A homepage for my hillwalking photos
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
I visited Ruth in Carnforth for the weekend. On Saturday, we headed to Wharfedale, in the Yorkshire Dales, for a snowy round of Great Whernside, Buckden Pike and Birks Fell. Sunday’s shorter walk was from Longsleddale, in the SE Lakes, taking in my final two Lake District Nuttalls.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mNqWybDaP5AuvfMb9
Today’s local walk started at the Cat and Fiddle Inn, between Buxton and Macclesfield, and explored some of the minor summits to the west and north: an area I had barely previously visited. A decent day out, though the weather was not as amazing as forecast.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rL6RYJG4FEjgwmFQ9
On the way back from a weekend in Saltash, Ruth and I broke the journey north by visiting a couple of Marilyns near our route up the M5: Christ Cross, near Collumpton, and Staple Hill, the highest point of the Blackdown Hills.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vM8DifyZEieDHVTR8
I joined CUHWC for their weekend trip to Snowdonia, staying near Capel Curig (though I opted for the youth hostel at Betws-y-Coed). Despite showers on Saturday and low cloud on Sunday, I enjoyed two good walks, on the northern Moelwynion with Peter and on the southern Carneddau with Dave and Jo.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FJkf2zDKiZrhfdpM8
DC organised a well-attended Duffers’ weekend on Dartmoor, staying in a comfy bunkhouse just outside the National Park at Galford Springs. We had reasonable weather both days, with sunny spells and just the occasional shower, which allowed for two pleasant horseshoe walks: from Meldon around the West Okement valley, and from Belstone around the Taw valley.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oAvB6XiHPyGdN5bc9
I spent a long weekend in the Southern Highlands. My rather complex itinerary comprised a weekend in Glen Etive (with Alison, and variously joined by Will, Peter and Alex!), followed by dinner in Edinburgh on Sunday evening, and some solo Munro-ticking on Ben Lawers and Ben Lomond on Monday and Tuesday.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/sU6VmhHnEnMnWxuK7
We enjoyed sunny spells rather than the customary drizzle for my tenth CUHWC Edale Trip. As has become traditional, a few of us parked in Hayfield and walked briskly over to Edale first thing, and I joined one of the club groups for a more leisurely and scenic route back to Hayfield via the Kinder plateau.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/McikzMdkYV53GAEBA
As usual, Ruth visited me for the weekend of the CUHWC Edale trip. On the Saturday, we walked in the central Peak District. Our varied route from Pilsley took in Eyam, Sir William Hill, Froggatt Edge and Chatsworth Park, in varied weather!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FRAcGEfxwbo1C5up8
Today’s short morning walk was in the Derwent Valley near Matlock. Starting at Lea Bridge, my route took in Bow Wood, the subHuMP of Bilberry Knoll, and a section of the Cromford Canal.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nLFmzANyrd1zzKso6
Before returning to Derby, I joined my parents for the first couple of days of their short break on the Somerset coast, staying near Watchet. This enabled me to tick off the four nearby Marilyns: one on the Quantocks and three in Exmoor National Park.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/uCweYq1qDeR1b9Ji9
I visited my parents in Cornwall for a long weekend. We took advantage of good weather for a couple of walks on Dartmoor: to Beardown and Higher White Tors from Two Bridges, and to Fur Tor and Cut Hill via Tavy Cleave.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QeGbYHm2cH9AQBHr9
As part of her holiday in England, Emily organised a Duffers’ weekend in the Lake District, staying at Ambleside Backpackers’ hostel. Except for a little low cloud first thing on the Saturday, we had excellent weather for our walks from Grasmere up to the Langdale Pikes, and from Ambleside up Loughrigg Fell.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FLAnS7U9wqTNhMGU7
For the final three days of the trip, we moved south to Glen Shiel (for the three Munros on the North Ridge which Ruth needed, plus a bonus Corbett), and then Loch Quoich (for an excellent horseshoe around Coire Reidh to Sgurr na Sgine from Kinloch Hourn in the best weather of the trip, and a quick bag of Sgurr a’ Mhaoraich in the worst!). All in all, another great week in the Highlands, ticking off another twelve new Munros and five Corbetts for me. Only ten Munros to go!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZHQfDc7EPGyUZ5ye9
We then spent a couple of days in Glen Carron, ticking off three Munros and two very fine Corbetts to the north of the valley. Again, the cloud cleared the tops enough of the time to show us most of the views on offer.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hqYJye4W1dpJdPn57
Ruth and I spent a week in the Highlands, bagging some of our remaining Munros, plus a few Munro Tops and Corbetts. We spent the first three days in the Cairngorms, doing a day walk to Driesh and Mayar and a two-day bothy trip from Linn of Dee to Cairn Toul (and surrounding peaks). The summits were mostly cloud-free, and the superb visibility gave some fabulous views that more than made up for the odd shower!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AeZi4ZzbBGd58wfq8
The Peak District felt a bit of an anticlimax so soon after returning from Corsica and the GR20, but the good weather nevertheless made for a pleasant circuit north from Hayfield. I ticked off three new P30s around Glossop, and Doctor’s Gate was also new terrain for me.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mJ5BhfEYu5UXvaHW9
This year’s main summer holiday was to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, where six of us from CUHWC tackled the famous ‘GR20’, regarded as Europe’s toughest trail. For extra challenge, we completed the route in twelve days rather than the standard fifteen, taking all the high-level variants and adding ascents of Corsica’s three highest peaks along the way! An awesome fortnight, with great company and truly spectacular scenery from start to finish.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yEmCxbKJCNcvkwTu9
David Pettit's photo blog 