Stubaital (4th-10th August 2017)

For the remainder of our Alpine holiday, we headed northeast across the Austrian border to Stubaital. Volderau proved a convenient (if very wet in the evening!) base for some very spectacular and varied mountain walks and a couple of days’ mountaineering on Zuckerhütl, Wilder Pfaff and Wilder Freiger.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LqFQKnygSKntx1iS9

Ruth, Emma and Ian at the summit of Zuckerhütl (3507m)

Stelvio National Park (30th July – 3rd August 2017)

For the first few days of this year’s Alpine adventure, we headed to the beautiful Stelvio National Park in the Südtirol region of northern Italy. Based in Trafoi, we enjoyed three day walks to acclimatise and then tackled the easy glaciated peak of Monte Cevedale.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/e4VhbP2UT8ocMoXA9

Il Gran Zebru, from Monte Cevedale

Glen Affric, Glen Shiel and Glen Nevis (27th May – 4th June 2017

With Ruth suffering from a knee injury, much of my trip to the Highlands for Spring Bank Holiday week this year was solo. I therefore opted to focus on collecting some of my unbagged Munro Tops around Glen Affric and Glen Shiel, then relocated to Glen Shiel for the final couple of days to bag Corbetts and Grahams in Glen Suileag and Glen Roy. In the middle of the trip, I met up with Ian and Emma for a wet day on Beinn Fhada and a glorious sunny one on The Saddle.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LbLQYjePCfiPhAoo7

Ian and Emma above the Forcan Ridge and Glen Shiel

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

Sunrise over the Atlantic.

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

Ian, Ruth and Emma in the deciduous forest below Ravens Heugh