Summer Catch-up

With a major change of lifestyle occurring over the last couple of months - a new girlfriend (Jane), one-and-a-half extra children, new pets and new responsibilities - I've unfortunately had little chance to do any serious walking despite my new 'better half' loving it.

Here's a catch-up on what I, or we've been up to:

Tenerife
I had two weeks at the end of July in Tenerife where I basically sunbathed and ate continuously. Aside from four very early morning jogs I did very little else - even at 5am I'd have sweat running into my eyes it was so warm. However whilst there I picked up one solitary Geocache just to get one in that country; I actually walked by quite a few others but with the kids, the heat and the muggles I simply didn't have the interest to try harder.

Hope - 13/08/2012
Jane had a few days off so I also took the Monday and drove to Hope where I showed her the "Plummer Circular" - the walk I did back on 12/04/2012 with Chris from work. This is a ten mile walk up Win Hill, across to Hope Cross, down and up to Back Tor and Lose Hill. Jane even talked me into finding the cache on Back Tor that had been bugging me for ages because it was a fair way off the track - and this from someone who has absolutely zero interest in caching!

Messing about along the top from Win Hill to Hope Cross I was jokingly skipping with happiness (who says you have to grow up?) and I twisted my ankle (OK, my body's aged even if my brain hasn't) which spoiled the second half of the walk a bit, but aside from that we had a fabulous day out; perfect weather and perfect company.

Coxley Valley - 18/08/2012
Off to Overton for MikeG's Yorkshire International Geocaching event. It was good to meet everyone I'd not seen for ages and while we were there we did half of his new series; we bailed out after only doing a total of 3 miles as we had to get back in time for our allocated food time-slot.

A lovely afternoon, great food, fabulous weather and bountiful good company.

Wharncliffe Crags - 27/08/2012
Bank Holiday so we left all the kids we had at home to fuel their technology addictions and just took the dog on a long walk around both parts of Wharncliffe Woods & Crags. A great 9.3 mile walk with lots of chat and time to enjoy the views. Life doesn't get much better.

Froggatt Edge - 02/09/2012
Taking Jane to another place she's never visited we parked on the A625 and walked 6.1 miles anti-clockwise around Froggatt Edge. I knew I'd been here before but I didn't remember a second of it - likely because my last visit here was the first outing with Patrick and Donna and we probably talked the whole way round.   We're doing ever so well with the weather lately and that, coupled with the great views and fresh air, make for yet another truly amazing day out with the most perfect companion I could hope for.

Blog catch-up

I've been negligent lately so here's a brief summary.

02/04/2012 - Did the Cawthorne Christmas Coroborree series with the kids, my mum, my sister, my brother-in-law and their dog. The weather was excellent and we all enjoyed a lovely 6 mile walk through the countryside before ending up at a pub for some quality food.

09/04/2012 - Good Friday. Drove to a car park near Derwent Reservoir and did a long circular route around the bottom east/west leg of the dam. Shocked upon arrival by the remaining snow which had fallen a couple of days earlier and we'd forgotten all about, we crossed the dam wall and headed directly up Win Hill which was seriously tough going and had my good friend Paul putting me to shame. Once at the top we headed NW along to the Hope Cross, then North down the hill, over the A57 and back up past Hagg Farm before turning SE towards Crook Hill. The path doesn't go to the actual summits but we detoured off to visit all three before descending back down to the A57 and a final disappointing mile along the roads back to the car. 10.2 miles total and a fab day out.

12/04/2012 - Easter Monday. Paul and I were picked up by Chris from work at a shocking 7am for a drive to Hope. Here we did Chris' favourite walking route which involved ascending Win Hill (again - but a different route), then the same route over to Hope Cross before turning South-West towards the bottom of Jagger's Clough and down to Nether Booth. We followed the road for about half a mile before turning up the steep climb to Back Tor and then the steady ascent up to Lose Hill. (Win Hill/Lose Hill - it's all historical you know!) From here a long and steady descent back to Hope. Drizzle most of the walk but very refreshing and great company. Another 10.1 miles walked and back home for mid-day!