February #MicroAdventure

Chris (www.pilgrimchris.com) and I headed to the hills again last weekend for another walk in our #MicroAdventure calendar. We had planned to do this trip in the last weekend of February, but for various reasons we couldn’t make it, so although this was now March, we still classed this as our February #MicroAdventure. One of […]

Gossamer Gear Mariposa (Robic)

Probably the best money I ever spent on gear was when I shelled out £40 for a GoLite Jam backpack (some background here). I bought it in the winter of 2009, in preparation for my Pennine Way the following spring. The backpack was and indeed still is, absolutely fantastic. I have used it on every […]

January #MicroAdventure

At the back end of 2014 an article, publicised through Twitter, caught my eye – and it would seem, the eyes of many other walkers and backpackers. The article was from Alistair Humphreys and it discussed the idea of getting out into the hills, for at least one night every month in 2015. He calls […]

Kinder Winter White-out

I love walking in proper winter weather; not the usual winter weather we get in the UK – the drab, miserable, grey, wet and windy stuff that covers the country from October to March, but the rare Alpine winter days that are calm, clear and biting cold. We get so few of these each year […]

A Light in the Darkness

I would probably describe myself as a 3-season backpacker. I much prefer the longer walking days of the months between April and September, the relatively better weather (pah!) and the fact that you’re not confined to your tent for anything up to 16 hours. This year has been a bit of a mare though, if […]

A Weekend Sacrifice

The Oxford Dictionary defines sacrifice as “An act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy”. It also includes an alternative definition of “an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to a deity” ….but that’s not the one […]

One of our sheepdogs is missing!

We approached the gate tentatively, the large, snarling, barking yellow dog ensured that we weren’t going to go through it, and called through the open kitchen door to a woman washing the dishes. The barking of the yellow hound kicked off a ruckus of noise from a kennel block behind a nearby wall; lots of […]

Autumn Weekend Wander – 2009

What seems to becoming an annual ritual is about to kick off in a few minutes – just enough time to pen this “Out of Office” for anyone interested. Tex Gore and I are off to Wales for a 3 day wander around the Arenigs – as soon as he gets off the phone that […]

Wild Camping

I write this lying in my tent on my first wild camp. Its currently 7.33pm on Thursday 5th April and I couldn’t have asked for better weather to lose my camping cherry with, the sun has shone on me all afternoon and the wind has been fairly mild. I have Pink Floyd playing on my […]