Appropriately, we caught up with Mountain Man James Forrest while he was in the mountains of Scotland.

He’s summiting all the Munros - all the mountains over 3,000 feet.

He’s ticking off the peaks as part of a trilogy of record-breaking challenges he has set himself.

It started with conquering all peaks in England and Wales above 2,000ft - Nuttalls as they are known - in record time.

It took him juts six months.

All the Irish mountains followed last year. He topped all 273 600m high mountains across Ireland and Northern Ireland in a record eight weeks.

James moved to Cockermouth two years ago to be closer to the mountains and to adventure.

He’d spent a decade working for a charity behind a desk in Birmingham and felt “depressed and not too happy with my lot”.

He quit and spent a year travelling the world.

When it came to returning home, he realised he didn’t want his old life back but to continue “living free and adventurously”

He decided to move to Cumbria and has settled in Cockermouth.

“I have always loved the northern Lake District,” he explains.

“As a kid we would come to Keswick and Borrowdale for family holidays. It has always had a real pull for me.

“I just liked the fact that Cockermouth was in touching distance of the National Park, but it is a nice town as well and not too touristy.

He got a job as a fundraiser for Fix The Fells and wondered how he could have an “epic adventure” while still working.

“I rediscovered two books by Anne and John Nuttall called The Mountains of England and Wales and wondered if I could do them all. Lots were on my doorstep.

“I have three days off a week and gave myself six months between April and September when we’re supposed to have the best weather.”

So he decided to claim all the ‘Nuttalls’. In record-time.

He scaled all 446 mountains in England and Wales in just six months.

It meant cramming in an awful lot of peaks in a short space of time. He cracked 18 peaks in three days on the Eastern Fells of the Lake District.

Unsurprisingly, the hardest part of the challenge was coping with the inevitable bad weather - especially in northern Wales.

“If I was tired, but had sunny weather and clear tops, it was still enjoyable. You get views, escapism and freedom.

“It was really hard when I was being pummelled by gale force winds and torrential rain.

“There was that mental challenge to keep going when the weather was against you. But if you go through those tough times, the good times taste even sweeter and you feel like you deserve it more.”

There were tough times and glorious moments during his epic feat.

The good came from waking up to glorious, tranquil sunrises after a night of wild camping: “It made me feel connected to the landscape and nature.”

One of the lowest moments came when his tent collapsed in a storm and he woke up at 4am face down in a Welsh swamp.

“I remember thinking ‘What the hell am I doing? This is supposed to be leisure-time. This is my day off.’

“But when everything is all right, it is like a holiday. When things get tough and challenging, then it is real adventure and you question whether you have the energy to pull it off.

“I’m quite stubborn and determined and I’m not a quitter.”

He saved Scafell Pike as his last summit. The highest peak in England and close to his home.

“At the top there was a real mix of emotions: contentment, joy, relief, fatigued, nostalgic and sad that this was the end of my journey.

“Overall, I felt really privileged and happy that I was able to do it.”

“The mountains gave me so much and I always felt I benefitted from my time in the mountains. I felt de-stressed and able to put my problems into perspective.”

Even though he was wandering lonely as a cloud and taking in the majestic scenery, he still had more mundane and domestic issues to deal with.

Such as shouting into his mobile phone on the windy summit of Hart Side to cancel an appointment with a wardrobe fitter. As well as the benefits of the mountains, his epic journey also allowed him to meet locals.

He would often hitch hike back to his tent, depending on the generosity of strangers and says: “It gives you a chance to get to know the place better. I met some lovely and interesting people.”

James has since quit his job with Fix The Fells and is now a freelance adventure and travel writer for magazines and papers and is also a Get Outside Champion for Ordnance Survey.

His book on his record-breaking English and Welsh challenge - Mountain Man - was published this week. Another is likely to follow based on his Scottish challenge.

He says: “As a little boy, I loved the great outdoors and dreamed of living an adventurous life.

“I lost my way a bit during my teens and 20s. But, over the past few years, I found my path back to an adventurous life!”

More than 16,000 follow his adventures on Instagram with another 13,000 on his Twitter account and more than 7,000 through Facebook.

He has given talks on his adventures and will be speaking at this summer’s Keswick Mountain Festival.

He says: “It is nice to share my adventures and meet like-minded people and hear their experiences.

“A lot of people like to follow what I do and the more I suffer, the more people seem to enjoy it!”

The fact that he has made Cumbria his home and that the first-ever peak he scaled was Catbells aged eight, makes it unsurprising that his favourite walks are local.

He says Loweswater and Low Fell are his favourite haunts, adding: “Even though I have travelled to all these different places, my true love is the Lake District. I feel really at home there.”

n Mountain Man by James Forrest is published by Bloomsbury, priced £16.99