HADRIAN’S WALL. DAY 5 and 5.5

After coffee and a dyhydrated chocolate mouse granola breakfast (likened very much, to the high quantities of very recent cow pats we’ve past and that I’ve slipped on) we motored off. 7.45 am. The air was cooler today, but not cold. Good for Eric who’s bags were full once again. Showing no signs of wear […]

HADRIANS WALL. DAY 4

Minutes after I signed off the last blog, Snakes nipped out of the tent to the loo and this happened. I did my level best to stop her but she overpowered me with her sadface. The evening was awash with noise, cows and sheep bleating mixed with distant farmers 4×4 and a very strange ghost-like […]

HADRIAN’S WALL. DAY 3

Flat Eric was a bundle of energy after her 14 hour rest. We were up and out by 8.05am – a late start today, but a wild camp tonight and only 16 miles means later is better. A gentle incline for most of the morning and the most pleasurable interesting walking yet. Not to mention […]

HADRIAN’S WALL. DAY 2

The rain was lashing down without pause, all night. We woke at 6.15. Day 2. Heddon on the Wall to Chollerford. Flat Eric had excellent bed hair after being ensconced in Snakes’ down hood all night (and was being refered to as Babushka). The night had been warm and we’d all kicked off our layers. […]

HADRIAN’S WALL. DAY 1

We arrived to a gloriously sunny Bowness on Solway in the late afternoon. A small community situated on the edge of the Solway Firth estuary. Winnie demanded a leg stretch and we needed to look for somewhere to leave our car for the week to avoid the £8 daily charge. The woman in charge of […]

HADRIANS WALL: WINNIE THE POODLE’S BIG ROMAN ADVENTURE

Hadrians Wall Path is an 83 mile (actual miles not silly Roman miles) or 135km long walking path stretching from coast to coast across Northern England (Just South of Scotland). It begins (or ends) in Wallsend – Newcastle on Tyne and ends (or begins) in Bowness on Solway, Cumbria. Hadrian was an emperor who demanded […]

Grand Canyn to Las Vegas: Las Vegas to Zion

April 25th Day 37. Vegas After our South Rim summit, marking the end of the AZT for us, I celebrated in the same way I usually do when reaching civilisation after any amount of time away: We walked from our finish point back to the hiker biker campground and on route, bumped into My Best […]

Section 7: Pine to Sedona: Sedona to Grand Canyon

***prewarning, this is a long post, you’ll require comfortable seating and hot beverage*** April 17th. Day 27. Sedona Snakes and I made another salad for breakfast, the appeal of American breakfast wore off quickly on this visit and all we’re craving is fresh salad and vegetables when we’re off trail. Like the hippies we are. […]

The AZT: Section 6: Payson to Pine

April 11th: Day 23. Leaving Payson. Hotter than the sun. I checked in with our chai wallah at 7.30am, he sent me this: Then he (Blink) soon arrived with coffee and donuts. We meggeled for a short while then began packing our bits and pieces. Blink had already packed, and, seeing as his pack is […]

The AZT: Section 5: Superior to Payson.

April 4th: Day 16, leaving Superior Our vist to Superior was 10/10. We barely left the wonderful confines of MJ’s cat riddled property. We woke, having slept on the porch around 7am to MJ coming to fill her bird feeders. She proclaimed “Coffee’s ready”. Music to my coffee snob ears. We took our sleeping bags […]

The AZT: Section 4: Kearney to Superior. knees be willing.

April 1st: Day 13: Back on trail, but for how long? We were up and out early today, as we needed to drop the car a full 5 minute drive from our hotel and meet Vicki Grant, who’d kindly agreed to shuttle Sankes and I to the trailhead where she was picking up her injured […]

The AZT Section 3: Vacationizationing

March 28th: Day 9: Pima Air and Space Need I remind you that there is nothing wrong with Snakes whatsoever, but that she follows me off trail, into my sick bed as she took a solemn vow to do so. As her reward, and with our new (what we initially thought was huge but actually compared […]

The AZT: Section 2: Patagonia to Saguaro NP. Creme de la Crap

Patagonia to Mot(h)ell 6 March 22nd: Day 3 continued: Canelo Pass to Patagonia We hiked into Patagonia, our first town stop, my knees were not in a good way. We arrived at Casa del Sol. Trail angel Mary has set up a hiker and biker friendly spot. She provides showers, laundry, loaner clothes a kitchen, […]

The AZT: Section 1: Mexico to Patagonia. I put this moment, here

Mexico border to Patagonia 51 miles. March 18th – Transit (f%^#£g aeroplanes) The last week at home was a rush. I have a natural (annoying) tendancy for moving at 100 mph, but, I do that by choice. I’m not a fan of compulsory unavoidable rushing. However all tasks were completed, my four ‘to-do’ lists were […]

ARIZONA TRAIL GEAR LIST

Gear is a subject I could happily blather on about for quite some time. Self aware enough to know its not everyone’s cup of coffee, I have elected to create a separate post dedicated entirely to those in the nerd. Below is a list of the items which have made it to the final cut. […]

THE ARIZONA TRAIL

800 miles from Mexico to Utah through Arizona The Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT) is an 800 mile (1,300km) long North-South trail, traversing the length of the sate of Arizona. It begins at the Mexican border, and ends at the Utah border. The trail connects deserts, mountains, canyons, wilderness, history, communities, people, and hopefully, more […]

Tour du Mont Blanc – Day 9 – The Finish

Our last day. I was determined to take it slow and not rush. And whole-bodily attempted a lie in. On the trail for 6.50. The best I could do. We hiked initially through sleepy main roads to regain the trail by the wooded River. The first and only flat section of trail on the TMB. […]

Tour du Mont Blanc – Day 8

We departed before any campers were up, except the hardecore ancient Australian lady who had vanished before we rose. The day began with a 931m climb in 5 kilometres, on which there would be a pathetic 10m only, of respite decsent. The sign said 3.5 hours, we were up at the top and breakfasting on […]

Tour du Mont Blanc day 7

We were again practicing the very unnatural un-hurried morning, we stayed for a hearty bready breakfast and left by 7.45. It was raining, and we were to ascend le col de la Seigne back into France. The ascent was more relaxed than yesterday but the wind and rain increased as we gained height. Our waterproofs, […]

Tour du Mont Blanc Day 6

We woke after a night of heavy rain. Blue skies, fresh renewed air, legs and a picturesque view of Chamois grazing out the window greeted us. Magical. The forecasted rain had been pushed back, as it seemed to daily, but the big groups had not changed their plan to reroute, so I think my suspicion […]

Tour du Mont Blanc Day 5

It was blowing an absolute hoooley last night, and had only mellowed slightly by 6am when be began our morning routine. Packed and ready to go before anyone else was up, we scurried off to finish the last 3.4 kilometres of the hill we began yesterday. The mist was low and the inviting mountains of […]

Tour du Mont Blanc Day 4

We woke to an alarm set at 5, by the person in tent next to us and lay listening to a full 45 minutes of loud shuffling, scrunching and muttering as the tents next to us packed up loudly and relentlessly. Eventually we joined in and probably loudly and relentlessly pissed off the people still […]

Tour du Mont Blanc Day 3

We awoke in the sea of tents surrounding us, quietly packed up and escaped with barely anyone noticing. We chugged up the hill and enjoyed a stonking 2 hours of trail to ourselves. A mix of steep, and heanously steep terrain contouring us around the midriff of Le Génépi. We enjoyed the wiff of pine […]

The tour du Mont Blanc Day 2

You’ll be relieved to hear, as will the man in his tent 1 metre from ours, that Snakes’ cough has finally subsided to a level which she can aquire a decent amout of sleep, and therefore, more importantly, so did I. We broke Camp in the dark at 5.30am and left by 6. I stepped […]

Tour du Mont Blanc Day 1

After a horrific nights sleep (Snakes has a consistent covid cough and is therefore awake most of the night and so therefore am I) it turned out Snakes’ alarm won’t go off if her phone is off (like I assured her it would). Which is fortunate as she set it for 5am. We were awake […]

The Tour du Mont Blanc Day 0.5

Our intention was to mosey on over to LesZooosh (Les Houches) a mere 1 hour from our previous accommodations, and camp the night ready for an early start for day one tomorrow. However, having learned the sheer ridiculousness of our first day (steep and long, two things that no one enjoys) and knowing we are […]

The Tour du Mont Blanc: introductions.

The tour du Mont Blanc is a mere 170km circuitous loop around the Mont Blanc massif (massif because they’re big) mountain clump, with Mont Blanc taking centre stage in the middle. It traditionally starts in France and passes through Switzerland and Italy before returning back to the start. It’s one of the most popular and […]

A Bivouac a month – January

Overwhelmed by the inspirational air that flows about around the time of New Year, and underwhelmed by becoming fat, lazy and uninspired, I exclaimed I would complete a bivouac a month for the year. A Bivouac is described by google as : a temporary camp without tents or cover, used especially by soldiers or mountaineers. […]

The West Country Way : Day 7. The end.

Sheeting rain woke us throughout the night. Which I’m grateful for, as the feeling of being warm and dry in your tent while a storm ensues outside is one of my favourites. It continued to rain, hard, throughout the morning. Even a quick wee had you re-entering the tent soaked. We made tea, read, and […]

The West Country Way. Day 6: Bloody Cornhill

As the storm raged outside we were hunkered down in our squishy room with tea and reading materials. The forecast was for rain and winds gusting up to 30mph today. Which I was really pleased about. We decided to follow the 3 until it turns North into Bude and break off onto the inland route […]