The weather forecast wasn’t looking good, thunder and rain was forecast. Perhaps we wouldn’t get to do the Drei Schwestern, the main bit of the ridge.
Liechtenstein end to end
Gear Review // Mac in a Sac Venture Jacket
This summer I was given the opportunity to trial Mac in a Sac’s new Venture jacket and have put it through the wonderful British summer weather to test it out.
Billed as a jacket designed specifically for runners and offering waterproofing and breathability, I was interested in whether it would live up to this.
Hiking the Coronallacs
Having wanted to hike in the Pyrenees it seemed a good opportunity to visit Andorra – a tiny country tucked in between Spain and France entirely in the mountains. I knew Andorra was a good ski destination but was intrigued to find out about summer hiking there.
Having looked at the various long distance trails in the mountains I stumbled across the Coronallacs, a new circular route utilising various existing long distance paths through the mountains.
The Coronallacs is a 92km route which we chose to do in 5 days, allowing us to stay at the 4 manned huts in the mountains. This allowed us to carry less as the huts provide dinner and breakfast as part of the fee.
Continue reading “Hiking the Coronallacs”Pichincha integral
If you’ve spent any time in Quito you will have been aware of the old volcanic peak of Pichincha as it is the highest point close to the city and marked by the cable car which takes you on to the plateau below the summit.
It is possible to catch the cable car up Pichincha and walk for a couple of hours to reach the scramble to the summit. However offered the option of the full traverse of the volcanic ridge I wasn’t going to turn that down.
Climbing Cayambe
It’s taken me a while to get around to writing about Cayambe. For some in our group it was their first alpine ascent, for some their first 5000m peak. So I didn’t want to take anything away from that achievement for them. It’s certainly an epic achievement, a great volcano/mountain to climb and a wicked view from the summit. There’s not many places you can climb a volcano and see others surrounding it which are still active.
But for me, it was the first guided ascent I’ve done in 6 years and reaffirmed why I hadn’t done any sooner.
Illiniza Norte
There’s always a point on a trip when people show their true colours. When they do, I’m rarely surprised anymore. The Illiniza’s was that point in our trip.
Continue reading “Illiniza Norte”Imbabura – climbing an inactive volcano
The first encounter of altitude during our trip the impressive Imbabura volcano provided an engaging scramble and epic crater to reach its two summits.
The route is largely hiking with some short sections of easy scrambling.
Lake Cuicocha
After a few days in Quito we headed out for acclimatisation walks and Lake Cuicocha was a beautiful place to have on the list.
We’d spent the night in Otavalo, a nearby town which was very friendly and laid back. After a morning wandering round the market and having coffee in a cafe we drove to Lake Cuicocha.
Lake Cuicocha is a 3 km wide caldera lake at the foot of Cotacachi Volcano. The name comes from the Kichwa, a variety of Quechua language and means lake of the guinea pigs – referring to the two humped islands.
Continue reading “Lake Cuicocha”Book Review// Running Adventures Scotland
I have to be honest I was skeptical as to whether I’d like this book. I am really confident navigating outdoors so the idea of a running book is a bit of a novelty to me as I’d usually just head out of the door with just a map and a sense of exploration. So I expected to find this book a bit underwhelming.
However I was totally surprised.
Continue reading “Book Review// Running Adventures Scotland”Tatras: Dolina Chocholowska round
I met the ridgeline and immediately got pushed back by the wind. As I braced myself I looked across to the mountains and questioned my route for the day.
Dolina Chocholowska round 26.5km
With only one day left in Zakopane to go hiking I caught the bus to Dolina Chocholowska. I’d wanted to visit this valley so I could tick off all of the major valleys in the Polish Tatras and complete another round of mountains.
Continue reading “Tatras: Dolina Chocholowska round”