My blog
Hikes and other stuff
Day of the Triffids
When I was young I used to go to the cubs. It was like scouts but for the younger kids. Beavers - for the even younger kids - hadn’t been invented yet. Yes, I’m that old. Anyway, there are two main things I remember from my time at cubs. The first was that the jumper...
Cutting corners
Based on the conditions yesterday I was fairly confident I would be taking a different route up through the islands. I didn’t think it would be any longer or shorter, I imagined roughly the same, but would cut out some of the climbs where the paths had become water...
Too early for doubts
I suppose I thought, because there had already been a few issues in even getting up to Scotland and with my health, that once I started my walk everything would fall nicely into place and things would go smoothly. I was slightly disappointed when the weather forecast...
Misplaced lamb
Years ago, when Kian was little, maybe about 5 years old, I lost him in Marks and Spencer. In the post mortem I got most of the blame but he did play his part. He ran off, cut underneath a clothes rail full of clothes, and then disappeared. I’m not sure of the time...
Near disaster
If you look carefully on the plate of food you can see a gap between the sausage and the hash browns. When the breakfast arrived that gap was filled with a little bowl of baked beans. It was my fault as I didn’t read the menu properly so, although slightly shocked by...
That sinking feeling
I’d just got past Bude and was now walking the last couple of miles on the coastal path before I would turn inland to get to a campsite. I’d been wild camping now for three nights in a row, which wasn’t as high as my record on this trip of four, but I was definitely...
Do goats eat people
It was a bit of a scramble to get to the flat bit of ground I’d spotted. There is always a danger when that happens, that when you finally get to the perfect looking spot it turns out to be covered in heather or nettles, or on a slope, but in this case, once I’d...
Apparently sleep is important
It was a good location for a wild camp. The views were incredible and it felt like I really had the best seat in the house. I could see all the way up the coast to Tintagel and also back the way I’d already walked. I knew everyone would be envious of me. Unfortunately...
Who needs a drying room
I’m still convinced that if I’d left my clothes in the youth hostel drying room that they’d have come out more wet than they went in. It was a little unpleasant putting on wet clothes in the morning, but I’m sort of used to that, even when they’re not wet from rain...