Skip to content

'A young and excellent outdoor writer' —Cameron McNeish

'Alex's role is to make the words come out good' —Jenny Tough

Stories and photographs from the mountains. I write books and magazine articles, and edit Sidetracked magazine.


Unplugged is a newsletter about outdoor and nature writing, photography, and analogue counterculture in the great outdoors. A more intentional life through quieter adventure. Read more about Unplugged here.

Subscribe here to receive Unplugged direct to your inbox. This is an ad-free, AI-free, anti-algorithm publication.

Featured Posts

Members Public

Why am I receiving two copies of posts in my inbox?

Important FAQ for subscribers

Recent Posts

Members Public

Unplugged #2: the Kendal Mountain Festival, conserving energy, and something in the darkness to believe in

Hello and welcome to the second edition of Unplugged. I missed last week, because I found myself down in Cumbria for the Kendal Mountain Festival. This fixture in the yearly calendar always feels a bit frantic, and this year had an apocalyptic flavour thanks to Storm Bert (hello, flooding and

Unplugged #2: the Kendal Mountain Festival, conserving energy, and something in the darkness to believe in
Members Public

Building Alpenglow Journal: putting the idea on ice, and where I'm going from here

Back in May, I published a post about a reboot of The Pinnacle, and then followed it up in June with some more solid plans. My stated goal was to launch a new publication called Alpenglow Journal. Here's an update for you. How has the project evolved, and

Building Alpenglow Journal: putting the idea on ice, and where I'm going from here
Members Public

Something in the darkness to believe in

A moment that exists outside of time, a crucible of community in the mountains, and new human perspectives on moral dilemmas Backpackers have a saying: 'the trail provides'. In other words, life on foot has a way of giving you exactly what you need, which is not necessarily

Something in the darkness to believe in