Walking is an excellent way of staying active, and it's often underestimated. Here are five benefits of walking outside.

Aberdeenshire is well placed for hiking adventures, from coastal trails to mountain tops. Our children have been out in the hills since they were old enough to walk, not always full of enthusiasm but they did learn to love it!

One of my finds last August was near the top of my favourite hill. My client for the day was busy sketching the hills beyond and I wandered around looking for something of interest.

A selection of photos and highlights from June, my favourite moment watching my talented daughter Emma play fiddle at An Lochan Uaine, the green lochan.

Fantastic conditions in the Cairngorms for our bike and hike event to Carn a' Mhaim yeasterday. Why not join us for the next one, or contact us to arrange a trip for you! See our events page for planned outings.

Each time I go out for a walk I like to learn something new. I've been using field study council publications for a while now, they produce great fold out study guides that fit easily into my rucksack, ranging from lichens to rocks.

What fantastic conditions we had for our guided walk on Sunday. A light wind over the tops giving a little wind chill but nothing significant.

I was up Bennachie last Saturday running a beginners navigation course. From the excellent visitor centre, there are good walks all over the hill, follow the Gordon Way, then up to Oxen Craig or straight up to Mither Tap

Mondays don't get much better than this! The good forecast meant I ditched the emails and chores and headed for the hills!

Morven in Aberdeenshire is a Corbett standing at 871m. There are a couple of ways to go up the hill, from Logie Coldstone side. You can also approach from the west, taking in Mona Gowan (749m) or from Ballater.

This week I decided to return to an old favourite, Loch Callater. I think the first time I trekked round the loch was probably circa 1995 and there was deep snow all round.

I went up Bennachie last November to take in the sunset, it was one of those days where a warm south westerly wind was bringing over beautiful lenticular clouds, with plenty of visibility, so great for photography. I took a few photos that day, in all directions and I also took one using ViewRanger's new Skyline addition.

I've lost count of the times I've been to Lochnagar but I'll never tire of it. There's a reason why so many songs and poems have been sung about the mountain and loch, it's a mysterious place with a stunning landscape that looks different each time I visit.

TGOC challenge 2016

I had a great wee wander in Braemar yesterday, the village was looking festive in the frost and the Christmas tree looked fab with it's woollen decorations! A double shot coffee in the Bothy helped warm me up too, minus 8 degC wakes your senses in the morning.

Such a stunning weekend had to be finished off with a family walk up a hill to take in the sunset.

It was 14degC when I went up my first hill this morning, Scolty Hill near Banchory. It wasn't long before Sarah and I had our coats off as we walked along the quiet path, away from the main route, walking on top of a blanket of Larch needles.