walking

Storm Babet’s Bothy

A photo of my grandad can still be found on the wall in the restaurant area of the Cross Keys Hotel in Ettrick Bridge. What he is doing in the picture I can’t quite remember as I saw the picture about 12 years ago on a quick stop through the village. The Ettrick Valley was…

23/10/2023

Kevin Johnston

Bothies, Kev’s Hill Walking Challenges, Old Buildings, Photos, Writing and Musings

adventure, bothy, challenge kev outdoors, Ettrick, hill walking, hills, hungry media, over Phawhope, scotland, walking, wood
When can I go back to St Kilda?

What do you do when you’ve been on that “Top of my Bucket List” adventure? A trip to the St Kilda archipelago has been at the top of my adventure wish list for years. My 4am alarm call on Friday last week fired the gun on my excitement for the day ahead, while also giving…

07/08/2023

Kevin Johnston

Film making, Kev’s Hill Walking Challenges, Microadventures, Nature at its Best, Old Buildings, Outdoor Swimming, Photos, Writing and Musings

abandoned, Boreray, challenge kev outdoors, Dun, hill walking, hills, Hirta, hungry media, open water swimming, sea, Soay, St Kilda, Stac an Armin, Stac Lee, village bay, walking
Grid Square Journeys no. 5 – NN 9931 (Montreal)

I’ve never been to Canada, but when I do I hope it’s as lovely as Montreal in Perthshire in the sun. Yes, that’s right, Montreal in Perthshire. It’s no metropolis but rather is an old croft near Harrietfield with the same name as the largest city in Quebec. And yet for such a lovely area,…

23/07/2023

Kevin Johnston

Grid Square Journeys, Kev’s Hill Walking Challenges, Microadventures, Nature at its Best, Old Buildings

abandoned, challenge kev outdoors, cottage, harrietfield, hills, hungry media, Montreal, ruins, scotland, walking
Loch Con and the Field of the Flat Stones

With its single track roads and remote spaces, I’ve always been a fan of Highland Perthshire. So when by a total fluke I found an article online about Loch Con, it’s bothy and the walk in, I immediately added it to my ever-growing wish list of places to visit and waited for the ideal opportunity.…

05/06/2023

Kevin Johnston

Bothies, Camping, Kev’s Hill Walking Challenges, Microadventures, Old Buildings, Outdoor Swimming

bothy, Camping, challenge kev outdoors, con, highland Perthshire, hill walking, hills, hungry media, loch, Outdoor Swimming, scotland, walking, wood
“Where are you from?”

Our landscape doesn’t owe us humans anything. It has no obligations to us. Beneath our feet it’s heart beats as surely as ours. It is free. And we have, until our recent creation of climate change, lived in relative harmony. It didn’t feel like harmony as the snow blew at me from every direction, in…

02/02/2023

Kevin Johnston

Writing and Musings

borders, challenge kev outdoors, connection, duncan chisolm, highlands, home, hungry media, scotland, walking
Are Wooded Hills the Best?

How to get a hill view. Without climbing a big hill. That was the challenge Dave set me and I pondered a few options. I thought of some small hills in the area with big view such as the Lomond Hills and Ben A’an. The OS maps were scoured for hills I hadn’t heard of…

29/01/2023

Kevin Johnston

Kev’s Hill Walking Challenges, Microadventures, Wood Carving

Blairadam, Camping, challenge kev outdoors, Cowden Hill, fire, firebox, hills, hungry media, scotland, tarp, walking
New Year Bothy Therapy

Easter Earshaig car park to Brattleburn bothy is 6.7km, walking along part of the Southern Upland Way, according to my calculations using OS maps. After all the snow and rain over the last week, I was wondering how many of those kms would be on boggy paths and fields. Dave and I had decided at…

03/01/2023

Kevin Johnston

Bothies, Kev’s Hill Walking Challenges, Old Buildings, Photos, Southern Upland Way

bothy, brattleburn, challenge kev outdoors, cottage, hill walking, hills, hungry media, scotland, Southern Upland Way, walking
Gilmour’s Linn

A Christmas dip, since the hills were so wild today. The last shot was indeed me running out of the water as it was so bloody cold 🥶.

29/12/2022

Kevin Johnston

Caves, Kev’s Hill Walking Challenges, Microadventures, Nature at its Best, Outdoor Swimming

challenge kev outdoors, gilmour’s Linn, hill walking, hungry media, outdoor, scotland, swim, swimming, walking, water, waterfall