Living the Life in the Great Outdoors
trekking, hikking, travelling
By heading out in the mornings at first light I was continually amazed at some of the sights that I witnessed. On one occasion it was an early morning duck parade (pictured below), where the ducks that had been housed in farm sheds overnight were being let out to go and graze in nearby fields …
Continue reading “Tales from the Via Podiensis – i) From the Gers to Les Landes”
If you think that this section of the Via Podiensis is all about walking alongside the Lot river, then think again! Although one comes across the Lot at times, and I crossed it via various bridges, most of the time was spent walking in the hills of what is the northern Aveyron in order to …
Continue reading “Tales from Via Podiensis – d) Passing through the Aveyron region”
If you have only a couple of weeks to walk along the Via Podiensis in France (the GR 65), then the section that crosses from the Lozere region into the Aveyron is a must. It has everything, scenery, medieval architecture, good company (as there are plenty of hikers on this section) and great towns to …
Breakfast has already become an exercise in fuelling up for what turns out to be half a morning (depending on how many hills there are). This includes downing two large cups of coffee, except more often than not the coffee is served in bowls and if you want milk (lait), then this has to be …
Continue reading “Tales from the Via Podiensis- b) Traversing the Aubrac plateau”
Even now I can recall my excitement at having arrived in Le Puy following a scenic trip on the train from St Etienne. I dropped my bags at the accommodation and set off to explore. This is when I first became familiar with the French 2 hour lunch break (with the shops all shutting down) …
Continue reading “Tales from the Via Podiensis in France – A) Departing Le Puy”
Having walked along the Via Podiensis in France in 2018, I have wondered ever since whether I could encapsulate my journey into a series of blog posts. This is not as easy as some of you may think because each day on the route brought with it a myriad of new experiences, from the time …
After a restless night, mainly due to us all being so close together on mattresses on the bunks in the small mountain hut, I head outside early to look at the surrounding scenery. The cloud ceiling has dropped again overnight so the views are limited, but one added bonus is that it feels slightly warmer. …
Continue reading “Trekking the Laugavegur Trail Iceland – Day 4: Emstrur to Langidalur”
I am up early because basically it is daylight, and there are the dulcet tones of snoring reverberating around the hut. So I head out to the shower block and find that I am not alone in having a quick face wash etc at the sink. It is cloudy and the wind is blowing but …
Continue reading “Trekking the Laugavegur Trail in Iceland – Day 3 : Alftavatn to Emstrur”
Sleep is to prove elusive due to the snoring in the bunk chamber through the so called night which has also rendered my head lamp redundant for this trip. A trip to the latrines is made in what seems daylight but as the thick cloud continues to obscure the sky it is hard to tell …
We head on towards another valley as the weather is holding – ie there is no rain! This involves crossing over snow fields including on ridge sides. The wind is blowing and it feels cooler as we are now at a higher elevation. The snow is not always clean and white courtesy of the wind …
Living the Life in the Great Outdoors