My final day of this trip which has been good and bad.  The bad being due to my injured hip which prevents me from doing other than only gentle hill walks.  Yet there have been some good days.

So today I did  2 gentle hillwalk before the hip discomfort drove me back inside.   21 tops in total on the trip which is about what I hoped for considering the weather forecast. The mix of hills wasn't what I wanted as due to the storms last week and the injury this week, I have missed some of the harder stuff and been forced to stick with what was easy and near at hand.

Last night the fells were plastered in snow. The clouds had gone before dawn so this morning was idyllic - apart from me struggling to walk.  The picture below shows the River Duddon and a shapely fell called Caw.

I spent yesterday resting and icing my injured hip. Today the sun shone and with snow having fallen overnight on the hills there was no possibility that I was staying in.

But I had to be careful. No rough ground and no steep hills. I could only cope with short walks so after much thought I decided on two low hills in the area around the pretty small town of Broughton in Furness.

My speed was awful. About 1 mile and hour.  I shambled rather than walked but I made it. Two more tops ascended and on the way I saw a herd of 6 deer and watched a buzzard quartering the field I was crossing.

The picture is of Black Combe and is taken from the eastern side of the Duddon Estuary.

Snow fell over night on Sunday, but by 8.30 it had turned to rain.  Underfoot was slush as Graham and I left Seathwaite for Wallbarrow Crag.

The path was flooded and where snow and slush lay, the rocks were slippery.. We made our way along the spectacular gorge. The river was in spate.  The heavy drizzle created misty conditions meaning photos were out of the question which was a pity as we had to make a couple of interesting river crossings  through minor torrents.

Wallbarrow Crag is the home of Rock climbers but not today. Indeed, as usual, we saw nobody. It was quiet enough for us to find very recent otter tracks in the snow who sadly we had probably disturbed.

Annoyingly I hurt my hip badly just before the summit which made for a very uncomfortable descent. Thankfully Graham was a major help in getting me down.

I write this sitting in front of a wood burner in a nice warm lounge, with an ice block on my hip, hoping for a miracle recovery.

Sunday February 22nd 2020

Graham drove down from Edinburgh which meant I could spend more time on the hills as I was driven to and from the start of the route instead of having to walk an extra 5 or 6 miles just getting there.

We walked the hills on the south western part of the Lake District, with Dunnerdale to the east and the Irish Sea to the west. High winds again made walking hard and apart from one fierce hailstorm, it was a dry day.  In the distance snow lay thickly on the high mountains at the head of Wasdale.

We romped over 8 tops in total, including Whitfell which is a Marilyn and at 572 meters, was the highest point of the day.

The picture below is taken approaching or final top of the day Woodend Heights, which overlooks Devoke Water. The Wasdale hills are just visible in the far distance.

The rain stayed away today unlike yesterday's bike ride across the Birker Fell Road. Well, almost stayed away as the strong winds did whip in very heavy hail storms which thankfully were short lived.

The problem today was the gale.  The weather forecasters said the winds reached storm force. They did making walking a major struggle especially along the ridges. Despite this I managed 3 new hills including the ones on the left and right in the picture above, taken in a brief interlude when the sun was out.

Yet again the weather was poor with strong winds and heavy rain.

I did a pre dawn raid on a small hill near to the inn and was out and back before the rai, before daylight and in time for a well earned breakfast.

Later I cycled over the exposed Birker Fell Road which reaches 238 meters as I transferred accommodation from Eskdale to Dunnerdale. A wild wet and windy cycle ride.

The weather improved and , maybe for just one day, the rain stayed away. Well it did so apart from a couple of violent hail storms and a strong wind.

I used the Ravenglass & Eskdale heritage railway to get me to Boot village.

A couple of low hills were ticked off.  England's highest mountains are nearby and were snow capped.  Sadly the highest points remained in low cloud but despite this the views from Boat Howe and Great Howe, were stunning.

It has rained a lot and the ground was sodden.  This caused the paths to be like streams, the streams (becks) to be like rivers, while the rivers were actual torrents.   Wet feet were inevitable!

 I hurried along( well hurried by my standards) and managed to catch the 15.40 return train thereby saving a 5 mile walk. The forecast is poor so it feels a real success to have had at least one good day on this trip.

Drigg Station is quite a contrast to Euston . It wasn't raining at Euston. Unlike Drigg where it was pouring. I biked from Drigg to Eskdale and got wet.  Checked into my room and then walked up Irton Pike and got wetter. But it was satisfying despite the rain, wind and thick mist. Some will question my sanity but I enoyed the feeling of winning something from a bad day.

Hill walking is what I do come rain or shine.

Philippa is flashpacking

Philippa is away on a 4 week trip flash packing through Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.  The first week has seen her facing numerous hurdles, all of which she has managed to overcome, and now she is in Singapore, hopefully she can really start to enjoy the trip.

https://philippaisflashpacking.blogspot.com

Today I start my next series of adventures. Initially I will be in the south west part of the Lake District. Next month I have a mad cap day trip planned, and in late April and the first half of May I will be in the wilds of Galloway in South West Scotland.

Scotland in August 2019

Fiona and Graeme had spent the previous weekend in the Cairngorms. 

  

Sadly Graeme had to return to work in London so I joined Fiona for her second successive weekend in the Scottish hills.

It was good to be back on Scottish Hills.  Initially I spent a couple of days collecting Marilyns and Donalds helped by Graham Nash.  Then I joined Fiona and we climbed Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Chroin, 2 Munros above Lochearnhead.  These are straightforward and enjoyable hills apart from the very boggy path back to Loch Earn from Stuc a'Chroin.

The next day reverted to rain.  We had a challenging 3 hours on Schiehallion in the morning.  Challenging as the rocky ridge was quite slippery due to the conditions.  

Our afternoon was spent bagging tops on lower hills to avoid the mist and before doing so there was time for an excellent bowl of Cullen Skink soup at the Fortingall Hotel after which we tackled Drummond Hill, a Marilyn above Kenmore on Loch Tay.

The approach to Drummond Hill was on easy forest trails.  The kick came at the end as the final part was really tough, crashing through pathless forest in wet, boggy conditions and negotiating some steep slopes while clambering over fallen trees. Oddly all this was very satisfying especially as after a real struggle, we found both tops.

Our final day was in brilliant sunshine picking off a couple of Marilyns above Crieff and Perth and rounding off a five day trip in mixed weather with 16 hills climbed including 11 new ones for me.

This was a trip to dream about. Nearly 4 weeks in the Scottish Hills, mostly in the far north of the country.  All my targets were met.  The weather was mainly very good. I had excellent company for parts of the trip.  I saw amazing wildlife.  On the whole I was in remote places by UK standards, and I loved it.

I write this nearly a week since after returning to London and I am surprised by how tired I am.  The trip obviously took more out of me than I realised.  There were some big days.  On most days the underfoot conditions were rough, and I kept going day after day.  All these factors have combined leaving me physically drained but very satisfied.

And what next?

Well I have a few ideas.  Watch this space....

Thank you everyone who has supported me or followed my progress.

The picture shows me approaching the summit of Ben Stack.

And for my final picture I choose this with Graeme as we survey the Beinn a'Ghlo ridges.

Some statistics

The main objective of the trip was to climb at least 30 Marilyns and thereby take my total of Marilyns above 600 at which point you can apply to enter the Hall of Fame. A Marilyn is a hill with a drop of at least 500 feet on all sides.  I climbed 37 on this trip.

In total I climbed 76 hills during the 26 days I was away. Of these only Ben Hope had been climbed before.  Included in the 76 were 5 Munros, 5 Corbetts and 6 Grahams. 52 of the hills were pathless and remote.

The wildlife in Northern Scotland is amazing. I saw so many things including several golden eagles, a sea eagle, an otter mother and cub feeding, mountain hares, hen harriers, Ptarmigan, an osprey fishing, dottrell, great northern diver, snow buntings, cuckoos, dippers, ravens, geese, seals and of course hundreds of deer.  I even saw 3 zebra but they were inside the zoo as I biked past on my way from the overnight sleeper to home.

Including the journey home, the final figures were 394k walked, 206k biked, and 19,585m of height climbed.  This is well over twice the height of Everest. Most days I saw nobody else on the hills unlike the queues on Everest and even on Snowdon.

And so many people to thank including Fiona, Graeme, Mike, Graham and of course my wife Philippa for her encouragement and support.  Without them and a few others, this trip would not have been possible.

Tuesday May 28th 2019

The final day of the trip and the final hills, one of which was a Marilyn.  Over the next few days I will reflect on the whole trip and post a couple of blogs with my thoughts on the whole experience.

My conclusion to the adventure was a couple of easy hills near to Dingwall, as this was sort of on the way back to Inverness to catch the Caledonian Sleeper Train south.

Hills have a habit of providing the unexpected.  I was using the mountain bike and had nearly reached the first summit when the bike chain snapped and I didn't have the required repair kit. First things first!  I walked to the top of the two summits.

It was about 5 miles back to Dornoch and most of it was downhill which I freewheeled.  Exhilarating!

The second picture shows Ben Wyvis from the final top of the trip.

Distance walked in day 16k. Total distance walked on trip 392k

Distance biked today 9k. Total distance biked on trip 202k

Height climbed today 370m. Total height climbed on trip 19,585m

Marilyns climbed today 1.  Total Marilyns climbed 607.

Monday 27th 2019

I had to put some effort in today as this was the day when back in London Philippa completed her first (and probably last) 10k in a very respectable time.

The Kyle of Lochalsh railway line is often featured in lists of great railway journeys of the World. The rain of yesterday was gone and the tops were clear. The gorse and rhododendrons are in bloom providing a scene to dazzle even the most hardened traveller.

My objective was about 5 miles from Strathcarron Station and for a change, most of the way was on decent tracks. Creag Dubh Mhor maybe small for the region but it is a great hill from where to view the giants which are all around this part of Wester Ross. I enjoyed scrambling up and down the summit of the main hill and a couple of near neighbours and taking in the scenary.

Marilyns climbed 1. Total Marilyns 606

Distance walked today 20k. Total distance walked on trip 376k

Height climbed 800m today. Total height climbed on trip 19,215m

Soakings today - none!

Sunday May 26th 2019. Part 2.

Today was a day for low hills. I caught a train west and walked over a low top to the next station and caught a train back.  The low top was pathless. Moving forward was difficult due to thick undergrowth and underfoot bog. At times scrambling on rocks replaced the bogs. Returning from the summit was no easier. But I did it and most important of all, I really enjoyed the challenge.

The first picture shows the view from the top. The village is Plockton. The second picture looks back from Plockton at the hill. Both show the ongoing rain.

Total Marilyns climbed 605. None climbed today

Distance walked today 11k. Total walked on trip 356k

Height climbed today 390m. Total height climbed on trip 18415m

Distance biked today 10k. Total distance biked on trip 193k

Soakings 2

I am determined not to let the awful weather win so I was away at 4am, soon after dawn. I biked through the forest to the small hill pictured below.  Over the tall gate and up the hill, scattering the deer who had been enjoying a peaceful breakfast.  I was back in my room by 6am feeling that it was one nil to me in the fight against the weather.  Although I have to admit to being very damp when I got back.

Saturday 25th May 2019

Another Marilyn climbed today, after a short hill day on Friday due to the need to ask switch accommodation from Helmsdale to Garve.  Another Marilyn despite the persistent rain and the first midges of the year.

Little Wyvis is a maligned hill, suffering from being next door to the mightly whaleback of a hill called Ben Wyvis. Today it was an ideal target as the clouds which shrouded big brother, only skimmed the top of Little Wyvis.

Marilyns climbed 1
Total Marilyns 605
Distance walked  13k. Total distance walked on trip 345k
Distance biked 8k. Total distance biked on trip 183k
Height climbed 740m. Total height climbed on trip 18,025m

Thursday 23rd May 2019

It was a day of wild weather with high northerly winds, rain and even sleet on the summit.

I used the bike to get to the bottom of the hill. Conditions were calm but this changed as I climbed. The higher I went the rougher were the underfoot conditions.  It was almost impossible to stand up on the tops.  And I loved almost every minute. The sheer challenge of winning a day out when everything says you should not be there.

Distance walked 23k. Total distance walked on trip 319k

Height climbed 760m. Total height climbed on trip 16,850m

Distance biked 15k. Total distance biked on trip 174k

Marilyns climbed 2

Total Marilyns 604

Wednesday May 22nd 2019

Damp and grey is the best way to describe today.  We still managed to fit in a couple of hills including a Marilyn. The day was not wasted but the big mountain challenges were left for another day.

Mick pictured at the top of Braigh na h-Eagalise looking towards a cloud covered Morven.

Distance walked 11k 

Total walked on trip 307k

Height climbed  296m

Total height climbed on trip 16,190m

Marilyns climbed 1

Total Marilyns 602

Morvern is the highest mountain in the county of Caithness.  Mike had driven up from Dunblane to help me with Morvern as the approach is so far off the main road to make it almost impossible without a vehicle.


Although Morvern is not very high, it punches above it's weight and the climb involves crossing some tough country and a very steep climb. The conical shape means it has been on my list to do list for a very long time. Today we climbed it.

Distance walked 16k

Total distance walked on trip 296k

Height climbed 580m

Total height climbed on trip 16,190m

Total Marilyns climbed 601