Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
Once more the Challenge beckons, as it corrupts and subverts my freedom of will. Almost from the first steps taken eastwards from Dornie in May 2017, I knew it wasn't going to be a one-off. 2018 was intended to prove 2017 wasn't a fluke - as it turned out, it was pretty hard going. Now … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2019: Prep and Kit
After the struggle of last year's Challenge, disrupted by hayfever that went so rogue it turned into full-blown asthma, I've been determined to make up for it this year. With the summer following the Challenge largely wiped out by getting the condition under control and finding a new normal, no sooner had I tentatively started … Continue reading Training and A Pre-Walk Walk
...or strictly speaking Harwich to Mistley, as for logistical reasons I decided to do this last section in reverse. In any case, I'd already experienced the walk into the end at Harwich on the Secret Archipelago Expedition last March, so even if I had opted for the big climax by the sea, it wouldn't have … Continue reading The Essex Way: Part 5 – Mistley to Harwich
Before you get too worried that I'm about to bombard you with loads of pictures and ask you to buy them, I'm not. I'm just going to pick out a few instances where the outdoors and art overlapped this year. Increasingly my hikes are geared around the search for subject matter to paint. Of course … Continue reading 2018 Round-Up Part 3: Art
This is nothing more than a selection of pictures to show what happened this year...
Persistent readers will no doubt be aware that for the last few years, I've had a camping out competition with my daughter, who does quite a few camps due to her involvement in several sections of the Scout movement. We did it again this year, but with 2018 being A Level year, it was pretty … Continue reading 2018 Round-Up Part 1: Camps
After all the shenanigans getting ready for my art exhibition at the start of the month, and then helping a friend with her exhibition which immediately followed mine, I'd managed to rack up a couple of months without any significant time in the outdoors. Other than a brief snatched camp out locally, but then a … Continue reading The “No Wainwrights” Lake District Backpack
It’s now 40 days until my first solo exhibition opens. Gulp. This sounds like a lot, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a lot. With a two week holiday away coming up , it effectively reduces my remaining preparation time to 3 and a bit weeks. With the two weeks after getting back from holiday […] … Continue reading Go Big or Go Home — matthewkingarts
The forecast for the next couple of days was markedly better, and it seemed a shame not to take advantage. So I made plans to stay another couple of days. This would be solo though, as Paul had to go to work and Cath had to go home. The obvious thing of doing a two … Continue reading Getting Back On The Horse: Part 3 – Pole to Pole
The plan was hatched, with anxious looks at the weather forecast several times a day. Ok for a couple of days then a brief bad spell at some point over the weekend. It was good enough to book the train tickets. I headed down on the Thursday, with Cath due to follow the next day. … Continue reading Getting Back On The Horse: Part 2 – Dartmoor Bimbles
It's been over 10 weeks since I returned, broken, from the TGO Challenge, a mystery illness having made me fight hard just to get to the end. On day 2 back at work I collapsed as the mystery illness deteriorated. Three weeks total rest from work followed by a spell of largely working from home … Continue reading Getting Back On The Horse – Part 1: Pottering About
Through a gap in the trees, I catch my first glimpse of the end of the loch. At the head of the glen, rises the Mountain, for the moment innocuous amidst its neighbours, happy to take a back seat for now. The path weaves a seemingly random course through the wood, one moment going up … Continue reading The Mountain
I’ve already told the story of the actual walk, so this post is simply an index to the individual daily posts... Day What Happened Distance (km) Ascent (m) Stuff Climbed -1: Wed 9May  Travel to Euston, Edinburgh, Crianlarich and Oban 0  0 - 0: Thur 10 May 1: Fri 11 May Oban to Loch Etive … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018
Day 15 The Challenge done, I wake in my Stonehaven B&B with a lazy day ahead. I'm at the station in good time for the train to Montrose. As it pulls into Montrose, I realise this is the train that a huge swathe of Thursday people are getting - the platform is a solid mass … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Aftermath and Reflections
Of the three (known) campers, I'm the last to pack up and leave. But it doesn't matter: today I will reach the coast and should do it comfortably, even in my enfeebled state. The day is pleasant, albeit grey and cloudy. It's a little cooler than recently and I struggle to find the right clothing … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 14 – Fetteresso Forest to Stonehaven