Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
I bought a lot of gear last year. Oh boy, did I. Instead of spending it on accommodation on trips, I invested the cash on upgrading my kit and using it wild camping. Too much time on my hands probably also played a part. So this year, I need to spend less on gear and … Continue reading Which Pack ?
Earlier this evening I had an idea as I stared at my chart of Lake District Fells. I was taking a break from planning my assault on the Cambrian Way and was instead thinking about how I could put together a walk that would be good preparation for that project and which would also help … Continue reading Right Back Where I Started…
WordPress sent me my annual report on how I've done as a blogger. It threw up some interesting stats: Of the 11,000 views of my 93 posts this year, the busiest day was May 14 with 188 views. I posted 608 pictures. However, I'm not sure how this number has been affected by me recently … Continue reading 2012 Blogging in review
I've now had a chance to walk through the route on Anquet, referring to the Cambrian Way book and the various blog accounts of the walk I'm using to assist in the planning. Not wanting to plunge into the detailed working out of daily walks and where to stop overnight at this stage - it's … Continue reading Planning the Cambrian Way – Part 2: The First Rough Plan
2012 has been a bit of an odd year and after taking 8 months off in 2011, this year was always going to be a little more work focussed. However, I never expected my current assignment to last into the summer, let alone make it to the end of the year. Whilst this kept me … Continue reading 2012 in Pictures and Memories
How do you go about planning such a long walk ? Leaving aside the doing the walk itself, which is a formidable enough challenge in its own right, the thought of also having to turn a blank sheet of paper into a fully formed plan for the walk would definitely scare some people off. For … Continue reading Planning the Cambrian Way – Part 1: The Approach
A week and a bit ago, I did a post asking for some views as to which of 4 possible options for my main long distance walk for next year I should do. Here are the results and the decision. Anyone who read the post carefully would have noticed that nowhere did I promise to … Continue reading Which Long Distance Walk for 2013 – The Results
It's time to start thinking about a long distance walk for 2013. I'm looking for something which is up to about 2-3 weeks long, and have got a shortlist: I originally intended to do the Cambrian Way in 2011 but even though I had 8 months off work, still couldn't find a big enough gap … Continue reading Which Long Distance Walk for 2013
I stood outside Llandudno Junction station waiting for Rich, due a few minutes after me, little realising that Lee was already there sitting in his car about 100ft away. Rich arrived and we stood around like spare parts waiting for Lee to turn up and luckily he realised we were there when, bored with the … Continue reading 2 Days in the Southern Carneddau
In between a busy couple of weeks where my current client project has reached a critical stage, I've not had time to do much outdoors and with miserable weather and feeling shattered from work, not much inclination either. But one thing has been drifting in and out of my thoughts - my project to complete … Continue reading Wainwrights update
I've been thinking a lot about ways to improve the Cumbria Way, with a suggested new northern end, some options for a new southern end, and a number of ideas for "quick fixes" to liven up the standard route. But now it's time to actually put my money where my mouth is and share the … Continue reading An Alternative Cumbria Way
In my last post I talked about my proposed new Northern End point for an amended Cumbria Way, and also discussed the merits and demerits of the other options. In the northern case, I felt the answer was pretty clear cut - to me there was one outstanding candidate for a revised end - the … Continue reading Fixing the Cumbria Way – Southern Endings and New Routes
As I discussed in my earlier post, the single biggest issue with the Cumbria Way is where it ends.  No one wants to spend a week walking through lovely Lake District scenery and end it all walking through an industrial estate or next to a railway.  There has to be a better way. Of course, moving … Continue reading Fixing the Cumbria Way – A New Northern End Point
In my previous post, I talked about the problems with the Cumbria Way official route, and in this post I'm going to propose some quick fixes to the route that involve minimal change overall, and importantly don't create a whole new long distance path. Really these are just some ideas for varying the walk, but … Continue reading Quick Fixes to the Cumbria Way
"If it's not broken, then don't fix it", so goes the saying, and there's a lot of truth in it. But for me the Cumbria Way is broken and what is generally a fine walk has got serious flaws that almost stopped me doing it in the first place and would weigh heavily on my … Continue reading Fixing the Cumbria Way