The Outdoors Station

Here it is the first podcast of 2021 where we go through the diverse range of guests we are speaking with over the next few weeks.

This year I’m looking to widen my horizons and talk with people associated with the outdoors who have influence on the direction outdoor life and education is taking.

There comes a time when repeatedly talking with adventurers starts to wain a little and when you step back and take a look at the bigger picture, one realises there are more avenues to explore.

I could talk about gear all the time, but that aspect is now dominated by countless groups on social media who all seem to ask the same question ‘what’s the best and cheapest X?’

I do hope this gives you a flavour of what is coming and you find it interesting and hopefully educational. If you too have suggesting for guests who may fit the same profile please do drop me an email and let me know.

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This is it. We are finally at the end of 2020 and we all know what a terrible year it has been on every level.

This podcast covers some of what has happened this year here and what I hope to put into place for 2021.

Everything is still very fluid until we are all vaccinated and ‘normal’, whatever that may be.

I can’t wait be free again to choose where I can go, who with and what I can do. The limitations we now find ourselves under make you realise the freedom to live, travel and have choice we take for granted.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me in whatever way this year, my Patreons, Ko-Fi supporters, you the listener and viewers of my live streams.

The more conversation we have the more I can keep creating content for you to enjoy.

All the very best for 2021, keep safe, stay well and keep being positive. Thangs can only get better.

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On the 15th September this year photographer Quintin Lake strode up the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral and quietly finished his 5 year photography project of walking 11,000kms around the perimeter of the England, Wales and Scotland taking photographs virtually every step of the way. 

I spoke with him in 2016 on Podcast No 410 (well worth listening to again) when he was 25% of the way round. So much have happened in the intervening years, not least the challenge of Covid, but he still achieved his goal and now has one of the most unique catalogues of evidence which records all aspects of our country and its coastal heritage. 

He has become famous in the meantime, popping up on countless TV news shows for a short news clip. However on Wednesday we will have an hour to discuss all the various challenges, practicalities, joys and despair that a 5 years adventure like this encapsulates. 

Once again there will be a Q&A at the end of the show. If you listen to the podcast first you’ll get a flavour of what’s to come. Check out the YouTube video to see the images and video which go with the conversation.

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Although this podcast goes into the background detail of what is involved in compiling a compendium like this which contains some of the best hikes in Europe, there is much else we discuss.

Including the Cape Wrath Trail and the story of meeting Skye MacGregor, the 16-year-old lad hiking LEJOG via the CWT in winter through February.

The Tour of Monte Rosa: benighted on the Europaweg. Hear how this was his first Alpine long-distance hike where he felt like he vaguely knew what he was doing, but still very much a learning curve, and what went wrong!

How the Lochaber Traverse became his obsession over many years and several attempts, starting with a friend's broken ankle back in 2006.

Finally the Mercantour Traverse: thunderstorm at altitude. Spark flying everywhere. It was his first real ultralight trip in a highly technical Alpine environment, going fast and light and pushing close to the limits of my comfort zone.

Plus loads more ... enjoy ;)

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This is a part two of a two part interview with the author of Grandma Gatewood’s Walk. The book is a New York Times best seller and writer Ben Montgomery was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2010.

Part one covers her younger history, the life and times she lived through in the early 1950’s, the abuse she suffered for 30 years and her discovery of the Appalachian Trail, before setting foot in it initially in 1954.

We all know the basic story, that in 1955 67 year old Grandma Gatewood set off on a remarkable journey, to accidentally become the first woman to walk the entire 2050 miles in 145 days of the Appalachian Trail.

Today her name is iconic within the lightweight backpacking community, as she carried only 15 pounds of supplies and a tiny amount of food in a simple knapsack, hiking in sneakers, sleeping under a shower curtain and living off the land.

Not only that, she did again 2 years later, followed by the Oregon Trail then aged 71.

This audio is an extract from the video live stream (which can be found on YouTube) I broadcast recently with the author Ben Montgomery who found that Grandma Gatewood was his Mother’s Great Aunt.

In it you’ll hear previously unearthed stories about this amazing woman, her diaries, her gritty life and what led her to set off on the trail all of which can be found in his fascinating biography - Grandma Gatewoods Walk.

Part two concludes with a few stories from the trail, her subsequent fame and celebrity status and how she became the iconic ambassador for walking with her name and legacy living on.

Please join our newsletter and follow us on our socials > https://linktr.ee/the_outdoors_station

This is a part one of a two part interview with the author of Grandma Gatewood’s Walk. The book is a New York Times best seller and writer Ben Montgomery was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2010.

We all know the basic story, that in 1955 67 year old Grandma Gatewood set off on a remarkable journey, to accidentally become the first woman to walk the entire 2050 miles in 145 days of the Appalachian Trail.

Today her name is iconic within the lightweight backpacking community, as she carried only 15 pounds of supplies and a tiny amount of food in a simple knapsack, hiking in sneakers, sleeping under a shower curtain and living off the land.

Not only that, she did again 2 years later, followed by the Oregon Trail then aged 71.

This audio is an extract from the video live stream (which can be found on YouTube) I broadcast recently with the author Ben Montgomery who found that Grandma Gatewood was his Mother’s Great Aunt.

In it you’ll hear previously unearthed stories about this amazing woman, her diaries, her gritty life and what led her to set off on the trail all of which can be found in his fascinating biography - Grandma Gatewood's Walk.

Part one covers her younger history, the life and times she lived through in the early 1950’s, the abuse she suffered for 30 years and her discovery of the Appalachian Trail, before setting foot in it initially in 1954.

Part two concludes with a few stories from the trail, her subsequent fame and celebrity status and how she became the iconic ambassador for walking with her name and legacy living on.

Please join our newsletter and follow us on our socials > https://linktr.ee/the_outdoors_station

Join us as we welcome back forager Lisa Cutcliffe from Edulis Wild Food to delve into all things autumn, discussing edible delights from gluts of berries in the hedgerows to fantastic fungi on the forest floor, as well as touching on how getting outdoors can positively affect our mental health & that having meditative activities such as foraging to enjoy as we wander can be even more beneficial to our wellbeing.

Lisa introduces us to cauliflower fungus, hedgehog mushrooms, hen of the woods, trumpets of death, aniseed funnels and velvet shanks for the table, sloe gin and seabuckthorn juice for foraged cocktails, umami seasoning hits from truffles and seaweeds, and also powerful medicinals for the wild medicine cabinet such as elderberry, hawthorn, chaga, turkeytail fungus and rosehips.

You can still enjoy Lisa’s inaugural appearance on the show back in April in the archive, chatting all things springtime, greenery and vitality heading into the warmer months of the year.

Topics include identification, eating and the mental health benefits she enjoys from foraging while learning more about nature’s bountiful larder.

So join as we seek to help make your lockdown walks more entertaining and informative plus of course, there’s a Q&A session at the end.

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Kevin Augello is a documentary film maker who in October 2020 has just set off with a group of relative strangers to make a film of the Cape Wrath Trail.

He has made films for BBC, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel to name but a few and this project, which was supposed to start in March 2020, has been delayed and now possibly enhanced by the Covid outbreak.

The film is predominantly about Mental Health and how being alive in the great outdoors can become a real helper. Under the current circumstances it is also a reflection of the importance and value wild places can have following lockdown. The project is to follow a team (found on social media) undertaking one of the hardest trails, certainly in Europe. The Cape Wrath Trail in Scotland.

They are following all the Covid related advice provided by Scottish Mountaineering and Sport Scotland and have been advised that they can proceed in a group of six by following Covid Risk Assessments and Test & Protect Measures and half of the team work in front line Emergency Services.

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This is the concluding conversation with Lauren (Neon) Reed and Bethany (Fidget) Hughes from Her Odyssey regarding their current expedition to travel by self powered means from the southern tip of the Americas to the most northern point.

Currently they are 8000 miles into the 20,000 mile total and so I was seeking to know about how they cope with family pressures and expectations, the financial tightrope they walk and the good and bad traits they have discovered about each other.

But first we start with the US Hiker preoccupation with Trail names. A curious occupation solely promoted by this niche sector of the hiking community.

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Traversing the length of the Americas by non-motorized means, connecting stories of the land and its inhabitants.

Part one of a fascinating interview with Bethany ‘Fidgit’ Hughes and Lauren ‘Neon’ Reed who are traveling the length of the Americas by non-motorized means, gathering stories of people along the way, inspiring others to pursue their own audacious dreams.

An epic journey which began at the southern most tip of Argentina in November 2015 and was originally envisioned to be completed in Alaska late 2020, however life, Covid and other things seem to happen when you are making plans.

This isn’t an interview about travelling detail, but one which touches on all kinds of aspects, the original plan, the changes and the sacrifices in an effort to dig deeper than a simple trip report and hear more in depth about the people undertaking the journey, the reasons why and the changes it has made to them.

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