Since November, a large proportion of my time outdoors has been spent in a kayak with my friend Kate as we train for our world first expedition in April. However, much as I am loving all this time on the water, seeing photos of snowy hills across the UK populating my social media feeds – and not getting to … Continue reading Under a Stormy Sky: An adventure in the Lakes
Happy New Year! You may have noticed that things have been seemingly rather quiet for me over the last few months. I can assure you that that has not been the case… Quite the opposite in fact! I’ve been busy researching, planning and training for my next mega adventure: Kayaking the Continent Towards the end … Continue reading Kayaking the Continent
Thwack thwack thwack thwack. Our feet pounded against the floor of the airport as we raced through it, oblivious to the stares of the other travellers as we barged our way past. My small rucksack, containing only the essential passports and boarding passes, smacked against my back as we ran. Everything else we needed for … Continue reading Arctic Norway a.k.a “The One That Went Wrong”
I remember reading years ago about how, as you approach the Sahara Desert, the whole horizon is occupied by what seems to be a never-ending range of mountains which loom out of the ground in all their burnt amber glory. Ever since reading about them, I have dreamt about the dunes of orange sand that … Continue reading Sun and stars in the Sahara
“Only another fifteen minutes to the top,” Youssef said encouragingly, seeing our weary expressions and sweaty, glistening faces. I breathed in deeply, the altitude making it hard for my lungs to get enough oxygen. As I inhaled, I looked around, marvelling at the sharp ridges of craggy rock that fanned out below me before disappearing … Continue reading Mountains and mint tea: a Moroccan adventure
As the sun sets on a glorious and uncharacteristically warm Saturday evening in April, what would you find the majority of the English population doing? Probably lounging in their garden, cremating some food on the barbeque, fetching more chilled beers from the fridge… What was I doing? Sitting alone on a hill in Oxfordshire, enveloped … Continue reading A Night Under the Stars (aka my first bivvy adventure)
“Stick your axe out! Stick your axe out!” I could barely make out Mungo’s words before they were whipped away by the near gale-force winds. I was on my back skidding down the side of a snow-covered Scottish mountain towards the boulders at the bottom of the valley… Head first. Using all my will-power to … Continue reading A Scottish Winter Weekender
I'm going to get this ball rolling with a confession. Or several, to be precise. First up: I haven't quite lived up to my promise of monthly adventures alongside my new full-time job. I set myself this challenge before actually starting the job, before fully realising how much of an adjustment working 9-5 was going … Continue reading The Inaugural “Wild Weeknight”
At the start of the year, I wrote a To Do list of things I wanted to achieve this year. Already ticked off include ‘Graduating’ and ‘Read more books’, and it looks like I can now tick off ‘Walk the Kungsleden’. That’s right: my final week on this sensational route has come to an end! … Continue reading Kungsleden Part 6: All good things must come to an end
The theme of the last four days has been fog, rain and wet ground - not dissimilar to the section I wrote about in my last blog! I've mainly been covering low mountain terrain, made up of now very familiar birch forests, giving way to open plateaux once I've climbed above the treeline (a daily … Continue reading Kungsleden Part 5: Alone in the wilderness
