, so we didn't hang around there. The descent was made more interesting as we found a good snow slope and practised with the ice axe.

An excellent day out and a good shakedown before the ML course next week. Thanks to all on the trip for the company and tips.