entries tagged 'outdoors'
Peak District Walks Accessible by Bus & Train
A friend recently asked me about walking routes in the Peak District that can be reached by public transport. There's some great walks easily accessible by bus or train in the Peaks. You'll need a 1:25000 OS map of the Dark Peak area (OL1 Explorer Map) to follow these rough suggestions. Bing Maps do Ordnance Survey views of certain areas too -- just search for eg. Hathersage and click the Ordnance Survey Map link in the top-left corner. Train from Sheffield or Manchester into the Peak District Train to Edale - Walk north-west up Kinder Scout then follow the ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/peaks-walks-public-transport
New Via Ferrata near Chamonix - Curalla at Passy
An activity holiday to Chamonix in June saw me try self-guided via ferrata for the first time. The recently built Via Ferrata Curalla at Passy, about 30 mins drive from Chamonix towards Geneva, is graded AD+ (Assez Difficile; technically easy but exposed enough to be a bit scary). Well sign-posted from the car park on Chemin de Curalla in Passy (map) the climb covers about 400m with nearly 200m height gain and takes 2-3 hours including the walk back from the top. We found hiring via ferrata equipment (standard climbing harness, shock-absorbing Y-shaped sling with twist-gate carabiners AKA "via ferrata ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/via-ferrata-curalla-passy-near-chamonix
First Big Trad Route - Giant's Crawl, Dow Crag, Lake District
'Twas a showery August weekend in the Lake District this year that we completed our first big (more than 2 pitch) trad route. Giant's Crawl on Dow Crag near Coniston is highlighted in the guide book as being the best Diff in the country; what more could we want of a technically easy introduction to the art of multi-pitch trad climbing! Climbing as two pairs, it took us about 2 hours to do the 5-7 pitches (some can be stuck together), 120m, from the start at bottom left of B Buttress above Goats Water to the top at the ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/climbing-trad-route-giants-crawl-dow-crag-lake-district
Camping near the Roaches in the Peak District
Taking advantage of the fine weather last weekend, we had an impromptu camping trip to the Roaches in the Peak District near Leek, Staffordshire. The Roaches are a grit stone ridge on the high ground south of Buxton and are great for single pitch trad climbing and bouldering. There's a few multi-pitch routes on nearby Hen Cloud too. Our trad climbing skills are a bit rusty and the bouldering mat wouldn't fit in the car with all the camping gear and passengers, so we entertained ourselves with a walk along the Roaches down to natural chasm Lud's ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/camping-roaches-peak-district-climbing
Stonethwaite Camping and Gorge Scrambling in Borrowdale
Our latest Lake District trip was a fun weekend in Borrowdale with camping at Stonethwaite and ghyll scrambling up Seathwaite's Grains Gill. Borrowdale is one of my favourite Lake District valleys, seeming more lush and dramatic than many of the heavily grazed fells elsewhere in the Lakes. Accessible trad climbing, bouldering (The Bowderstone) and watersports on Derwent Water add to its appeal. The basic facilities at Stonethwaite campsite (toilets, taps, nothing else) were ample and its location next to Stonethwaite Beck stunning with views up the Borrowdale valley. High on my list of good campsite factors is a westerly ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/lake-district-borrowdale-camping-gorge-walk-scramble