Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
Various stuff and general musings
"Now there is an extra dimension to the charms of The Road - it takes me to, or almost to, Dartmoor - a place that is rapidly taking its place among my favourite upland areas. But unlike journeys to other areas, there is no desire to hurry to get there, no wishing the journey were … Continue reading Dartmoor: Paradise Road
I suppose, having looked back at 2014, I ought to do a post looking forward to 2015. I usually try to avoid posts like this as writing down plans here is usually the kiss of death to them. So I'm going to keep this as brief as I can and try not to over-commit. 1. … Continue reading 2015 Plans
For January to June, see the previous post. July Having already been to the Lakes four times in the year, a record for me, I deliberately switched my attention elsewhere, and resumed my assault on the Cambrian Way. Just as the first time, my plan was a little too ambitious and I so burnt myself … Continue reading The Ploddies 2014 – Part 2: July to December
In my last post, I introduced the idea of the hillplodder.com awards aka The Ploddies. It's now time to get down to business and look at the things and experiences that have made the year and are worthy of special mention. I was going to do this as a list of awards, but have changed … Continue reading The Ploddies 2014 – Part 1: January to June
Awards have been very much in the limelight in the outdoors blogging world recently, with controversy surrounding at least one prominent award for Outdoor Blog of the Year (note, not necessarily "Best" given that the shortlist itself is more of a popularity and "who has more friends" contest - a better description would be "Most … Continue reading Yet More Awards – Plus Introducing Even More Awards
We almost didn't make it to Austria, with a 45 minute journey to the airport taking 2 hours as we were forced to take to the country lanes to avoid the M25. We then found ourselves in the slowest check-in queue ever such that we actually checked-in after it had technically closed and arrived at … Continue reading Out and About in Austria
I'd like to thank Gina (@CumbrianBlondie) for nominating me via her blog - The Adventures of Cumbrian Blondie. The Liebster Award was originally an idea to spread by word of mouth (or should that be word of type?) blogs with relatively low readerships - not because they're crap, but more because people might not have … Continue reading The Liebster Award
The waves rolled onto the empty beach, depositing yet more soapy residue to add to the giant bubble party already in progress. I continued along the beach, gusting wind roaring in my ears. Nearby, an oversized seagull watched me impassively from its vantage point atop a rock, then took off to circle vulture-like overhead, waiting … Continue reading On the Edge of the North Sea
With my current work contract drawing to a close, and more hill time coming, I've been mulling over some potential Lakes trips for the next few months. Trips which are getting harder and harder to plan as I home in on completion of the Wainwrights, reducing my stock of new hills to bag. Living such … Continue reading The bridal hill formula
The folks at Go Outdoors have launched a new Walking Blog Award, with a varied shortlist of 15 blogs, and yours truly is one of them. It goes without saying that just making the shortlist is an honour, and especially so when I find myself in the company of such luminaries as Chris Townsend, Keith … Continue reading Go Outdoors Blog Awards 2014
This year's plans were disrupted by a new work contract coming along at the start of the summer rather than, as I'd hoped, the end of the summer. This curtailed walking plans somewhat and even more so when I found out how much time I'd have to spend working away in Edinburgh. Here's a few … Continue reading Not a review of the year, just some nice pictures
Mainland Europe disappeared into the ship's wake, Nordkapp growing ever smaller as our latitude inexorably increased. Clouds and cold blue seas the only view from here on, as I occupied my sea day with my usual regime of laps of the deck (4 to the mile), guest appearances at the morning quiz and afternoon quiz, … Continue reading The Arctic “Expedition” – Part 2: The Icy Wastes
All around us was a barren landscape of rough close cropped moorland vegetation, punctuated every so often with reindeer trotting about nonchalantly and completely ignoring the bus as it roared past. Every so often a glimpse of the icy sea appeared between hills, but very little in terms of human habitation. This really was the … Continue reading The Arctic “Expedition” – Part 1: To the Top of Europe
Things are going to be going a bit quiet on here shortly, due to the work situation, but before that happens I've got one last big trip coming up. After that I'm only going to be able to get out for the odd weekend. So it's time to make the most of the time outdoors … Continue reading A quick update
Today, I've sadly had to go and put the Cambrian Way project on hold until next year. Clearly this isn't an ideal state of affairs, but I've been offered a project at decent money in an environment where there aren't that many things going in my specialist area at any time, let alone now. So … Continue reading Oh Bugger