The Cairngorms National Park has vast areas of low light pollution and amazing vantage points, making it one of the best places in the world for stargazing. Home to the most northerly designated “International Dark Sky Park,” the Cairngorms vast landscape has stunning venues for stargazing and astrophotography. The same can be said for a lot of areas in Aberdeenshire and the Highlands too, you just need to find somewhere as dark as possible!

Spring, in my opinion, is one of the best times to be out and about in the Scottish mountains. In the glens the bees are buzzing, birds are frantically nest building, the sweet smell of gorse is in the air and finally, thank goodness, the clocks have gone forward! But with the transition from winter to summer often it can be a challenging time to make the ‘right’ decision up high in the mountains, or even down low.

We have created the following 3 videos to help you understand the different types of winter boots, compatible crampons and what type of ice axe you will need for winter. For winter walking we recommend a B2 boot to go along with a C2 crampon as they are much easier to fit and should be more secure.

As always, comments and questions are welcome.

Who on Earth has a 200 year plan for anything? Most Governments, Corporations, Individuals have plans for the next 5, 10, 25 years at the most. But when it comes to saving our environment, these timescales will not do.

In 2022, Hillgoers and about 30 young people from across the UK were lucky enough to work with the Conservationists and Rangers on the National Trust for Scotland’s 70,000 acre Mar Lodge Estate in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park. The NTS have a 200 year plan to regenerate the estate: the great, great, great, great grandchildren of those working on this project will see the fulfilment of this project. But that’s not to say that there are not clear signs of progress. And you could be part of this!

Walking is an excellent way of staying active, and it's often underestimated. Here are five benefits of walking outside.

‘The long walk in’, a term used by some to describe the approach of the main Cairngorm plateau from Deeside, the shorter approach being from the north ski centre. The long walk in is not too far though, with just a fine short 5km to Derry Lodge, after which options are opened on your way up to the hills, including Ben Macdui.

The Balmoral Cairns are a hidden treasure in Aberdeenshire though becoming more popular to visit it seems. The estate have recently opened up a new takeaway coffee pod, so why not take a grab a coffee and go for a stroll…..(remember to take your cup home with you!!).

Aberdeenshire is well placed for hiking adventures, from coastal trails to mountain tops. Our children have been out in the hills since they were old enough to walk, not always full of enthusiasm but they did learn to love it!

For my last hill walk of 2020 I decided to take advantage of the good winter conditions and walk up my favourite Corbett in the Cairngorms, Sgòr Mòr. One of the reasons for choosing this hill was that I would be able to quickly summit one of the tops along the wide ridge to take in the sunrise.

The capercaillie is the largest grouse in the world yet hardly seen in Scotland once again. In Gaelic, capall-coille, the ‘Horse of the Woods’, describes their size in relation to other forest birds

Another blue sky day for our low hill walk up the Fungle road and Carnferg. Superb views and so still at the top!

Weather is one of the most important factors to take consideration of when heading to the hills. Good or bad the weather ensures no two days on the hill are ever the same and you can see some spectacular and often rare cloud types & optical phenomena as well as the big skies that you don’t get in town.

Going up Scotland’s mountains in winter on a glorious sunny day is truly magical. It’s hard to put into words how it feels to be up there on those type of days.

This year we have helped several companies across Scotland with their corporate event / team building day. One of our highlights being the trek through the Cairngorm’s famous Lairig Ghru with Chevron in perfect weather.

There are easier ways to visit the top of Corfu, by car!

I was asked to write a guest blog for Visit Aberdeenshire, you can read it here. I hope everyone’s enjoying the summer so far! We still have walks available this month if anyone would like to join, you can see those in our Shop.