My hike along one of Europe’s classic long distance trails. Click on the walk to read the post or use the interactive map to see the route.
It’s been a long two days in the driving seat, it turns out the Alps are a long way from ...
The storm eventually passed over in the early hours leaving behind a dry but overcast morning. Steve slept right through ...
The Tour du Mont Blanc and the Alps in general are perfect for hut to hut walking. In France they ...
If day one of the Tour du Mont Blanc was an hors d’oeuvre and day two a starter, day three ...
The small village of Les Chapieux sits at the western most point of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Although it’s ...
Dawn brings with it another gloriously sunny day on the Tour du Mont Blanc. We are now in the Italian ...
“The beauty of adventure is to dream of it, to give air to the imagination, then you also try to ...
Today we will enter the third country on our walk around Mont Blanc. This country is a land of mountains, ...
For the last week we’ve been in the heart of the mountains. Walking along narrow rugged trails surrounded by snow ...
When we step outside to boot up for day nine of our Tour du Mont Blanc there are ominous dark ...
Today we have the third and final border crossing of our Tour du Mont Blanc when we say goodbye to ...
Stepping onto the wooden balcony that adjoins our room at 6am all is silent in the valley. The cool, still ...
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For ...
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Trekking in Nepal. From Lukla to Everest Base Camp and then a taste of ‘real’ Nepal walking out to Jiri. Click on the walk to read the post or use the interactive map to see the route.
I have traveled before, to America and Europe, to the Far East and Middle East, but travelling in Nepal will ...
“Kathmandu I’ll soon be seeing you And your strange bewildering time will hold me down” I am not sure if ...
We walked for twenty three days on our Nepal Trek. The Germans have a word for it, Zielwanderung or 'destination ...
Lukla 9,283ft to Phakding 8,701ft Up at 6.30am. A cup of tea was followed by finishing off packing the rucksack ...
Phakding 8,701ft to Namche Bazaar 11,306ft Up at 7.10am. A breakfast of porridge with honey, toast and jam does the ...
Namche Bazaar walking to Khunde 12,602ft and Khumjung 12,402ft Namche Bazaar is known as the 'Sherpa capital'. If you are ...
Namche 11,306ft to Tengboche 12,687ft The walk from Namche Bazaar to Tynbouche (or Tengboche) is a pure delight every step ...
Tengboche 12,687ft to Pheriche 13,911ft including rest day acclimatisation walk to Dingboche 14,272ft It was very cold in the lodge ...
Pherice 13,911ft to Lobuche 16,175ft The aim of the day is to get to Lobuche all in one piece and ...
Lobuche 16,175ft – Gorek Shep 17,008ft - Kala Patar 18,192ft – Lobuche I slept fitfully and not very well at ...
Loubuche 16,175ft to Dzongla 15,846ft Today has that feeling to it, the feeling that you have after your own wedding, ...
Dzongla 15,846ft to Dragnag 15,387ft over the Cho la pass 17,782ft We were up early, 5.30am for what will be ...
Dragnag 15,387ft back to Namche Bazaar via Phortse (12,467ft) There is no rush to get out of bed today as ...
Namche Bazaar 11,306ft to Choplung 8,727ft After the hard work of the last week we enjoyed a well earned rest ...
Jubing 5,499ft to Tragsindho 9,612ft I'm sitting in the lodge in Tragsindho watching sport on a Television, Aston Villa v ...
Junbesi 8776ft to Sete 8448ft We were up early for what is going to be a hard day compared to ...
Sete 8448ft to Bhandar 7198ft After our efforts getting over the Lamjura La Pass yesterday we are in no mad ...
Bhandar 7,198ft to Shivalaya 5,905ft It's another leisurely start to the day. Breakfast outside in the sunshine again and we ...
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Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world, one of the seven summits and still an active volcano. Here is my journey to ‘The Roof of Africa’. Click on the walk to read the post or use the interactive map to see the route.
Kilimanjaro - A Mountain Top Experience There is really only one reason that a Hill Walker would find himself landing at Kilimanjaro international airport and ...
Day One - Lemosho Glades (7,838ft) to Big Tree Camp (Mount Mkubwa Camp) (9,137ft) I’m sitting writing this at the end of day one sitting ...
Day Two - Big Tree Camp (Mount Mkubwa Camp) (9,137ft) to Shira One Camp (11,496ft) Night one in the tent was a pretty restless one ...
Day Three - Shira One Camp (11,496ft) to Shira Huts Camp (12,779ft) via Shira Cathedral (12,671ft) We wake up to a freezing Shira One campsite ...
Day Four - Shira 2 - Shira Huts Camp (12,779ft) to Barranco Camp (13,077ft) via The Lava Tower (15,180ft) Since the start of the trek ...
Day Five - Barranco Camp (13,077ft) to Karanga Camp (13,235ft) Day five dawns bright and cold in the Barranco valley and my tiredness and somewhat ...
Day Six Karanga Camp (13,235ft) to Barafu Camp (15,295ft) Unzipping the tent after the 6.30am wake up call reveals a cold, damp and misty Karanga ...
Day Seven (Part 1) - Summit Day - Barafu Camp (15,295ft) to Uhuru Peak 19,341ft It's two minutes past midnight and we are 'pulling the ...
Day Seven (Part 2) - Summit Day - Uhuru Peak 19,341ft to Millennium Huts (12,556ft) Why men climb mountains is a question that has been ...
Day Eight Millennium Huts (12,556ft) to Mweka Gate (5,358ft) - The End Unsurprisingly I slept like a log, helped no doubt by the fact that ...
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The Arches National Park is like no place I have ever walked in before. Set high on the desert plateau of Utah, there is little vegetation and the sparse trees are stunted and gnarled by the harsh environment. It’s a raw and exposed place, baking in the day and freezing at night. It is literally the Wild West. What draws visitors to the park are the natural sandstone arches, thousands of them. Fifteen million years of erosion created them and we’re here today to walk among them. It’s as different a landscape to the UK as chalk is to cheese.
Continue reading “Walking in The Arches National Park, Utah”
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The ‘Bisses’ of the Valais region of Switzerland are long irrigation channels, many of them hundreds of years old, built to channel water from high mountain streams down to pasture land in the valleys below. Carved out from rock along the valley sides many of them follow a precipitous route with dizzying drops below and vertical cliffs above. The Bisse du Torrent Neuf in the central Valais dates back to the 15th century. Thankfully it’s been restored since and today it offers a spectacular out and back walk along the cliff edges, past sheer rock faces and over wobbly suspension bridges.
Continue reading “A walk along the Bisse du Torrent Neuf, Switzerland”
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‘Don’t worry Mom, I know all about cannibalism, I saw it on TV’.
Like Danny in The Shining, it’s all too easy in a world of Ultra HD, Wide Screen and 4K to think we have seen and know all about the world and its wonders because we’ve seen it on our televisions. Thankfully there are still plenty of wonders that need to be seen in the flesh to be believed and experienced in all their fullness. Places that can take our breath away and make us stand in awe in their presence, silent and humbled by our smallness and their greatness. The Grand Canyon is one of those marvellous wonders of the world.
Continue reading “A walk along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon”
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Reading the news recently that there are now more redwoods in the U.K. than in California (read here) reminded me of my own encounter with these magnificent giants of the natural world on an RV tour of the seven most western states in the contiguous USA some years ago. Commitments, coughs and colds seem to be conspiring to keep me away from Lakeland at the moment so I figure now is as good a time as any to finally write up and share some of these RV experiences that have sat gathering dust in the bottom drawer…
Continue reading “Walking with giants, the coastal redwoods of northern California”
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MacGillycuddy’s Reeks may sound like a character out of a Roald Dahl book but is in fact an extensive mountain range in County Kerry, Ireland and the home to Ireland’s highest peaks including its highest, Carrauntoohil. The far south west of Ireland is a little out of the way for an Englishman but a road trip around the ‘Emerald Isle’ with some friends provides an opportunity, should the timetable and the changeable Kerry weather oblige to climb this mountain.
Continue reading “A walk up Carrauntoohil, Ireland’s Highest Mountain”
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The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!
Robert Burns
The best laid scheme of today was to finish our Tour du Mont Blanc on top of Le Brévent and then get the cable car down into Chamonix to celebrate. It started to go awry with the weather forecast of last night and was confirmed in the early hours when the storm rolled in, wind whistling through the gaps in the old wooden frames and rain sweeping across the panes.
Continue reading “Tour du Mont Blanc Day Twelve – Refuge la Flégère to Chamonix”
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Stepping onto the wooden balcony that adjoins our room at 6am all is silent in the valley. The cool, still morning air fills my nostrils with the scent of pines and wood smoke. Dew glistens on the grass in the small camping field next to the refuge and people in the tents are stirring. I stand for a while in the stillness, looking up at Mont Blanc and reflecting on our walk so far. We have seen the mountain we are walking around from different aspects, from different countries and in different weather. It has been the central hub and ever present reminder of the reason for our journey, our very own ‘Tour du Mont Blanc‘. Today is our penultimate day and it promises to be a good one.
Continue reading “Tour du Mont Blanc Day Eleven – Tré Le Champ to Refuge la Flégère”
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