Walking the Aran Ridge, another Snowdonia secret

July 8, 2015 Trip reports aran fawddwy, arans, backpacking, bear grylls, britain, cadair idris, glasgwm, hill walking, rhinogs, snowdonia, wales, wild camping 11 Comments

There aren’t many hill walks close to civilisation in the UK where you can spend two days and only see one other human. The Aran Ridge is just four or five hours’ drive from London, and last week I went there for a couple of days’ backpacking.

5 of the silliest mountain firsts

September 3, 2014 Humour aconcagua, andes, ben nevis, britain, charity challenges, cho oyu, chris darwin, edmund hillary, everest, first ascents, guinness book of records, hill walking, himalayas, huascaran, lhakpa ri, nepal, norman croucher, peru, snowdon, tibet 2 Comments

With the news that a man climbed Snowdon pushing a brussels sprout with his nose, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at what other silly things have been done on mountains. So here are some of the world’s more improbable first ascents.

Carpe diem – Cheesewring, Cornwall

November 6, 2013 Reviews and tributes britain, buddhism, cheesewring, climbing fatalities, hill walking, obituaries, rock climbing 5 Comments

There are many things death can teach you, but one of the most rewarding is to seize the day because life can change in an instant. If there’s something you always wanted to do then start making plans to do it, because otherwise it may pass you by.

Snowdon via the Llanberis Path

September 4, 2013 Trip reports britain, chris bonington, hill walking, llanberis path, media sensationalism, microadventures, moel eilio, snowdon, snowdon mountain railway, snowdon ranger path, wales 0 Comment

Good weather was forecast in the Welsh hills last weekend, so I headed up to Snowdonia, where I completed a fine circular walk of Snowdon via the Llanberis Path and the long whale-backed ridge of Moel Eilio. I expected it to be busy, but not as busy as the media would have you believe.

How Mardale came to be flooded and the Lake District drowned in silly names

June 12, 2013 Trip reports backpacking, britain, camping, coast to coast walk, haweswater, high street, hill walking, lake district, mardale, microadventures, mosedale, swindale, wild camping 3 Comments

In the 1930s the valley of Mardale in Cumbria was flooded to create Haweswater and supply water to Manchester. I imagine it was pretty shocking at the time, but 80 years later only a fool would let it spoil their enjoyment of a very pleasant Lakeland walk. It was glorious weather when I strapped on my rucksack at the start of a two day backpacking adventure.

The Mynydd Du microadventure

May 8, 2013 Trip reports alastair humphreys, backpacking, black mountains, brecon beacons, britain, camping, grant rawlinson, hill walking, microadventures, mynydd du, wales, wild camping 13 Comments

Perhaps I’ve only just noticed, but all of a sudden people have started using the term microadventure for things that used to be called walks. I used to laugh, but after my trip to the Mynydd Du hills last weekend, I’m going to stick my neck out and say that I have now become a microadventurer.

A winter wonderland above the Bridge of Orchy

April 3, 2013 Trip reports beinn a chreachain, beinn achaladair, beinn an dothaidh, beinn dorain, beinn mhanach, ben lui, black mount, bridge of orchy, britain, duncan ban macintyre, hill walking, munro bagging, munros, rannoch moor, scotland 5 Comments

It might be April and the beginning of spring, but the conditions on Scotland’s hills are still distinctly wintry. I checked the avalanche forecast before spending Easter in the hills above Bridge of Orchy, home of the poet Duncan Ban MacIntyre, famous for composing an Ode to Trousers.

Snowdon via the Snowdon Ranger Path

November 14, 2012 Trip reports britain, hill walking, snowdon, snowdon marathon, snowdon mountain railway, snowdon ranger path, snowdonia, wales 4 Comments

My latest trip up Snowdon was something of a flying visit, and has the distinction of being one of the rare ascents of England and Wales’s highest mountain on a day trip from London. A few weekends ago I ascended

Snowdon via the Watkin Path

October 31, 2012 Trip reports britain, camping, hill walking, snowdon, snowdonia, wales, watkin path, y lliwedd, yr aran 2 Comments

It’s not often you get great weather on Snowdon, but there was a good weather forecast the other day so I decided to head up there. Many people describe the highest peak in England and Wales as hill walking’s equivalent

The Yorkshire 3 Peaks Walk

October 3, 2012 Trip reports alfred wainwright, britain, charity challenges, hill walking, ingleborough, pen-y-ghent, whernside, yorkshire dales 7 Comments

This blog needs lightening up I think. For the last few posts I’ve been banging on about Everest and avalanches and so forth, and you’re probably getting a bit fed up with it, so this week I’ve decided to return