Part Three - The Cairngorms As we left the lowlands behind and headed up the A9, we started to see and feel the true wilderness that Scotland has to offer. So many beautiful valleys, mountainsides, and forests that appear to be completely devoid of human activity - this is what I had come here for! We arrived at Glenmore Campsite, near Aviemore, early in the evening, and I was initially struck by this site - it was definitely the biggest site we'd been on during this trip, and also the most wild feeling, as it's set right in the woodland. After a brief visit to reception to check in, we found ourselves a pitching spot away from other campers, and right on the edge of the woods, which gave our pitch a relatively private feel, however, it did make us easy access for all the flying insects of the forest! Our first evening was spent grilling some steaks that we had bought earlier in the day, and then, in an attempt to find some Wi-Fi to download maps and plan the next few days, we ...

Part Two - Edinburgh & Stirling After two nights in the Galloway forest it was time to move on to the next leg of our journey - starting with Edinburgh! To avoid the hassle of driving and parking in the city itself, whilst planning the trip we found several park and ride locations surrounding the city, so we chose the most convenient one for us, and headed there Monday morning. With traffic around the built up areas the journey took us just over two and a half hours. We had booked tickets for Edinburgh castle at 11:30, which we did end up being a little late for, but we still got into the castle, to get some great views over the city and to learn more of it's history.   Being the UK school summer holidays, and also festival season it should have been no surprise that the castle and city were both very busy with tourists from all over the world. After being in the forest for two days in a comparatively much less busy area, this was quite a shock to the system, and as I'm no...

As described in my introduction post, I have loved camping and outdoor activities since I was young, and living in the UK, the absolute pinnacle for such activities is without a doubt Scotland! It is a place that I have wanted to visit for a long time, and this year with my better half Catherine, I finally planned a trip that would allow us to visit some of the places that we wanted to see the most.  Over the course of many evenings after work we sat at the laptop, and over a large ' Touring Map of Scotland ' (thank you Amazon ) endeavouring to decide upon a route which would enable us to visit some beautiful natural areas such as Galloway Forest, the Cairngorms, and Glencoe, whilst also giving us the opportunity to see more touristy areas like Edinburgh and Stirling. Some of the places that we had initially planned to visit had to be cut from this trip, to allow us more time to explore others, leaving the planned route to resemble that below: Galloway Forest - camping for two...

Welcome to my Camping and Outdoors Chronicle!  I decided to create this blog primarily to record my camping trips and outdoor adventures, and maybe it will also provide some inspiration for anyone else who enjoys getting out in nature, and is looking for insight on some of the places that I've been lucky enough to explore and activities that I've been fortunate enough to experience. Here I feel that I should insert a disclaimer - I am by no means an expert in the field of camping, bush craft or any other outdoor activity that I partake in. I am merely someone who enjoys these activities, and wished to write an account of my experiences, as much for myself as for anyone else who might ever stumble upon them. A little about me: I grew up enjoying camping trips in North Wales with my dad and sister, which I believe sparked a keen interest in the outdoors. That initial spark grew and now manifests itself in camping, hiking, wild camping, motorcycle camping, mountain biking (altho...