The Outdoors Station

This is the concluding part of my conversation with two British adventurers who in 2019 followed a route which consisted of a 900 mile paddle and 400 miles walk in the footsteps of a piece of shameful American history now known as The Trail Of Tears.

Although it is a story and a piece of history we in Europe know nothing about, it has similarities to some of our own shameful activities which also took place in the 1830's, the Highland Clearances where villages were cleared, homes burned and thousands evicted to survive how best they could.

Ian Finch and Jamie Barnes traced the Trail of Tears and crossed from East United States to the West Mississippi over some of the harshest lands and dangerous waterways in the world.

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This is part one of a fascinating story about two British adventurers who in 2019 followed a route which consisted of a 900 mile paddle and 400 miles walk in the footsteps of a piece of shameful American history.

Although it is a story and a piece of history we in Europe know nothing about, it has similarities to some of our own shameful activities which also took place in the 1830's.

Ian Finch and Jamie Barnes traced the Trail of Tears and crossed from East United States to the West Mississippi over some of the harshest lands and dangerous waterways in the world.

The weather wasn't kind to them however as the story unfolds you will see that they at least were prepared and aware of their choices, whereas the original American Indians, in particular the Cherokee, were forcefully repatriated at gunpoint in the harshest of winters.

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This is the second part of my interview with Nikki Ray regarding her solo cycle trip to Ghana on a bike she built herself.

In it we touch on the the different kind of travellers you meet on the road, how it feels to knock on a strangers door and seek shelter and how much it cost to build her own bike for the trip.

She wanted to arrive in Ghana before her 30th birthday using her own leg power…and she did!

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Let me introduce you to Nikki Ray who between August 2018 and May 2019 cycled solo, carrying all her belongings (including a ukulele), from Santander in Spain to Accra in Ghana covering 10,000km in total.

She wanted to arrive in Ghana before her 30th birthday using her own leg power…and she did!

The last few years before starting this trip she had been working as a cycling instructor in London. She did her first solo cycle tour in the Scottish Highlands in 2015.

As an adult she had long been interested in travelling overland, rather than flying, because you get to experience how the landscape and people change, in a significantly less polluting way than flying. She often combined cycling and trains/coaches to travel around in Europe.

Before this trip she had cycled in England, Scotland, France and Switzerland as short trips so this was to be her biggest adventure yet.

She decided to refer to this journey as Ready Steady Slow as she didn’t want to rush to Ghana without taking in everything that was happening around her on the way.

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The bushfires in Australia are now reaching biblical proportions and even though the news media has already moved on to the Corona Virus, the fires are still increasing. Lives are being lost, homes reduced to dust and the environmental bill becomes incalculable.

Today’s news (28/1/20) is that southern Canberra is under attack after the spotlight from a rescue helicopter accidentally started a fire in the Tharwa region just outside of the city.

I reached out to Tim Savage a fellow podcaster from the Australian Hiker Podcast for a balanced report on the current situation, the short to medium term impact and an overall look at the environmental damage to nature and the economy the fire this year were having.

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In part one Jenny tells us of her project to run solo and unsupported across a mountain range on every continent where indigenous mountain people live isolated from the outside, urban world and details some of the stories from her Kyrgyzstan and Moroccan journeys.

Part two deals with two other ranges each of which present their own unique challenges, the Bolivian Andes and the Southern Alps in New Zealand.

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This interview with Jenny Tough took place while she is Kathmandu waiting for her flight back home to Scotland just before the New Year.

She wanted a quick relaxing holiday break and chose to take her bike to Kathmandu and for kicks and giggles, decided to bike pack over the Thorong La Pass which has an elevation of 5,416m. While she was there they had a little snow as you can see in the pictures, so she spent a lot of the time carrying her bike between refuges and hostels. But hey, Jenny thought it was fun and enjoyed the break.

This may give you an idea of what type of woman she is. The rest of the interview we talk about her Run The Mountains Of The World person project she has set herself. Jenny has always discovered commonalities with mountains - and mountain people. This major project is to run solo and unsupported across a mountain range on every continent where indigenous mountain people live isolated from the outside, urban world.

In Kyrgyzstan she met the Kyrgyz nomads, who live a traditional lifestyle in yurts and were overwhelmingly friendly towards me. In the Atlas Mountains, the Berbers were an essential support network who welcomed me into their communities and helped me survive in the incredible hostile desert environment.

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In part one Anna told us about her experiences while walking the Kings Trail in Sweden and the Green Ribbon in Scandinavia. This podcast concentrates on her 2018 4000km tandem kayak paddle with her friend Kate to the Black Sea from London

Details of her trip can be found under the heading trekking across the wilderness of arctic Sweden

2019 was another exciting one: in September she completed the latest expedition, The Green Ribbon, a 1,000km solo trek across Arctic and Northern Scandinavia.

However turning the clock back to 2018 this podcast specifically discusses Kayaking the Continent expedition, a world first journey tandem kayaking 4,000km from London to the Black Sea in Romania with her friend Kate.

I’m sure you will agree Anna is a gutsy 26 year old and her enthusiasm for travel and life is a pleasure to hear.

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Welcome to the first podcast of 2020 and I’m delighted to introduce you to Anna Blackwell a 26 year old adventurer who got bitten by the adventure and travel bug just a few years ago when she undertook her gap year in South America.

She has since taken this passion to the limit pushing herself further and over greater distances completing a series of adventures over the last few years: trekking across the wilderness of arctic Sweden with just reindeer for company, walking 500 and 1000 miles across France and Spain along ancient pilgrimage routes, summiting the highest peak in North Africa, and hitch-hiking to Morocco (amongst plenty of others!)

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Wishing all our listeners a happy and healthy holiday season and hope that we all travel into 2020 in a positive and relaxed manner.

This podcast was recorded on Christmas Day 2019 while walking on the local Malvern Hills with Rose and Pip the dog.

In it we review the 27 podcasts we have produced this year and discuss some of the key elements we’ve taken from each one.

Every person was a delight to talk to and the reason I enjoy doing the podcast is that I never stop learning from others. Expanding knowledge and understanding of all the fascinating aspects which go to make up outdoor life.

More exciting podcasts coming in 2020 and if you have time please leave a review on iTunes or wherever you get your downloads.

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