This is a diary of my time on the Peaks of the Balkans. If you’re looking for a blog about practicalities, such as where to get food on the trail, you’ve come to the wrong place! I’m in Montenegro. It’s three days before I’m due to start my long-distance hike of the Peaks of the … Continue reading My eight-day thru-hike of the Peaks of the Balkans
Back in the days before Covid, I thru-hiked and wild camped the Masar Ibrahim Trail with my friend Chris. The length of the West Bank of Palestine, the trail is 330km long, and took 19 days. It runs from Rummana in the north to Beit Mirsim in the south. It’s about 35°C in the city … Continue reading Hiking the length of the West Bank (part 1)
In September 2021, I thru-hiked the GR20 in Corsica. This is a section-by-section account of my experiences. You can read part 1 here and part 2 here. Section 11: Bergeries de Capannelle to refuge de Prati Me, Alek and Arthur are pissed off. We’re at refuge de Prati and we have been chucked out into … Continue reading The time of my life on the GR20: part 3
In September 2021, I thru-hiked the GR20 in Corsica. This is a section-by-section account of my experiences. You can read part 1 here. Section 6: Castel de Vergio to Manganu refuge “SHIT!” I scream. “WE NEED TO MOVE! QUICK!!!” We all leap up, half-terrified, half-excited, as a helicopter hovers just metres above our heads, about … Continue reading The time of my life on the GR20: part 2
In September 2021, I thru-hiked the GR20 in Corsica. I came to Corsica as a solo hiker, but rarely spent much time alone. This is a section-by-section account of my experiences. I’m an excited ball of energy as I arrive in Calenzana, the village where the GR20 begins. I first heard about this mighty trail … Continue reading The time of my life on the GR20: part 1
It’s my first hike since coronavirus locked us all down! The weather’s looking torrential in the north-west of Scotland, so I decide to head north-east, where I don’t have to endure days of rain and bog. The Loch Ness 360 is a 130km-long hiking trail, loosely doing a loop around Loch Ness. I say loosely, because there’s some days where you don’t see the loch at all.
The official website describes the trail as “epic”. I think that’s a slight exaggeration. Epic if you’ve only seen Kent, maybe. But it’s definitely a lovely hike, and if you’re an experienced walker, you’ll find it easy. There’s *lots* of forestry track and tarmac, though, so if you’re going to hike this, try to make your bag as light as possible to give your feet a break as they pound the hard ground. Continue reading “My first thru-hike with a dog! Hiking & wild camping the Loch Ness 360”
Last Autumn I hiked the length of Scotland on the Scottish National Trail. Read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.
Day 24: Fort Augustus -> Mandally (18km)
It is, of course, pouring down when we begin the trail again. The SNT joins the Great Glen Way at section 26, following the Caledonian canal, before turning up into pine forestry at Loch Oich.
We find a lovely camping spot on a mossy track in some forestry, right by the tiny hamlet of Mandally. Here, section 27 of the SNT joins the infamous Cape Wrath Trail. We will now be following the CWT all the way to the top of Scotland. There is no indication that we’re now on the UK’s most difficult hike: the CWT is an unmarked trail, and is only for experienced hikers. Continue reading “Hiking the Scottish National Trail (part 5): slogging through bogs on the Cape Wrath trail”
The Cape to Cape is a week-long 135km hike on the south-west coast of Australia.
The trail is really stunning. We hike over cliff tops (take sun cream!) with spectacular views of the turquoise sea. We walk through native forest, up and down sand dunes and along beaches. We pass stunning rock formations and hop over terrifying blowholes. We walk past a memorial for dead surfers, and then watch surfers tackling massive waves.
The Cape to Cape is an exhausting slog. Although not a technically difficult trail in any way, every step is through sand. Even when you’re not walking on the beach, you’re walking on sand. A week of hiking on this terrain is difficult! I think, “this is more exhausting than the Larapinta Trail!” a number of times. Continue reading “Hiking the Cape to Cape Trail, Australia”
We spent our last couple of weeks in Aotearoa (New Zealand) hiking some astoundingly beautiful routes in the regions of Mount Aspiring, Fiordland and Aoraki.
The hiking trails that we did can be linked up (via a bit of road walking or hitching) to make a longer trail. At the bottom of this blog post is a hand-drawn map of the routes showing this.
Here’s a brief review of the trails we hiked.
Continue reading “Hikes on New Zealand’s south island”
This blog post covers the following sections of the trail on the south island:
Waiau Pass; Boyle Village to Arthur’s Pass; Arthur’s Pass to the Rakaia river.
You can also read part 1 & part 2 of the hike.
1) Waiau Pass trail in the Nelson Lakes: 115.5km, 8 days:
It’s raining. The river hurls water downstream and the track becomes part of the river. We huddle in hikers’ huts until the weather clears.
And then, when the sun comes out and we start to climb away from the valley, the Waiau Pass section becomes spectacular. If you’re choosing just a few sections of the Te Araroa, pick this one! Snow-capped mountains surround us as we climb higher. Continue reading “Hiking the Te Araroa in New Zealand: part 3”
AN AIMLESS HITCHHIKER: the diary of a vagabond woman 