2015 - The Year of The Peak District

Now that I am as keen as mustard to go onto my next mountaineering expedition, I have yet to wait for more than a year to head out for my next adventure of this kind. A year of getting my equipment for higher altitude and colder regions together... bit by bit. Doesn't mean I'll be sitting on my arse online shopping all year.

Instead I'll be concentrating on working towards my Mountain Leader Award. I need half a dozen more "quality" days out on the hills to be allowed for the training course, so with my new job in Newport starting in March I'll be hopefully a regular in the Brecon Beacons and North Wales with easier/shorter access to those fantastic hills.

But I have a few things planned so far and as it turns out I'll be spending a lot of time in The Peak District. Never been there so far, so I figured it's a good idea to concentrate on this place.

So what's going on then?


Mid-March
Peak District: Weekend in Foolow on a Navigation Course getting the NNAS Silver Award in the end.

Easter - First Weekend of April
Peak District: Staying in Buxton, my boyfriend and me will enjoy four days of riding all over the Peak District on our road bikes, going out for a walk if our bums hurt too much.

Mid-April
Peak District: Staying in Bakewell over another weekend, I'll attend an Outdoor First Aid Course, giving me all the skills a mountain leader needs.

Mid/End-May
Scotland: Heading up to Glasgow on a Friday night I'll pocket another munro near Loch Lomond on my way to Crianlarich Saturday, where I'll be picked up by a mini-bus for another one of those lovely wandern-schottland.de hillwalking weeks. This time we'll be exploring Argyll while staying in a fantastic manor house, enjoying a wee dram by the fire after a day out on the hills.

http://www.achnacloich.com/

Afterwards I'll hop off in Crianlarich again to meet up with a long lost friend for another 2-3 days of munro bagging in the area, getting some mountain leader practice under my belt as I'm the one planning our tours and I have to get us both back in one piece.

Autumn
"The North": Week-long mountain bike tour with my boyfriend on the Pennine Bridleway, riding from the South-East of the Peak District all the way up to the North end of the Yorkshire Dales.

http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/pennine-bridleway

Early-December
North Wales, Capel Curig: Week-long Winter Mountaineering Course with the National Mountain Sports Centre gaining valuable experience using ice axe and crampons.
http://www.pyb.co.uk/courses-detail.php?coursecode=WWM04&irisref=247

So that's it. Lots going on though it doesn't really feel like it, haha. I'll keep you posted!