Aldbourne Circular Video

Our latest walk, the write up will follow but here is the video.

Happy watching.

The music is by DUDELDRUM and can be found here.

Thames Path - Richmond to Hammersmith

Yawn, got up too late, had to curtail the distance so as to meet friends.

8 miles, 3.7 miles an hour average speed. Fairly dull walking.

Biscuits

Or words to that effect.

I was supposed to go on a 50km walk with some friends today. Alas I'm at home, coughing and spluttering; catching up on dvds and books. Don't get me wrong I like books and dvds, albeit without the nose blowing and the falling asleep but I'd been looking forward to that walk for a while now. And to be beaten by a cold, well, its as boring as some of the books I've discarded after the second chapter today.

That's not to say that there hasn't been some funny moments, I mean someone had to tell me that the 6 nations had started, someone else told me on Thursday it was supposed to snow that day otherwise that would have been a bit of a surprise. hmm anyway I need more hot chocolate and to go snuggle up with a good book.

There will be other walks...

Training in Bishop's Stortford with "Are We There Yet? 1, 2 & 3"

15 miles, 5 hours

The lovely ladies of teams "Are We There Yet? 1, 2 and 3" answered my plea for training buddies a little bit nearer to Cambridge, so I met them at 6 am at the Village Hall in Birchanger. Wrapped up warm and with head torches lit, we headed out into the darkness for a very brisk, flat walk. 7.5 miles out, (...break for chocolate...) 7.5 miles back. The round trip took us 5 hours. Job done!

Snowdon

Like Medusa, I also decided to set off without the rest of the team. However my journey was not alone but with other friends, they'd had the marvellous idea of walking up Snowdon. Great I thought, that'll be great practice of walking up and down hill, plus I may have new material (jokes/insults) for the next time the team walk together. I also thought I could recycle the jokes I had but found I still got the same groans, somethings never change.

So off we set from Llanberis heading towards the ranger path. The first bit of ice was quickly found at the first stile however the crampons were kept in their bag the next time we set foot on snow/ice would be when we got on the ranger path a couple of hours later.

After a quick stop for a sarnie and a brew (this team brew en-route - warning fellow OUCHers we may have just been out-geeked here). Also after the last team hike it was nice to actually be able to see your food, actually scrub that thought who really needs to see a jam sandwich?

The mountain beckoned as soon we were in the snow. Snow angels were discussed but after the first not so soft landing one was decided to be the ideal number. This was a little unfortunate really since everywhere else the snow was so fine and powdery we couldn't even make snowballs.

Mnemosyne clearly unaccustomed to such continuous assents was thoroughly grateful when the top was finally reached. She skipped out on the last dozen steps to the trig point, promising to run up the stairs an extra time when back at the hostel (well it was more of a walk than a run).

Now it was time to head down the mountain via the Llanberis path. The views were lovely there were pretty icicles (but not enough for ice climbing (well if you have an ice axe and crampons...)) and the air force were training in area so there was plenty of opportunities for photos.

By the time dusk was falling we were back in Llanberis, a little tired but ready for the next stop, the pub!

Hexton Hills - The Return

12 miles - 5 and 1/2 hours (...ish)

Seeing as the navigation managed to baffle me when we tried this route as a team, I felt I had some unfinished business, so on the first weekend of January, I decided to have another shot at it. As the rest of the team usually train in the Abingdon area whilst I live in Cambridgeshire and we only all get to meet up about once a month, this was going to be a solo expedition. It also meant that I left a bit later than previously, as obviously there was no rush and I wasn't in any danger of keeping anyone waiting.

The first section of the walk was easy and I quickly ticked off the first of the hills in the Barton Nature Reserve. When I came to the place where it had all gone horribly wrong before, I made sure I followed what the compass was telling me and headed south. This time the map, compass and walk directions all stayed in agreement and I was able to relax and enjoy things much more, especially when I finally found the real Barton Farm and, more importantly, the next small footpath leading up to Galley Hill.

Heading south.....

....and getting it right this time!

Slowly, I made it up one hill after another: Galley(186m), Warden(195m), and Telegraph(184m). There were some terrific views of Northamptonshire and even Luton along the way. Over a very late lunch, I got chatting to another walker who was training for a trek up Kilimanjiro in a few weeks. He was carrying what looked like a heavy pack but his pace was impressive when we got walking, so I let him speed on whilst wondering if a Cornish pasty was really the right choice of high energy food.

Galley Hill

By mile 10, my feet were beginning to hurt and I was missing the rest of the team, who would normally keep me distracted. I can see why Trailwalker is a team event as the route passes much quicker when you're chatting to (or taking the Mick out of...) someone.

Dusk began to fall as I made my way to Deacon Hill (172m), the final hill for this route, (should have left earlier!) but I still managed to catch the satisfying views across the area I had just walked before the sun set properly. I did begin to think that I had messed up the navigation again, missing the peak of Deacon Hill, and was resigning myself to heading back to the car when I came across one more climb that looked worth doing. The peak was not visible at first but slowly, out of the darkness, I began to make out the shape of a trig point and I was able to finish the day with all the peaks on the route ticked off.

Trig point at Deacon Hill.

(Don't worry Dad! It wasn't as dark as the photo suggests!)

If anyone's interested, here is a link to the walk description I used for this walk: Hexton Hills