I spent Easter weekend in the southern Cairngorms, bagging a few new Munro Tops and Corbetts, and re-visiting a few Munros.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XcT2zhhvQnBbYviA9
Angus and Braemar (14th-18th April 2017)
Category: Old Duffers
Lake District (24th-26th March 2017)
With a sunny forecast, I made an impromptu weekend trip to the Lake District. On the Saturday, I joined Andrena and Ruth for a long, snowy ridge walk along the Eastern Fells from Ambleside to St John’s in the Vale. On the Sunday, I walked solo from Langdale.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tfqaZdNUGDwN9Ac86
Black Forest and Swizterland (15th-19th March 2017)
I visited Alex and Ausma for another excellent long weekend, spending a day walking in the Black Forest then three days walking and snowshoeing in the Swiss Alps, based in Küblis.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9XjZKNESAyDagxwBA
Visiting Dave and Jo in Skipton (17th-19th February 2017)
I visited Dave and Jo in Skipton for the weekend, taking the opportunity to bag three of their nearby Marilyns: Sharp Haw, Ilkley Moor and Boulsworth Hill.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y8JWNjG2H16Crgex9
Visiting Ian and Emma in Kendal (10th-12th February 2017)
I visited Ian and Emma in Kendal for the weekend. We walked on the Coniston Fells (from Dunnerdale) on the Saturday and on Wansfell on the Sunday morning. I also had time to bag the Marilyn of Claife Heights before heading home.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/e4YpT12gXWCUZntw5
Mull (27th December 2016 – 3rd January 2017)
This year’s Youngish Duffers’ New Year Trip went across the sea to the Isle of Mull, where we stayed in the comfortable Salen Pier House. Reasonable weather, for the most part, allowed me to visit eight of the island’s nine peaks over 2000ft.
https://goo.gl/photos/URaEP3mHhYtEz3Bs7
Dave and Jo’s wedding (15th-16th October 2016)
Along with lots of other Old Duffers, I attended Dave and Jo’s wedding weekend at Coniston Coppermines. Poor weather did nothing to dampen spirits!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rzMktEL5PfvgNpbXA
Wharfedale (30th September – 2nd October 2016)
The Duffers convened in Wharfedale to celebrate Marianne’s 30th birthday, staying in a bunkhouse in Hubberholme. I enjoyed a long-ish walk on Bucken Pike and Great Whernside on Saturday, and a much shorter one on Cocklee Fell on Sunday morning.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/o9svkcoW36DBzEVA8
Dartmoor (15th-18th September 2016)
Alex P and I spent a long weekend backpacking on Dartmoor. Our four-day, 109km route from Okehampton took in many of the wilder parts of the moor and well-known tors, as well as the Duck’s Pool and Cranmere Pool letterbox memorials.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yDXxpGmn524Vypd39
Arolla (12th-15th August 2016)
For the second part of the holiday, we relocated to Arolla in the Swiss Valais Alps. Alex T joined us for a long weekend of easy mountaineering based at the Cabane des Dix, with Mont Blanc de Cheilon being the undoubted highlight.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JCEUa5UWWPfSuuRK8
Buttermere (24th-26th June 2016)
The Duffers congregated in Buttermere for Ruth’s slightly belated 30th birthday weekend. The weather stayed mostly dry for good walks around the Buttermere skyline and on the Loweswater Fells.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ys5VEbUCnpeXHosE9
Nuttall completion trip to Snowdonia (29th April – 2nd May 2016)
Some of the Duffers joined me for a typically wet Bank Holiday weekend in Snowdonia, camping by Llyn Gwynant. We did three fairly short walks: up Y Lliwedd on Saturday, to complete my Nuttalls on Mynydd Mawr on Sunday, and up the Great Orme from Llandudno on Monday.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8gfUHJumB4RwMz959
North Downs and London (16th-17th April 2016)
I and a few other Duffers visited Alex and Caroline in Ewell (outer London) for the weekend. We walked on the North Downs on Saturday, and headed into London Sunday.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/aWYvRkzGAgq8veNR6
The Outer Banks, North Carolina (1st-3rd April 2016)
Our trip to the States culminated in Emily and Chris’ wedding, which was held at Sanderling Resort, Duck. This unusual location is on a long sandbank a few miles off the Atlantic coast, known as the Outer Banks. Before the wedding, we explored a little, visiting the site of the Wright Brothers’ first powered flights at Kitty Hawk, and some sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GadDKJiN2SkzBVue6
Washington DC (26th March 2016)
Ruth and I spent ten days in the USA in the run up to Emily and Chris’ wedding in North Carolina. We started with a couple of nights in Washington DC, where Emily and Chris met us to show us the sights around the Tidal Basin (particularly spectacular with the cherry trees in full bloom) and National Mall.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qP9YxnEfHsf7vKrf6
Warwickshire (27th-28th February 2016)
Tom and Helen hosted a Duffers’ weekend in Warwickshire, with a visit to Stratford to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the RST on Saturday, and a walk from Alcester on Sunday.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/65hut3x61FXDE5VeA
Chester-le-Street (5th-7th February 2016)
I visited Ian and Emma in Chester-le-Street for the weekend. On the Saturday, we headed into Northumberland for a drizzly walk on Tosson Hill and Simonside. On the Sunday morning, we opted for a shorter stroll from ‘home’ onto Waldridge Fell. I broke the journey home with a walk in the East Yorkshire Wolds to tick off another Marilyn.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/z26sCpkXGyAAVniS9
Kingussie (28th December 2015 – 4th January 2016)
For this year’s Duffers’ New Year trip we returned to the Post House in Kingussie, where we had previously stayed three years ago. We managed a few good walks in the Drumochter Hills and Monadhliath despite the usual damp, windy weather!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ecRP7nazkfUWV6RT9
Alex and Caroline’s wedding (28th-29th November 2015)
Alex and Caroline were married in St Vincent’s Church, Burton-by-Lincoln, followed by a reception at Lincoln’s County Assembly Rooms. The following morning, a few of us went for a short stroll around the city.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3WrwBMwoe6CDAq988
Alex P’s stag weekend (13th-15th November 2015
As Alex P had asked me to be his Best Man, it was incumbent on me to organise a Stag Do. We spent the weekend in the Yorkshire Dales, where we went caving near Ribblehead and for a walk above Littondale.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DfpPgD9GJgXoQR3v8
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