Canadian outdoor educator and author Kevin Callan joins me to talk about nature connection, preserving wilderness, healing yourself with time outdoors as well as undertaking the Meanest Link…
It’s the last day on the epic Spey trip. It’s normally an interesting enough run down to the sea, particularly after Fochabers as the river becomes unconstrained and braided. But with the river rising significantly overnight and a brutal headwind, this final section to the sea becomes a real battle…
The morning after the night before, Kevin is at first a little bleary eyed and reluctant to emerge from his tent. Besides it’s cold out and has been raining all night. Justine warms herself by the fire as I make proper porridge over it. It’s the last day of the trip and time for some poignant reflection…
Our final wild camping spot on the Spey. We get well set-up with a communal tarp area and plenty of firewood. This serves us well over an increasingly draughty evening, which even included a hail storm. Despite this, it’s a warm and fun evening around the campfire, with some friends joining to surprise Kevin with some special Scottish produce…
Kevin tries his hand at dropped coffee but learns the technique is not as easy as it looks. He gets there in the end, though. Then Kevin runs through his personal clothing and equipment before we head on down the river to see what we can see…
After the whisky-fuelled antics of the previous day, this episode sees the gang of four firmly back on the river and tackling some fun, bouncy white water, including the washing machine…
The intrepid gang of four continue their off-river excursion to visit another distillery. This time the small but perfectly formed Ballindalloch distillery. Kevin asks some searching questions and gets more than he bargained for…
The gang wake to a chilly start but get going quickly. No cooked breakfast today! There’s a reason for the alacrity, though, word of the possibility of sampling some of the local produce. By this, Kevin assumes, hopes, prays Justine means whisky.
The Spey saga continues. We take a side trip to walk to some ancient standing stones. Kevin underestimates the haggis but his obsession with filming sheep means we end up paddling the last part of our route virtually in the dark. And then we still have to set up camp…
The adventure continues on the River Spey. In this section the river starts moving, Kevin needs to negotiate some rapids and Ray talks safety and signals so everyone is on the same page…