A bit of poetry nonsense from a day in the life of a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition trainer. I’m sure a few folk can relate to some of the scenarios… Checkpoint Charlie – He sits…. He Waits…. The Checkpoint – Expedition Hunting Are they lost? Got blistered feet? They’re not here; where we said we’d Read more

After a very windy night, I was glad to wake up to still calm conditions. I had to get up in the night to put in some extra tent pegs, for fear of damage to the tent. And for a while, I kept getting woken up by gusts of wind that would flatten the flysheet Read more

I’m camped up on the hilltops above Conwy tonight! It’s a magical spot that overlooks the estuary as well as out to sea and across to Anglesey. After leaving my group after dark, I pitched my tent on a summit and lay out in my sleeping bag watching shooting stars. I saw three really clear Read more

“Arduous walking conditions and drenching periods of heavy rain” were the words of the weather forecast! Not a promising opener for the planning of my day of mountain walking.  It sounded bad. Really bad for a day in the mountains, but if you are used to regularly reading the forecast for a particular area, you Read more

As part of an international whirlwind tour from Vancouver, my good friend Daragh stopped by The Cottage, via Dublin, to see us and hang out for a few nights. Going out on a mountain walk together is a grand way to chat about what’s been going on and hear each others news, while getting a Read more

In the gloom of the morning, my stutents and I made a very slippery ascent of a damp slate climb called Equinox (VS, 4c). Despite the low clouds, psych was high for more outdoor climbing, but when it started actually raining quite heavily, we had to conclude that it was time to head indoors! The Read more