The Outdoors Station - Audio

We finally arrive at Sandwood Bay and try to share our surroundings with listeners as best we can. In the most perfect wild camp spot surrounded by Skylarks we eat a gourmet meal, with freshly baked Bannock Bread cooked on the Bush Buddy washed down with a nice chilled white wine. In the morning, it is kit review time before setting off for the Cape!

On the way to Kylesku we meet other walkers on the hill and hear what the area means to them. Then we pitch under a huge road bridge, but with an excellent view while I enjoy the first Bush Buddy meal of the trip. The following day I have a slight disaster of the footwear kind and due to our preset time scales, have to really push on towards Kinlochbervie. Exhausting!

After a bracing wash in the River Oykel we follow the river to Inchnadamph Bunk House. The following day we are once again stunned by the beauty of the area as we climb towards Glas Bheinn, through the gully and have to reflect on the unbelievable view.

Join Lee Wells and myself as we start our 100 mile walk from Ullapool to Cape Wrath, in early May 08. This starts our journey off and we talk route, landscape, history, weather and of course .. gear!

Following a successful early May trip to Cape Wrath using a Paramo Velez Smock, I thought I would take a closer look at the range. Matt Semark from Paramo takes me through the current popular items in the range and explains some of the keys features.

The landscape of our islands is constantly changing. We tend to think we notice changes…houses, roads, wind turbines, but some changes are more subtle, as the countryside and its use over centuries becomes modified and eased into a developing world. With his farming background, and more recent career as an outdoor writer, Mark Richards is uniquely placed to discuss how we can interpret these changes, and enjoy our countryside walks in an environmentally-conscious way.

Tony Howard and Di Taylor have been climbing and trekking in the mountains of North Africa and the Middle East for well over 30 years. In 1984 they discovered the climbing and trekking area of Wadi Rum, and wrote the guidebooks to that area. They return to Jordan every year and their discoveries reveal an unexpected land of forested hills, dales carpeted in flowers, huge canyons sometimes with fast-flowing rivers, caves, perfect limestone cliffs in wooded valleys and high mountains with lunar landscapes. This is the country of world famous sites of antiquity such as Petra, Pella, Ajlun and Kerak.

The John Muir Trail is a spectacular trek through California’s High Sierra from Yosemite (El Capitan and Half-Dome) to Mount Witney, highest peak in the continental US. The 216 mile route can be comfortably fitted into a three-week holiday, but planning and preparation is critical as Ronald Turnbull will tell you – tune in to find out more, then get the Cicerone guidebook and off you go!

We finally find the winner of the fab Canon G9 Camera competition, meet the UK's only wooden kayak maker, talk to Mark Richards about his new book Mountain Walks in the Lakes and here about the Charity Community Action in Nepal.

A great podzine for you this week with an extended deadline on the competition. We speak with Catherine Whitehead from Paramo who are committed to ethical production, also to Andy Rouse to hear about the lifestyle of a wildlife photographer and to John Penny from Canon Uk, who has given us a fantastic G9 as a prize for this week's show!!

Scotland and outdoor activities seem to have been made for each other. With so much choice, it’s sometimes hard to decide where to go for your walking adventure. Here we talk to Ronald Turnbull, whose extensive knowledge of the best walking regions in Scotland is brought together in (currently) two guidebooks to the ranges near Ben Nevis and Glencoe, and the Cairngorms in the East.

Ronald Turnbull is an outdoor writer with a difference! His boundless knowledge, quirky writing style and boyish sense of fun in the outdoors are all brought together in ‘The book of the Bivvy’. Here we hear from the man himself, with tips on bivvying in the rain, ideas for great trips, and the sheer pleasure of being on the hills for hours before (and after) the crowds have descended to the town below.

Paddy is a prolific outdoor writer with over 30 books to his name. Brought up in the Pennines, Paddy’s love of walking quickly translated into a career as a writer. Here he describes how he actually goes about preparing information for one of his many guide books. He also explains how his life as an outdoor writer is highly organized so as to maximize opportunities throughout the year.

Certainly a less well-known long-distance route, but one which captures everything that a good trail should have. The River Ribble springs from the limestone of the Yorkshire Dales, high on Cam Fell in the heart of Three Peak country. The 70-mile route is ideal for those new to trekking, with plentiful accommodation and sights of interest on the way.

Cycle touring need not be the sole reserve of the fit, lean ‘Tour de France’ cyclist, or even the club cyclist. In this podcast we hear from Jon Sparks about how to get started, just what level of ability you really do need, and some of the delights of moving through the countryside at a pace which combines a reasonable rate of progress with time to enjoy your surroundings to the full.