A personal journal recording and reflecting on my walks around the world.
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”
Day 3 Shira 1 camp (11,496ft) to Shira 2/Shira Huts camp (12,779ft) via Shira Cathedral (12,671ft)
We wake up to a freezing Shira 1 campsite with the ground frozen solid and ice frosting the tents. After two days of walking I am starting to get into the rhythm of this walk now and the developing daily routine that consists of walk, eat, sleep, repeat.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day Three Shira 1 Camp to Shira Huts Camp”
Day 2 Big Tree (Mount Mkubwa) Camp (9,137ft) to Shira 1 camp (11,496ft)
Night one in the tent was a pretty restless one. We’re still relatively low and it’s warm so I didn’t sleep too well. Dinner last night was something to behold, soup and bread followed by potatoes and fish with a fruit pudding. All this, prepared in a tent by Milton, our dedicated chef who will be looking after us over the next eight days and cooking on gas stoves that will have to be carried up and down the mountain. We certainly won’t be going hungry.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day Two Big Tree Camp to Shira 1 Camp”
Day 1 Lemosho Glades (7,838ft) to Big Tree (Mount Mkubwa) Camp (9,137ft)
I’m sitting writing this at the end of day one sitting under one of the ‘Big Trees’ of Big Tree camp with Colobus monkeys playing in the trees above me. Backtracking- Yesterday I landed at Kilimanjaro international airport and was by met Joshua our Exodus/Africa Walking Company team leader and lead guide for the next eight days. A baking hot journey in a Land Cruiser (no air con) to the hotel followed and when we arrived we were greeted with hot towels to freshen up and wipe off the red soil that had been kicked up and deposited itself on our hands and faces on the journey, like we were being welcomed by the Red Earth of Africa itself.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day One Lemosho Glades to Big Tree Camp”
Kilimanjaro – A Mountain Top Experience
There is really only one reason that a Hill Walker would find himself landing at Kilimanjaro international airport and it isn’t to go on safari to see the ‘Big Five’. It is, of course because they are about to embark on a walk up Africa’s highest mountain, a walk to ‘The Roof Africa’. Climbing Kilimanjaro has long been on my bucket list and over the next eight days, God willing, I will make it to the top of the worlds highest, free standing mountain.
Autumn in the Lake District can often be one of the most sublime times of the year, truly a “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” as Keats said. As I looked out of our hotel window over breakfast however and saw the leaves rapidly falling from the trees I wondered whether there would be any left to enjoy on my walk. I needn’t have worried, when the rain stopped there was still plenty of Autumn Gold to make for a very enjoyable walk around two of the smaller lakes in the district.
Continue reading “An Autumn walk around Grasmere and Rydal Water”
Bhandar 7,198ft to Shivalaya 5,905ft
It’s another leisurely start to the day. Breakfast outside in the sunshine again and we were joined by the female lodge owner and some of her family. No porridge on offer so had boiled eggs instead and I have never seen such a Yellow yolk before. Got some pictures of birds on the wall and a great picture of a little girl who wandered over to see who the strange, scruffy and smelly white guys were.