The article for Active Outdoors on my first Strathpuffer
Last year I headed out to explore some new sections of the Great Glen Way which have been built to help improve the long-distance route. This is a short video I shot while on the stretch between Invermoriston and Fort Augustus in December.
Loch Ness at Aldourie pier
I found myself with an all-too-rare day with nothing planned today, so decided to go for a nice little trail run down at Dores. And what’s the best way to get to Dores? On the bike, of course!
Following the quiet roads and short sections of cycle path, I headed to the village on the edge of Loch Ness. There’s covered cycle parking beside the bus stop so I left the wheels and headed into Torr Wood to follow a four-mile run that features in Scottish Trail Running.
It takes you through lovely woodland to Aldourie, on a little detour to glimpse the castle then back round the edge of Loch Ness to the beach at Dores.
I didn’t fancy coming straight home so took my own detour on the bike to climb the long hill to the Loch Ashie crossroads. The effort is worth it for the long descent and fabulous view over Inverness and the Moray Firth.
Looking over Loch Ness from above Dores beach
Gavin Francis spent more than a year working as the base camp doctor at the Halley Research Station in Antarctica, cut off from the rest of the world – including his girlfriend – and spending three months in darkness during the winter. With the sea frozen, it is said to be easier to evacuate somebody from the International Space Station than it is to get them home from Halley in winter.
While he was there, Gavin wrote his award-winning book, Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence and Emperor Penguins. It brings together beautifully his longing for emptiness, a fascination with the continent and his interest in the only creatures which can survive in temperatures that slump to around -50C.
I will be speaking to Gavin about his experience in Antarctica during this year’s Inverness Book Festival, which is supported by The Inverness Courier. The event takes place on Wednesday 20th August at 6.30pm in Eden Court’s OneTouch Theatre.
For more information on the event and to buy tickets, visit the book festival website here.
Empire Antarctica By Gavin Francis from Creative Scotland on Vimeo.
* Photos courtesy of Gavin Francis and subject to copyright. See www.gavinfrancis.com for details and contact information.
Snaking up the hill in the early stages of the 20-mile run
The legs are slowly recovering after completing my second Highland Cross. I knocked around seven or eight minutes off my time from last year, coming into Beauly 5 hours, 22 minutes and 12 seconds after setting off from Kintail. The coast-to-coast duathlon involves a 20-mile run including a huge climb (part of which can be seen in the photo above) then a 30-mile cycle from Glen Affric to the finish in Beauly.
Here’s my Garmin breakdown of the event – run/transition/cycle:
I'm a journalist in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland who specialises in the great outdoors - including walking, cycling and mountaineering.
Walking and Cycling in the Highlands