A homepage for my hillwalking photos
Gordon and Marianne’s wedding in Sturminster Newton took me down south for the weekend. Ruth and I broke the journey home by visiting the nearby HuMP of Hambledon Hill, and Wiltshire’s two Marilyns, Win Green and Long Knoll.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xdhpwesJeR2E8crH6
Mum and Dad visited for a long weekend. Despite showery weather, we walked in the Peak District both days, heading to Lathkill Dale and Haddon Hall on Saturday and to Stanage Edge on Sunday.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tn3iwAVrxBm9oDCV9
Ruth and I spent the Bank Holiday weekend in eastern Snowdonia. Based at a campsite near Bala, we climbed various obscure Nuttalls and Deweys in the Berwyn and Arenig ranges, encountering lots of heather but very few people! Good weather on the Monday made Rhobell Fawr the undoubted highilight of the trip.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/N7eHji1iAGaPrEyP7
For the second weekend of the trip, I headed south to Saxony with Adam, an English colleague from the RRD office. We hired a car and drove down to Dresden on the Friday night, and explored the city centre on Saturday morning. Then we headed into the nearby Sächsische Schweiz National Park, in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, where we spent the afternoon visiting the hilltop fortress of Festung Königstein. On Sunday we went for a walk from Bad Schandau to Schmilka through the mountains, made a brief foray into the Czech Republic, and finally visited Bastei to see the famous bridge. An excellent, varied weekend!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/k8oEm9UY9tPvKHeo7
I broadened my horizons on the Sunday with a day-trip to the state of Saxony-Anhalt, west of Berlin and Brandenburg. A few hours’ train journey took me to the pretty medieval town of Quedlinburg and the impressive gorge of Bodetal, in the Harz mountains.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vuBd7CKiyb5gbt1Q6
A second three-week trip to Rolls-Royce Deutschland gave me a couple more free weekends in Germany. On the first Saturday, I visited a few more sights in Berlin.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eVZ1qw6w9XLDqR1j6
As usual, I headed to the Highlands for the long Easter weekend. An awesome few days in the hills with sunshine every day, snow on the high ground, and probably the best air clarity I’ve seen in Scotland. Hills were mainly chosen based on the others’ bagging needs this time, but I did tick off a couple of new Corbetts and a Munro Top!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8Demd1aUrqz5dVVaA
I went on a three-week business trip to Rolls-Royce Deutschland to provide Thermals support for a new engine being developed there. I made the most of the two weekends to explore most of well-known landmarks in the city and surrounding area.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mTcvu82o3LjBJSN9A
I made my first visit of the year to the Dark Peak, where I enjoyed sunshine all day for a circuit from Ladybower Reservoir. I started on the familiar ridge of Derwent Edge, then looped back round to the east to explore some of the hills around Bradfield Dale.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2uH1R6y3Vu1S8K4E9
Mum and Dad visited for the weekend. On the Saturday, we walked in the Manifold and Dove valleys, starting in Ilam.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7dWq6wGAzDNM2TCY8
For today’s local walk in the White Peak, I started in Winster and did a circuit to the northwest, including Stanton Moor, Lathkill Dale and Robin Hood’s Stride. A good cloud inversion in the Derwent Valley lasted most of the morning, and the sun shone most of the day. At 36km, this was my longest walk in almost a year.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8Vyu2TPYkbpBpuYGA
I joined CUHWC for a weekend in Eskdale, staying once again at the Eskdale Centre near Boot. On Saturday, I did a snowy horseshoe of Bowfell, Esk Pike and Scafell Pike from Brotherilkeld. On Sunday, I opted for a shorter, lower-level walk to tick off the nearby Marilyn of Muncaster Fell.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eFHNingoR3y67NSj6
I visited Ruth in Carnforth for the weekend. On Saturday, we enjoyed sunshine, superb visibility and well-frozen ground for our walk in the North Pennines from Dufton. Sunday, in constrast, was rather grey and windy, so we opted for two short walks up outlying Marilyns of the Forest of Bowland: Longridge Fell and Easington Fell.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZgwNLVzBhzpxdhJQ8
Finding myself with an empty diary for the weekend, I made an impromptu trip to Shropshire to tick off a few Marilyns, staying at Wilderhope Manor youth hostel. Saturday’s walk took in the Clee Hills, with snow on the tops, and Sunday’s visited a few lower hills around Craven Arms.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kJuRojn1ZYmh7uhc7
This year’s Duffers’ New Year trip was to Kingussie, where fifteen of us rented a spacious and comfortable ‘cottage’, the former posthouse. This proved to be an excellent base for walks in the Cairngorms and Monadhliath, and we managed to reach a summit every day, despite strong winds all week. A few of us spent a couple of days in Aviemore before the main trip started. I ticked off three new Munros (281 down, 1 to go!) plus five that I’d done before, two Corbetts and two smaller Marilyns, plus a few Tops.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fTRksb68RZLBXV9NA
David Pettit's photo blog 