Finally, after months of lockdown walking in and around the city (see Edinburgh Exploits, City Strolls and Leith Loping)) I finally made it back into the hills outwith Edinburgh for the first time since the end of February last year, and what a relief it was! My cabin fever had become really severe, and I did often dream of just taking off with my backpack. Sense finally prevailed following a nightmare in which I was featured in the tabloid papers as a dangerous miscreant.
Anyway, I hope you are surviving, and here are some pics of my walk with friends in Midlothian this week – which is a start.
The Pentland Hills lay just beyond my radius when I was living on the border, so I was glad when a walking friend offered to introduce me to this lovely area in January of this year. The area is a straightforward bus journey from Edinburgh. I was just on the verge of venturing out to feature the area on this blog when the restrictions were introduced, so this is just a taster of an area I hope to focus on in future posts. I hope you are safe and well.
This post was created from my phone so I hope the layout is without issues.
As the gift season is upon us again, I thought it would be a timely moment to mention a few top new and classic outdoor and adventure books for the reader in your life, or indeed for you.
Outdoor Book Shelfie
Outdoor & Adventure Books (In alphabetical order)
Walking Home: Travels with a troubadour on the Pennine Way by Simon Armitage
Blind Descent: Surviving alone and blind on Mount Everest by Brian Dickinson.
The Last Englishman: A 2,650 mile hiking adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail by Keith Foskett
Balancing on Blue by Keith Foskett
Into Thin Air: An account of the Everest disaster by Jon Krakauer
Mountains of the Mind by Robert MacFarlane
The Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane
Ramble On: The story of our love for walking in Great Britain by Sinclair McKay
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed
Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles: Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail by Chris Townsend
I finally made it into the hills again! This raised my spirits so much that I sang loudly in my little hire car as I neared my destination in the Breamish Valley, Northumberland for a wild weekend of breathtaking scenery, drover’s roads, roman forts, ruined shepherd cottages, prehistoric burial cists, waterfalls, sunshine, serenity and some fierce battles with the local bracken. Read who won in my latest trip report at Beautiful Breamish.
Good paths heading north to IngramSalters Road looking west towards Low BlakehopeRuins of Blawearie Cottage
Sometimes we have to make the most of where we are, and the time and the resources available to us, and these dictate our adventures more than our daydreams and long term plans. So a couple of days in Edinburgh is to me the equivalent of an expedition to the Matterhorn in terms of escapism at the moment. As I spent a while living in London, I have learned to appreciate urban walking and green spaces, and how much they can add to the quality of life in a large city.
A recent trip to Edinburgh became an adventure as I decided on the train to finally climb up the crags to Arthur’s Seat, and experience this familiar city from a new angle.
The views across Edinburgh and out onto the Firth of Forth just get better and better as you go, so don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. This walk is written up in Edinburgh Exploits
The chance to part with a small amount of money when Terry set up his fundraising page for his current film about Scafell Pike, was a way to demonstrate my faith in his abilities as a film maker and to pick his experienced brains about wild camping.
Camping in Wasdale
Terry has assembled a huge cast of characters for “The Life of a Mountain – Scafell Pike”, from mountaineers to mountain rescue, farmers and a shepherdess. All have a connection to Scafell Pike and the narrative of the film explores these connections. Terry’s ambition was to film a year in the life of the mountain which is the highest peak in England and one of three of the highest in the UK.
I travelled to Nether Wasdale in the Lake District to spend a day with three of the National Trust Rangers responsible for maintaining the hugely popular route up to Scafell Pike. Apparently 40,000 people, including many 3 peaks challenge teams, take this route each year and the footpath is key to their success.
Fix the Fells Rangers
Terry and the Rangers filmed a day at work on the route to the summit during April. Although there were many signs of spring on the lower part of the route, the summit was still shrouded in low cloud.
I met all sorts of people during the day, from young children to a 79 year old man, who said this was going to be his last climb. All these people made me realise what universal and enduring appeal this mountain has.
Daffodils at Wasdale
The Scafell Pike film generated a lot of interest within the outdoors community following the fundraising drive and Terry’s previous Cairngorms film with Chris Townsend in 2013 (which received a commendation at the Kendal Mountain Festival).
I feel certain that the project will bring Terry the recognition he deserves. The film premiered at Rheged in Penrith on Saturday 10th May 2014 and tickets quickly sold out for the first screening. The download / dvd are available online. An abridged version of the film was shown on the BBC4 on 14th January 2015 to record audiences.
Well, hikers have spoken. Following a brainstorming session on social media, I created a poll of polls (below) in which people were invited to nominate and vote for their top 3 international long distance trails.
As you can see from my previous post, the shortlist included trails from all over the world, including the USA, New Zealand, Scotland, France and Turkey. The picture below shows the results on the closing date, but please feel free to continue voting.
The top five long distance trails as voted for by readers
Unfortunately some of the less well known trails like the GR5 (Netherlands to the Mediterranean) and the Lycian Way in Turkey didn’t fare so well in the poll, but perhaps that was to be expected.
In the end the poll was just for fun and I hope you enjoyed taking part.
2013 has been an vintage adventure year with three solo trails and a return to the Lakeland fells. Although my hiking has been confined to this country, I have experienced everything from deep snow in April to intense heat three months later, which has presented some challenges. I have also met and listened to some inspiring people, with fascinating tales to tell, so lots to learn and write up in my review of the year, coming soon.
Just a quick hello to say that I am safely back from my Pennine Way walk for Crisis UK which took 20 days and was supported by Cotswold Outdoor and Gossamer Gear. I apologise that I was unable to post to this blog during the walk but I was without phone signal, 3G or wifi for most of the route with my ineffective sim card. I have published a write-up of the walk which I hope you enjoy. You can see videos on YouTube, photos on social media under the hashtag #RosePW and you can donate until the end of August 2013 by texting ROSE71 £(Amount) to 70070 🙂
Thanks for supporting my Pennine Way for Crisis UK
As I have now completed the St Cuthbert’s Way, the Cumbria Way plus a week of day walking as part of my training plan for my Pennine Way walk for Crisis UK, I am now resting up until I start my charity walk later this month.
I have recently been assembling and testing out my kit for the walk including a new lightweight tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat. I am relatively new to camping while I walk, so this has included getting some advice and sleeping out for trial weekends to discover what works and what doesn’t.
Here are a couple of pictures of the tent and equipment I will be using for the walk.
