Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
Organising category for the individual categories of Long Distance Paths and walks on them
Day 1: Portpatrick to Castle Kennedy A bowl of porridge with stewed rhubarb and scrambled eggs on toast inside me (I highly recommend the Harbour Lights Guest House in Stranraer), we headed to Tescos for a few lunch bits before getting the bus out to Portpatrick. Portpatrick seemed a pleasant seaside town. However, it had … Continue reading Southern Upland Way – Part 1: Portpatrick to Beehive Bothy
A bit of Background The Southern Upland Way is one of the "Big 4" of Scotland's Great Trails, being one of the 4 dating back from the days of Long Distance Routes, and predating the re-badging of the English and Welsh ones as National Trails, and the Scottish ones as Great Trails. The Long Distance … Continue reading The Southern Upland Way – Planning and Getting to the Start
When we started the South West Coast Path, back in 2008, we never expected that it would take until 2023 to finish it. At that time, we didn't even expect to do it all - it was just a pleasant revisit of the scene of some past family holidays. It was only after completing that … Continue reading Finishing the SWCP
A constant drip-drip from the trees above. The wind pushing the flysheet against the already damp inner, exacerbated by the fact I'd pitched on a slight slope. Condensation dripping from the roof of the tent through the mesh of the inner and onto my sleeping bag. A curious rustling noise that sounded like an animal … Continue reading The Unglamourous Side to Backpacking (The Wessex Ridgeway Part 1)
The video for my walk of the Clarendon Way is now published. It can be found at https://youtu.be/OlCE67Srd08 https://youtu.be/OlCE67Srd08
For its relatively modest length, the Clarendon Way, punches well above its weight in terms of opportunities to go wrong. I briefly alluded to some of these in my last post, but rather than fill that one up with the full details, I thought I'd stick them in a separate post. It's my hope that … Continue reading Navigating the Clarendon Way
The first backpacking trip of the year always feels a bit weird in the lead up: typically, it being, or having recently been, winter, there may have been a bit of a gap since the last one, and it's as if I've forgotten what preparing for a trip is like. This is one reason why … Continue reading The Clarendon Way
After I abandoned the westbound walk at Detling in August, a few other bits of walking got in the way of picking it up again - a trip to Snowdonia in September, the West Highland Way in October, and not least the Kent Pilgrims' Festival in September. The latter involving walking all the way east … Continue reading The North Downs Way Again – Part 6: Detling to Halling
Just one more day to do, but the longest daily distance of all, and a deadline to do it by. Our train was booked for 19:50, which shouldn't have been a problem, but nevertheless it was still a deadline. If you add time to clean up and have a celebratory pint and meal, the real … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 5: The End (Kinlochleven to Fort William)
Breakfast in the Real Food Cafe set us up well for the day ahead. Back at the hotel we shouldered packs and grabbed parcels to drop off at the Post Office - although we could have simply walked up the main road from the hotel, we still had to do the bit of trail through … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 4: The Good Bit (Tyndrum to Kinlochleven)
Whilst it was a shock to suddenly find myself solo, it wasn't a huge surprise and I'd mentally prepared myself for it - by now I can recognise the signs. And so, I strode out towards Ptarmigan Lodge not too discombobulated by the sudden change in my circumstances. Here was the well-known honesty stall, but … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 3: That Accursed Loch! (Rowardennan to Tyndrum)
Milngavie really must be quite proud of the fact that the West Highland Way starts there, as they've taken every opportunity to draw your attention to the fact. Leaving the railway, there's various "to the West Highland Way" signs and the murals in the underpass before you get to the actual start point, itself with … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 2: To The Loch! (Milngavie to Rowardennan)
Well, this post may be titled "Introduction", but this trail barely needs one. One of the more popular trails, maybe even the most popular of the Great Trails in Scotland, I felt as though I already knew it quite well before I even set foot on it. Which is, of course, nonsense, but it's fair … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 1: Introduction
Now that the pressure of leading my own walk was over, I could relax a bit and simply follow. Sometimes it's nice to just be pulled along by someone else: no decisions to make, just put one foot in front of the other and enjoy the walk. First, though, I had to get to the … Continue reading The North Downs Way Again – Part 5: Kent Pilgrims’ Festival Days 3-5 (Wye To Dover)
In the first post of this series, I mentioned that I was co-leading two days of walks as part of the Kent Pilgrims' Festival. Along with that my co-leader, Mike, and I offered to assist the walk leaders of the other 3 days with their walks - help manage the group / bringing up the … Continue reading The North Downs Way Again – Part 4: Kent Pilgrims’ Festival Days 1-2 (Aylesford to Wye)