A personal journal recording and reflecting on my walks around the world.
It’s a clear fresh Autumn morning as I pull into the top car park at the end of the Aber falls road. There is only one other car parked up and it looks like it has been there all night. The Sun has only just risen over the horizon and it takes the early chill away as I pull on my boots and sort out my rucksack. The air is still and nothing is moving. All that can be heard is the sound of bleating sheep on the hillside.
Continue reading “A walk up Foel Fras and Carnedd Gwenllian”
We’ve been visiting Mallorca for decades. In the early days it was Santa Ponca in the South West but over the last few years we have fallen in love with the peace, quiet and beauty that can be found in the North of the island, particularly the pretty town of Pollenca and surrounding area. Continue reading “A walk up Puig de Maria”
Day 8 Millennium Huts (12,556ft) to Mweka Gate (5,358ft) – The end
Unsurprisingly I slept like a log, helped no doubt by the fact that I was absolutely shattered after summiting Kilimanjaro. We walked for thirteen hours yesterday, and we are now back in the land of trees and warmth and I was sleeping on soft flat dry soil as opposed to dusty gravel at a 45 degree angle and minus 5c. Having gone to bed at 6.30pm last night I was wide awake at 6am this morning for the final day of our magnificent Kilimanjaro adventure. Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day Eight Millennium Huts to Mweka Gate – The End”
Day 7 (Part 2) Summit day – Uhuru Peak 19,341ft to Millennium Huts (12,556ft)
Why men climb mountains is a question that has been asked for as long as men and women have been climbing mountains. I guess the answer is as individual as the person who is asked. I’m sure Alex Honnold and Chris Bonington would give different, but not maybe too different answers. For me, walking satisfies a deep need. A need, not to achieve, or conquer but to find peace with myself. It gives me time to think and reflect, time to pray and settle my mind, time to consider and make decisions. Life and experience change us but the Mountains remain reassuringly the same. They provide a constancy in our lives and the mountains are always bigger than our own personal circumstances. So here I am on top of a Mount Kilimanjaro, filled with that immense sense of satisfaction that comes from doing something that is not easy, that takes something out of you but gives you so much more back in return.
Day 7 (Part 1) Summit day – Barafu Huts Camp (15,295ft) to Uhuru Peak 19,341ft
It’s two minutes past midnight and we are ‘pulling the trigger’ on our summit bid as Joshua put it in his briefing. Another phrase that struck me in his pre-summit briefing was “give me the next six hours of your life and I’ll get you to the Roof of Africa”. I’ve dreamed of climbing Kili for years, I’ve planned and prepared for this trip for nearly seven months, I’ve walked for six days to get to this point and now, all that remains is six hours, six hours to fulfil a dream.
Day 6 Karanga Valley Camp (13,235ft) to Barafu Huts Camp (15,295ft)
Unzipping the tent after the 6.30am wake up call reveals a cold, damp and misty Karanga camp. Despite the dark weather however, my spirits are high and I am starting to allow myself to believe that I am going to get this job done. My head is OK with no nausea, I seem to be acclimatising well and the last couple of days I have felt good. Today we will reach base camp and at midnight tonight we will ‘pull the trigger’ as Joshua likes to say on our summit bid. All I’ve got to do is keep well, keep hydrated and keep putting one foot in front of the other. ‘Pole Pole’ is the Swahili catchphrase on this mountain and ‘slowly slowly’ is certainly the way to do it. We will see.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day Six Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp”
I arrive early at the National Trust car park just South of Dockray and am spoilt for choice as it is completely empty. Not liking choice, I choose two spots before finally settling on a third. It’s a cold, crisp dry January morning with the promise of a bit of sun later. The road into Dockray is followed for a short while until the footpath, next to a little art studio is joined.
My first visit to the Lake District was in 1982 and from that day on, whenever I visit I never cease to be captivated by the beauty of its Mountains Lakes and Valleys. Whether driving along the A66 to Keswick and seeing Blencathra stretching up into the sky ahead of me or getting that first glimpse of the Langdales from the A591 heading to Grasmere, travelling into Lakeland always lifts my spirits and restores my soul.
Continue reading “My Journey Through the Wainwright’s, One Book at a Time.”
Day 5 Barranco camp (13,077ft) to Karanga camp (13,235ft)
Day five dawns bright and cold in the Barranco valley and my tiredness and somewhat melancholic mood of yesterday has lifted along with the early morning mist. Barranco camp is big and busy, unlike the others we have stayed at up to now. It also looks very different, it’s very rocky and almost pushed up against the Barranco wall which dominates the camp like some huge Giant standing over us. The ‘Senicio Kilimanjari’ trees are also dotted all about the valley and I keep thinking about ‘the day of the triffids’ and wondering if they are going to come alive.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day Five Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp”
Day 4 Shira 2/Shira Huts camp (12,779ft) to Barranco Camp (13,077ft) via The Lava Tower (15,180ft)
Since the start of the trek we have been approaching the mountain from the West. Today we start to walk around the South of the mountain heading towards Base Camp in preparation for our summit day. There is a growing feeling, that we are approaching the ‘business’ end of this walk. The mountain is getting closer every day now and the trail itself is getting rougher, steeper, more volcanic and less defined. Our altitude is slowly creeping up which means less oxygen to breathe and the nights are colder. We have now crossed the Shira plateau and today we will say goodbye to it before heading up to the ‘Lava Tower’ for acclimatisation and then down to Barranco Camp to sleep.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day Four Shira Huts Camp to Barranco Camp”