A homepage for my hillwalking photos
This year’s pre-May Week camping trip went to Langdale. On the Saturday, I joined Michael for his final three Wainwrights, finishing on Pike of Blisco. Then from Sunday till Wednesday a few of us extended the trip for an expedition through Wasdale, Ennerdale, Buttermere and Newlands, staying in camping barns. This allowed me to complete my Western Fells, increasing my Wainwright total to 210 – only four to go!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Djb1Nkhih6Huk86N7
Just a handful of photos from a wet day’s walking near Church Stretton, in Shropshire. My route took in Carding Mill Valley, Pole Bank, Ashes Hollow and Ragleth Hill.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XThqHtE18bXSFYqbA
I took a few days off revision to go walking in the Lake District with Michael. We camped at Side Farm near Patterdale village, except for one night wild-camping near Haweswater Reservoir. We were very pleasantly surprised by the predominantly dry and sunny April weather, which was ideal for camping and for some fantastic walks! It wasn’t an efficient bagging trip for me (having bagged most of the surrounding fells on the Glenridding trip last June!) but I did tick off five more Wainwrights to complete the Far Eastern and Eastern Fells. 200 down, 14 to go!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CS3Z9H2e3mVKifF79
The final weekend trip of Lent Term was to Coniston, staying in the Coppermines valley. The weather was drizzly and blustery for the most part (but that was better than the persistent rain and gales that had been forecast!). That didn’t stop us from doing some substantial walks though, and I managed to bag another twelve nearby Wainwrights, taking my total to 195!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UWDya7vHbxEsVfz3A
Another weekend hillwalking, this time in the Yorkshire Dales, staying in a bunkhouse in Ribblesdale. On the Saturday, my group walked over Ingleborough and Whernside, and back via Ribblehead Viaduct, in snowy, windy weather, and built a giant snowman on the slopes of Whernside. Sunday’s shorter walk up Pen-y-ghent completed the weekend’s bagging of the Three Peaks!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/64eVmUU5FgBVnqsH7
The first weekend trip of term was to South Snowdonia, staying at the Bryn Hafod hut near Dinas Mawddwy. Saturday’s horseshoe walk from the bunkhouse included Aran Fawddwy, in dry weather but with cloud on the tops. On Sunday we did a shorter linear walk on Maesglase.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fZDL454jV1vRdzbS6
The final stage of our New Year holiday was the Hillwalking Club’s annual trip to Seathwaite, at the head of Borrowdale – my fourth such trip! The walking in surrounding Central, North Western, Western and Southern fells was excellent, as were the evenings in the bunkhouse. By the end of the trip my Wainwright total had reached 183!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cuKumpbjyQ3A8jDr5
We then travelled north to the Lake District to join Mark, Alison, Tom and Michael for a few days around Ambleside before the official club trip to Seathwaite. Despite wet and windy weather at times, we enjoyed walks on the Langdale Pikes, Wansfell and the Fairfield Horseshoe.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nydq9aZ6Dxtox552A
Emily, Alex and DC visited Ruth and me in Saltash over the New Year. We visited Plymouth (including the Mayflower Steps and National Marine Aquarium), the beach at Whitsands Bay, and enjoyed a walk on Dartmoor (for which we were also joined by Will).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/czQjaHZmMD5qYjH16
For the last weekend trip of Michaelmas term, we stayed in the compact but cosy bunkhouse at Causeway Foot, near Keswick. Having read the dismal weather forecast for the weekend, we were surprised to have good weather with many sunny spells and only a few showers! On Saturday I did a long, fast walk including Blencathra and Skiddaw (and everything between those and Longlands Fell!). On Sunday I did two walks, bagging High Rigg with Michael and Alex first thing, and later doing some more Northern Fells, including Blencathra via Sharp Edge. Overall, eighteen Wainwrights, seven of them new for me, taking my total to 168!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zskRrAn9cvNSGW876
The first weekend trip of the year was to the Caseg Fraith bunkhouse in Snowdonia. On the Saturday I did a fairly long walk with lots of scrambling, taking in Tryfan, Bristly Ridge, the Glyders and Y Garn – great fun despite the rain and low cloud! On Sunday the sunny weather was perfect for a circuit of the Snowdon Horseshoe.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/K6dapRgKek11E1WY6
This was my fourth freshers’ trip to Edale in the Peak District (and my last as an undergraduate). Michael and I led a group on a route I hadn’t taken before, ascending Grinds Brook then crossing the Kinder plateau and following its northern edge before descending past the reservoir to Hayfield. I also enjoyed the journey there and half way back in Gordon’s car (before switching to the coach to save him the 20 mile drive from Fen Drayton to Cambridge and back)!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/NLQ8PWi3cePdjWDv9
For this year’s summer trip (well, one of this year’s summer trips!) five of us flew out (and Emily drove) to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Emily’s mum’s Suburban provided spacious, luxurious, 4×4 transportation. After a day in Denver, we visited and camped in Rocky Mountain National Park, the Elk Mountains, and then Leadville. Snow on the ground meant that our walks were a bit different to what we’d planned, but gave lots of fantastic views. Then it decided to snow properly, with two feet falling on the mountains, and a foot in the valleys, over a couple of nights! We therefore moved to warmer accommodation at a condo Emily’s parents had rented in Breckenridge, and did some exciting winter walks including, for four of us, Quandary Peak (a fourteener!).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ew9XwNd4iTxWAXcV8
Ruth and I went for a couple of local walks in preparation for the upcoming trip to Colorado: one on Dartmoor and one on the North Cornwall coast.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/A3mjVWVm48D3yoTaA
A couple of friends from the Hillwalking Club joined me over the bank holiday weekend for two walks in the Dark Peak. On Sunday, I walked with Alex and Simon, doing a long, boggy ridge walk starting and finishing near Howden Reservoir in the upper Derwent valley. On Monday, it was just Alex and me for a walk around Ladybower Reservoir, including more classic Peak District edges.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8JwcJ14anNiCXUjRA
This week’s walk was a circular route from Buxton, exploring some moorland to the west and north of the town. There were some fine views to enjoy and the weather stayed dry despite some ominous-looking clouds!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gER427MTE7CW13zD7
I did another fairly long Saturday walk in the White Peak, this time starting and ending in Bakewell. The highlight was a series of interconnected dales northwest of Bakewell: Deep Dale, Monsal Dale, Upperdale and Cressbrook Dale.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/f7pVtneWMU7mDWDy8
I made a day trip to the Peak District by bus, for a long-ish walk from Buxton to Matlock. My route took me along parts of the Midshires Way and Limestone Way, and passed scenic locations including Deep Dale, Lathkill Dale and Robin Hood’s Stride.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cXXFrZTS5Zhk87Qm7
A few hours after handing in my third-year project reports, I was off to the Lake District for five days of fantastic walking. We stayed in the Gillside Farm bunkhouse in Glenridding, and climbed most of the hills in the surrounding Eastern and Far Eastern Fells, boosting my Wainwright count to 161!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XXP8vkmrjHoPDBJc8
Having finished my exams the previous afternoon, I enjoyed a relaxing day trip to Stiperstones in Shropshire. We walked along the main Stiperstones ridge, returning at lower level and having a pub dinner in Stiperstones village before the journey back to Cambridge.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LwG9SpXfYUc3qXGq6
David Pettit's photo blog 