If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know that it’s not long now until I set off for Iceland to have a crack at The Laugavegur Icelandic Trek.
In preparation for this multi-day trek across the highlands of Iceland I have tasked myself with completing a series of mini treks and microadventures to toughen me up a bit and to help me get used to the routine of multi-day camping and hiking. Continue reading “Microadventure – Iceland Trek Training #1 2013”
The Route: Bowfell and Esk Pike | Distance: 17km | Time: 7.5 Hours
Height gain: 1,129m | Max Altitude: 897m | Start: Langdale Campsite
Finish: The Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel | Map: OS Explorer OL6 | Date: 07/02/2013
Click to enlarge route map
You don’t need to go to New Zealand to walk in a landscape full of myth and wilderness, oh no! Now this might shock and surprise some people and even sound a tad absurd, but you can get your Tolkien fix right here in the UK. Oh shut-up I hear you say, but wait, it’s really true, please let me explain. Continue reading “My ‘Lord of The Rings’ hike!”
I’m off to the Great Langdale Valley next week for a much needed outdoor fix. I’ll be camping in the valley for a week at the beautiful National Trust campsite. My tent will be ringed on three sides by some of the most dramatic and rugged mountains this country has to offer. The fells here are much beloved by generations of hikers, climbers and campers alike. Continue reading “Let the Adventures begin!”
“But there are men for whom the unattainable has a special attraction. Usually they are not experts: their ambitions and fantasies are strong enough to brush aside the doubts which more cautious men might have. Determination and faith are their strongest weapons. At best such men are regarded as eccentric; at worst, mad…” Legendary Mountaineer – Walt Unsworth
I can particularly relate to this quote of late having suffered from my own amateurism during a little microadventure during which having hiked 15km to my wild camp spot of choice in the mountains to only then realised that my tent had dislodged itself from my backpack and was nowhere to be seen! Not a good scenario when confronted with only one hour of daylight and temperatures of no higher than -4°C to -6°C predicted for the night ahead.
Having to bail after 5-6 hours of walking and embarrassingly have to hitch a lift back to my start point and then drive back home to London with my tail between my legs I understand very clearly where good old Walt is coming from with this snippet of wisdom.
But the ‘unattainable has a special attraction’ to me so I will return and hike the same route again and take a new tent with me, and get it right this time.
People think I’m mad and probably quite eccentric but I have ambitions and fantasies that are strong enough to brush aside the doubts which more cautious men might have.
All power to the eccentric amateur adventurer I say!
JAMES HANDLON 