Just about to head off to Nepal to lead a trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary. We hiked round the Annapurna Trail about 3 years ago so the little detour to the Annapurna and Machapuchare Base Camps in the sanctuary should make an interesting diversion. Be nice to get away from the rain and winds for a while.

While I’m away I’m going to miss the next Adventure Show. The BBC have just let us know that the next Show - featuring the Corrieyairack Challenge will be going out on Wednesday 4th November at 19.00 on BBC 2 Scotland. And for anyone outwith Scotland who has a Sky box it’s Channel 990. On that programme I’ll be climbing Ben Starav in Glen Etive, a marvellous hill that’s always associated with the first century Pictish princess, Deirdre - Deirdre of the Sorrows.

Can I also thank my old friend Jim Perrin for being such a great host when I popped down to Machynnleth in Wales last weekend to give a talk at his excellent Bill Condry Festival of Literature. It was great to catch up with my old mates Mike Harding and photographer John Beatty who were also on the programme. The event was well organised and thanks to both the Guardian newspaper and the National Library of Wales for their sponsorship of the event. Best of all though was seeing Jim in good health. Jim, who’s not been so well in recent months, is living in the Pyrenees now and he reckons the change of environment has done him the world of good. He was certainly on good form and looks very well indeed.

The image was taken on Poon Hill at dawn, the last time I was in Nepal.

The DVD of the latest Adventure Show from BBC Scotland is now available. This features the West Highland Way race, 96 miles between Milngavie, just north of Glasgow, to Fort William. The programme also takes a look at Scotland’s Mountain Heritage collection, hears how to make cordon bleu cooking in one camping pot and I have a great day on Braeriach, Scotland’s third highest mountains.

How these guys manage to run the length of the West Highland Way in under 20 hours beats me…

The DVD is available from the Shop on the Mountain Media website priced £10, which includes P&P.