Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
As Cath headed back to the bus stop, I turned my attention to the road walk out to Hartsop. Sat on the step of Patterdale post office while devouring my lunch, a battle had been raging in my head between what I knew I should do this afternoon and the easier option I'd banked on … Continue reading Out in the Eastern and Far Eastern Fells – Part 2
Preparation I walked back into the large meeting room that was our base of operations and immediately noticed the tenser atmosphere. All had been going swimmingly when I'd stepped out an hour or so before for another meeting, and we were looking good to complete this stage of the project over the coming weekend. I … Continue reading Out in the Eastern and Far Eastern Fells – Part 1
I knew it was going to be windy, and I expected the flight home from Edinburgh to be a bit bumpy, but the captain's announcement that City Airport was shut was not what I wanted to hear. Especially as we were pretty much in the air over my house at the time. Worse, all of … Continue reading Stranded
The folks at Go Outdoors have launched a new Walking Blog Award, with a varied shortlist of 15 blogs, and yours truly is one of them. It goes without saying that just making the shortlist is an honour, and especially so when I find myself in the company of such luminaries as Chris Townsend, Keith … Continue reading Go Outdoors Blog Awards 2014
Despite the ferocious wind, an automatic reverential silence descended as we stepped into the midst of the dispersed metal. I stood among the frozen peat staring at the wreckage strewn about. Bits of engines and aeronautical bodywork lay scattered all around, interspersed with small floral tributes, mostly but not exclusively poppies, to mark the place … Continue reading Salvage
Adventure is relative. It completely depends on what your “normal” is. For those people we think of as adventurers, their normal would be considered extreme by most people, yet for some people walking to the shops in the rain would be an adventure. My normal is somewhere between the two, but I'd like to think … Continue reading An Urban Nano Adventure
We climbed on and up, the promised rain holding off but the wind strengthening as we got higher. False summit after false summit nevertheless led us to the eventual top and a struggle to remain upright and on the same patch of ground. To the south, shafts of sunlight broke through the sombre sky and … Continue reading Lakes or Bust
This year's plans were disrupted by a new work contract coming along at the start of the summer rather than, as I'd hoped, the end of the summer. This curtailed walking plans somewhat and even more so when I found out how much time I'd have to spend working away in Edinburgh. Here's a few … Continue reading Not a review of the year, just some nice pictures
So I was minding my own business, when the marketing bods at JD Sports (shiny new owners of Blacks) came up to me desperate to give me some gear and asking me to tell them what I needed. Not wanting to cause offence, a short while later I took delivery of two items - a … Continue reading Gear Review: Montane Atomic Stretch Jacket
Ennui, noun : a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. Yep, that sounds about right. With a forecast 14 weeks of working away in Edinburgh spread over several months, this was always going to be a bit of an ordeal. Living in a hotel; working long hours, typically 7am … Continue reading Ennui in Edinburgh
I love beer. It's so liberating. It makes ideas that you'd never otherwise voice come to the fore and be shared with the world.I hate beer. It gets one into scrapes that one didn't intend. And makes one look a wally when you backpedal on what you'd said you'd do.An impromptu couple of swift pints … Continue reading Dithering (London LOOP Part 2)
I stepped out from the front door and headed for the river. With 15 miles to walk, I decided that starting by walking in the opposite direction to pick up the riverside path the easy way wasn't really the best idea, opting instead for a nondescript footpath between houses and a fence that should lead … Continue reading Asterix and the Defence of the Thames (London LOOP Part 1)
The observant among my readers will have spotted that I wasn't alone on last weekend's trip to the Lakes. Indeed it was hoped to be a small group, but in the end only my friend Cath (who can be found on Twitter as @wellycath) was able to join me, and the central theme of the … Continue reading Perceptions from a First Lakes Backpack
The creature stepped from the bog, covered in jet black ooze, spread its arms wide and started to lurch in my direction. I took out my secret weapon and brandished it in front of the foul wretch attempting to fend it off... Well, when I say "damsel", that's ordinarily the last word anyone that knows … Continue reading A Tour of the Tarns with a Damsel in Distress
Selecting and Buying the Pack A few months ago, and in contemplation of walking the Cambrian Way this year, I started looking around for a replacement large capacity backpack. That is a replacement for my old workhorse Lowe Alpine Khumbu 65:80 which I picked up cheaply in Decathlon a couple of years ago (also in … Continue reading ÜLA Epic