hike | camp | paint
The date was in the diary, the pre-order had been made, the accommodation had been booked. Then the unthinkable happened - Andy Beck's book launch was pushed back from the weekend of 4-5 March to the equivalent weekend in May. Issues with the colour reproduction in the printing process necessitated this delay, and one I … Continue reading March in the Lakes – Part 1: Viewpoints
The sky was dumping large amounts of water as Colin picked me up and we headed onto the motorway network for the long journey north. A combination of rush hour and large amounts of standing water made for unpleasant conditions, but the gradual change to better was discernable with every mile further north. A quick … Continue reading Ups and Downs: Referendum Night on Blencathra
Dirty cloud obscured the rising sun, with just a small distant patch of orange beyond Great Mell Fell and some reflected colour to the west to betray the start of a new day.  A cacophony of barking, baying and yelping accompanied the start of my climb above the kennels at Gategill, and I could still … Continue reading On My Tod
Tuesday The sense of aborting my foray into the Western Fells in favour of getting the Northern Fells to 100% soon became even more obvious. With today being travelling home day, there wasn’t much else I could do that hadn’t already been done, and Carrock Fell was, sort of, on the way home. The forecast … Continue reading Finishing Off the Northern Fells – Part 3: Carrock Fell
Friday The forecast for the weekend was poor, maybe even bordering on lunacy, and was the main reason why we’d decided not to camp this time out, preferring instead the security of hostels and especially the chances they afforded to get dry and warm after a day out on the fells dicing with the conditions. … Continue reading Finishing off the Northern Fells – Part 2: Blencathra & Friends
The bus shook as the first evidence of the weekend’s weather forecast collided with the moving vehicle. And today was supposed to be a “good” day. The bus dropped me off at Scales and I set off along a lane to the path that paralleled Comb Beck for the climb into Mousthwaite Comb. Behind me … Continue reading Finishing off the Northern Fells – Part 1: Souther Fell
It's really rather nice sitting here by Derwentwater taking in the views and attempting to transfer them to paper, and I don't regret the way today's plans have worked out at all. Never has a walk plan changed so much as today's has. Having made sketchy arrangements to meet up with Paul (@paulgbuck) for a … Continue reading Autumn in the Lakes: Arty Stuff
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
There are going to be some people reading this that will think I've completely flipped. Â After all Binsey isn't that high (447m), consists largely of easy grassy slopes and looks pretty harmless. Â Set aside from the main bulk of the northern fells, AW called it "the odd man out" and "like a dunce set apart … Continue reading Favourite Fells – Binsey
The title's probably a touch dramatic, but in my post New Year's zombie-like state of mind, it seemed to do the trick. Â Of course, if you believe the Mayans we've just had our last New Year's Eve parties (no loss there really) as the world is due to end sometime this year. Video by CGP … Continue reading A Day of Judgement
Whilst everyone else is starting the New Year with positive thinking (that is apart from the effects of last night's drinking), I thought I'd take an opposite tack and talk about failure. In my walking career I've notched up a few failures and whilst I've not let them get to me too much, I'd be … Continue reading Failure
With my career break now over half gone and opportunities for trips disappearing fast, I took an 11 day trip to Cumbria to bag some Wainwrights and Nuttalls. Â Having done the majority of the convenient stuff in the easily accessible centre of Lakeland, this was always going to be about knocking off some of the … Continue reading A Lakeland Round (2011)
Not everyone is interested in the stats, so let's keep the analysis in a separate post. Summits bagged The 29 Wainwrights "bagged", in order, are: Dodd (Skiddaw) Whinlatter Barf Lord's Seat (M) Broom Fell Graystones Ling Fell Sale Fell Barrow Outerside Mellbreak (M) Rannerdale Knotts High Crag (H) High Stile (Wainwright summit) Red Pike (Buttermere) … Continue reading A Lakeland Round (2011): The Stats
A Quick (?) Leg Stretch Today I arrived in the Lake District for 11 days of walking, on a mission to mop-up some odds and ends of fells and also to knock off most of the western fells. Travelling up today, meant a short walk in the afternoon, with the only sensible choice being Dodd, … Continue reading A Lakeland Round (2011): Day 1 – Monday 4 July
So that's it. As I limp away from Carlisle Castle through the urban ugliness of the city centre, I'm not feeling any sense of achievement. That came about 4 miles out from Carlisle, when I knew I'd make it (somehow), but completely evaporated on the slog over the tarmac. If the Cumbria Way finished in … Continue reading Cumbria Way – The End of the Walk