Northern Rambler

It's been a while since I last set out for a wild camp. Around six months ago, my friend Alex and I made our way to Buttermere for a wild camp on top of Grassmoor. This time round, our plan was to select a location which would allow us to tick off some Wainwrights on route. But we are also partial to a tarn camp. Alex asked me if there are any worth visiting that we hadn't already done. We have previously visited most of the major ones, like Red Tarn, Scales Tarn and Stickle Tarn. I did initially suggest Bowscale Tarn, but this wasn't ideal for Wainwright bagging. Alex then suggested that if we couldn't think of one, we could always do a trusty favourite like Red Tarn on Helvellyn. I looked at Red Tarn on the OS map, then glanced south, casting my eye on Grisedale Tarn, just south of Dollywagon Pike. Its location would allow us to tick off three new peaks, Nethermost Pike, Dollywagon and Seat Sandal. After looking up some images of the general surroundings, we settled o...

It's been in the pipeline for some time now, but the 2024 cycle tour is on. The plan: a three day cycling trip taking in two national parks, two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and three counties. I'm starting from my home in Langho, a small village in the Ribble Valley. Day 1 will see me heading over the Cumbrian boarder up to Kendal. Day 2 will make a detour into the Lake District National Park to visit Windermere. Then I will head eastward into the Yorkshire Dales before setting up camp in Ingleton. On the third day, I make my way south through the Forest of Bowland AONB on route home. Below I have sketched my route out. It may change at some point, but not drastically. It is not easy reading. It wasn't written with aesthetic reasons in mind but purely for the practical purpose of formulating a decent cycle route; but it took me a while to plan so I thought I'd share it here.  Day 1: From Langho to Kendal Counties: Lancashire, Cumbria AONBs: Forest of Bowland, Ar...