Reflections on a Year's Walks - 2012

I've had an amazing year. Eight walking trips, 95 days of full- on walking and loads of adventures.   At the moment, as well as trying to keep fit on the South Downs, I'm busy working out a schedule for 2013 and reflecting on the lessons I've learnt this year.

The lessons with hindsight seem blindingly obvious.

The first - already having an impact on plans for next year - is that you can't have too much of a good thing.  I had thought that 7 weeks in Nepal would satiate my appetite for the Himalayas but it had the opposite effect.

Although I didn't get to the top of Mera Peak (the weather was exceptionally bad this spring and very few groups did),  I had an amazing adventure.  The memories of the night at high camp (perched on a 5,400m cliff on the edge of a glacier in a ferocious storm), the attempt on the summit next day (a fall into a crevasse followed by an agonising trudge through fresh snow a metre deep) and the descent the following day with arguably the best mountain view in the world (clear sight of five 8,000 m plus summits including Everest) will stay with me forever.

The view to Everest from Mera

26 Days Along the Via Alpina

Just back from 26 wonderful days walking along the Via Alpina through Austria, Germany and Italy.  Everything "self-organised", it was another example of how rich the walking experience is in Europe and how lucky we are to have such accessible trips on our doorstep.  The only thing that surprised me was the fact that we only met one other person from the UK on the whole trip.

Day 26 Villach

We survived our night in the primitive Schultzhutte without any ill effects despite the interesting smell of mouse droppings on my pillow. The view from the window was stunning, a lovely clear night with a distinct view of the Milky Way above and the lights from Villach at the bottom of the valley below.

Schultzhutte