John Davidson reflects on a decade and a half of adventures from across the Highlands

Looking out from the garden of our newly acquired flat in our new Highland home, my curiosity was piqued by the tips of the turbines I could just about make out on the horizon.

I unfolded the OS map and traced a line, following quiet lanes that would lead me there and back – a good distance for a day’s ride on the bike.

That route from Inverness past the wind farm above Strathdearn and back via Tomatin was one of the first routes featured in Active Outdoors.

That was 15 years ago this month. When I first suggested to the then editor of the Inverness Courier (sister paper to the Northern Times) that we should have a regular outdoors feature, I never imagined it would become such a big part of my life.

While I still have the more mundane tasks to complete at work, Active Outdoors has taken me to some remarkable places and given me the impetus to go further afield across the Highlands and Islands, and Moray – and sometimes beyond – in search of new routes to discover, as well as meeting some fantastic people.

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There have been so many highlights that it is difficult to pick them out, but joining former colleague Peter Evans as he completed his Munros was certainly among them. Not only his final ascent – a perfect summer stroll up Sgurr na Sgine with the family in tow – but so many memorable outings as we ventured to some further flung mountains that he needed to climb to reach his goal.

One of the best trips I’ve done is sea kayaking the Summer Isles with Donald MacPherson of Explore Highlands. We had three perfect days, most of which were mirror-calm, to explore this wonderful area.

I’ve also taken part in some fabulous events, many of which have become regular fixtures on my own calendar, including the Highland Cross and the Etape Loch Ness.

There have also been some big challenges, such as cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2015 and then the North Coast 500 in 2016 – before the route became quite as popular as it is today!

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Then there are the smaller adventures closer to home, and introducing my children to the benefits and the beauty of spending time and energy in the outdoors.

It is such an important part of people’s lives to be able to enjoy that freedom, and we have a responsibility to share that in a way that respects the communities around the region. The access laws in Scotland make it a wonderful place to live, work and play, and I believe we should use them in the spirit they were envisaged.

I hope you continue to enjoy Active Outdoors, as the answer to the question many people ask me – do you ever run out of ideas of where to go – is no! I usually just run out of time to do all the things I’d like to!

You can continue to follow Active Outdoors every week on our website, as well as in our print and e-edition newspapers.

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