We entered the Derbyshire 6 Dales Challenge last summer with a group of friends. John came across it and thought it'd be a good one... a 26 mile (42k) run or walk through Biggin Dale, Wolfscote Dale, Beresford Dale, Lathkill Dale, Bradford Dale and Long Dale, with not too much ascent... a welcome change after last... Continue Reading →
My Welsh 3000s challenge: an epic adventure
The bottom line is I failed to complete the challenge. I didn't climb all of the 15 peaks in Snowdonia that are over 3000 feet (about 1000 metres), and make up the Welsh 3000s, I only climbed 10. An impulse decision meant I missed a whole section, covering 5 peaks, including my favourite, Tryfan. However,... Continue Reading →
Llangollen Round running challenge: trials and tribulations
What a day! I spent most of it unsure whether I'd complete the full 33 miles or not, swinging from lows when my whole body ached and my mind wanted nothing more than to give in, to highs when I was loving it and determined to finish. The scenery was stunning; the weather was perfect... Continue Reading →
Nervous excitement
That's what I'm feeling today. I woke early, at about 5.30, and lay there thinking about the challenge ahead of me tomorrow, wondering whether I'll manage it. 33 miles of ascents and descents. And if I don't do it, does that mean the Welsh 3000s is off? I'm having a busy day so that's stopped... Continue Reading →
The challenges begin
I'm nervous... very nervous. I feel woefully underprepared for the challenges I've booked to take part in over the next few months, the first being the Llangollen Round on Saturday... a  guided challenge along a 33 mile trail in the hills around Llangollen and the River Dee, with 5300 feet of ascent. We did the... Continue Reading →
Wednesday 9th August: Alexander Enzinger-Weg… an excellent ridge walk
We got up early, had our cinnamon rolls and a coffee and then set off to catch the bus up the valley to the cable car station. Here we cheated and got 2 lifts up to the foot of Kitzsteinhorn, a 3200m high mountain, which is covered in glaciers.The cloud was down all the way... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 8th August: Relaxing around Kaprun
We had a lazy day today, intending to recover from yesterday's hike and make plans for our week in Kaprun. We woke fairly early but didn't rush to get up, reading and drinking tea in bed. We then had breakfast in the sunshine before finding the footpath along the river into the town.It didn't take... Continue Reading →
Monday 7th August: Krimml Waterfalls and Tauernhaus
We slept until 8.00 today then John woke me up, wanting to beat the Germans to the waterfall! We were the first campervan in the parking area, so we did ok! The day ended up being quite a long because we ended up hiking 24k with 670m of ascent.The waterfall drops 380m over 3 levels,... Continue Reading →
Austrian adventures
I have a new camera and a new iPad so I thought I'd better do a practice blog to make sure everything will work ok once we hit the road. Good job I did. I took a few pictures of the van, no problem, but when I came to upload them to the iPad, of... Continue Reading →
7th August: Ubaye Trail Salomon race
Today was race day. We woke early, partly because the marshals seemed to be meeting where we'd parked, before heading off to their checkpoints, partly because of pre race nerves. The marathon started at 8.00 and the half marathon at started 9.00, shortly before our 12k at 9.10. We were very apprehensive because this was... Continue Reading →