entries tagged 'travel'
The Story of Cross-Country Ski Trekking in Norway
Feeling adventurous, four friends and I went cross-country ski trekking in the Norwegian Arctic Circle last month. The route, found in a book of summer hikes but followed instead when covered with several metres of snow, took us on a 6.5-day loop in the mountains from a remote station on the Narvik to Stockholm railway. [See route map below.] With limited cross-country skiing experience (2 of us had never used them before setting off at the start of the trek), the learning curve was steep, and a lot of research had to happen in the pre-trip planning to maximise ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/norway-narvik-cross-country-ski-trek
Cycling the Coast-to-Coast C2C Route from Whitehaven to Sunderland
The C2C cycle route runs from the English west coast in Cumbria to the east coast at Tyne & Wear (see detailed map below). Having cycled the 8-day 'Wheelwright' mountain bike coast to coast route a couple of times before, the C2C seemed like a great way to cover similar ground in just 3 days. There's a few variations to the C2C route and we chose the Whitehaven to Sunderland option as a rough approximation to the traditional St Bees Head to Robin Hoods Bay walk. With about 15% optional off-road, the C2C is really a hybrid route, but we ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/cycle-c2c-whitehaven-to-sunderland-map
Exploring San Francisco - Biking the Marin Headlands
The second day of a weekend's exploration of San Francisco had me escape the city by bike and head north over the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands. Bike and Roll bike rentals on Columbus Ave / Lombard St provided a basic but functional hybrid and I followed the Bay from Fishermans Wharf along Marine Drive to the Golden Gate Bridge. Touristy photos duly taken, I crossed the bridge and took the underpass west beneath Highway 101 to Golden Gate Recreation Area and Battery Spencer. Great views back over the Bay to the City made the steep climb worth ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/explore-sf-biking-marin-headlands
Touring Livermore Wineries by Bike - Day Trip from San Francisco
Wine tasting is a pretty popular activity on the US Pacific Coast, with Napa Valley's visitor numbers second only to Disney Land amongst Californian attractions. However, there's lots of great wineries without the tourist hoardes and with a lot more character, Livermore Valley near San Francisco being just one. We'd decided to tour the wineries by bike since tasting copious wine and driving has got to be a bad idea, whereas at least cycling poses less of a threat to innocent bystanders. And cycling through the vineyards is infinitely more fun than sitting in a hot car ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/cycle-tour-livermore-wineries-bike
Norway Cross-Country Ski Trek Kit List
Filling in some extra details on our cross-country skiing trek in Norway earlier this year, here's my kit list that saw me fairly comfortably survive 6 1/2 days skiing between huts in the Arctic Circle. Clothing and non-food kit list Skis, Poles, Boots Thin under-socks, thick outer socks Leggings, Waterproof trousers, Gaiters Baselayer, Mid-layer (eg. thin fleece) Down jacket (for stops / evenings / very cold days) Hard shell Sunglasses, Goggles Warm hat Thin gloves (to enable fiddly tasks without using bare hands) Thick gloves (that will fit over thin gloves) Sleeping bag (Rated to -15C or better in case ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/norway-cross-country-skiing-kit
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
Visit More Countries than your Age in Years
Some friends and I were discussing that a fun way to test how well traveled you are -- Compare the number of countries you have visited versus your age in years. I like the idea as a way to spur you on to see more interesting places. We found it's actually quite difficult remembering all the countries you have been to, but I've just stumbled across this Visited Countries webapp that uses the Google Charts API to generate a map with your visited countries highlighted. The handy Visited Countries checklist helps keep count. My Visited Countries total so far ...
Full entry: http://www.martynj.com/visit-more-countries-map-age