Lake District trip - October 2015

The Lake District beckoned, and so I went up there for a couple of days.  It would have been nice to have the best part of a week up there, but the initial good weather was never going to last that long.

Helvellyn (950m) is the third highest mountain in England and the Lake District.  It can be approached from various directions but I chose a nine mile route from Glenridding that follows the shore of Ullswater to Patterdale before a steady ascent to the Striding Edge ridge that leads to the flat summit of Helvellyn.  Setting off just after noon meant arriving at the top shortly after 3 o'clock, and then after another three hours I was back down, walking the last few miles in darkness as tends to happen at this time of year especially once summer time has ended.

Looking up the Grisedale valley

Striding Edge

Helvellyn summit

On Helvellyn, with Skiddaw behind me in the distance

Track of the 9 mile / 6 hour route up Helvellyn via Striding Edge

Looking SW from Latrigg towards misty mountains beyond Derwent Water

Lunar eclipse - 28th September 2015

I took rather a lot of photos late last night of the combined lunar eclipse and super moon, which was quite a rare event.  You can even see a few stars in this frame. 

400mm  f/5.6  1.3s ISO800 

Moon photography

Probably the best moon shot I've ever taken, was this one tonight.

400mm f/5.6  1/125  ISO100

Walking in the Dolomites - Aug/Sept 2015

Had a great walking holiday with Exodus Travels in the Dolomite mountains of northern Italy at the end of August.  We would walk at least ten miles each day, high up into the mountains, over 3000m on one day.  The weather was splendid and the landscape stunning.  

Here is the video I made...

Walking the South Downs Way - Aug 2015

I'd always thought it would be nice to walk the whole 100 miles of the South Downs Way one year. So earlier this August I caught the train to Winchester and started the walk.

  

Logistically, the most straight forward way to walk the South Downs Way is the wild camping way, meaning no need to try and estimate how many miles I'd manage in a day; I could just walk as far as I liked each day until I had decided enough was enough.

Other advantages of the wild camping method are that you camp along the route instead of having to walk miles off course to find B&Bs or camp sites, which are fairly scare anyway.  You also stay closer to nature and get to look up at the stars at night from your sleeping bag, which is nice.

I set off from Winchester's King Alfred statue at 6.30pm and got 7 miles done before camping near Cheriton.  The next day I walked a further 16 miles to Butser Hill, arriving there by 6.30 in the evening.  By now, I was experiencing a pain in my legs that was telling me I needed to stop the walk at this point and finish it off in shorter stages at a later date.  The nearest train station was Petersfield which was another 6 miles, bringing the day's mileage to 22 miles and the first quarter of the South Downs Way completed in 24 hrs. 

Golden fields of wheat on the approach to Old Winchester Hill

Looking SW from Old Winchester Hill

Looking west from Old Winchester Hill

Looking east towards Butser Hill from Old Winchester Hill

Skiing in Les Arcs - Feb 2015

A sea of cloud fills the valley one early evening after the lifts had closed for the day.  There was precious little blue sky during the week, so when it came, moments like this were to be cherished.

On a more dramatic note, I smashed my previous speed record, clocking 63mph this holiday!