Outdoors
The Haute Route Pyrenees – a very brief account
On 21 August 2019, I dipped my toes in the sea at Banyuls-sur-Mer, the eastern terminus of the Haute Route Pyrenees. Here are a few highlights and impressions from my 832km walk from Atlantic to Mediterranean. In figures * Distance hiked: 832km / 517 miles (measured by GPS; almost 100km more than
Off to see the wizard
A version of this piece was first published in my Pinnacle Newsletter. I’ve spent a good deal of my time this week pacing the halls of EventCity in Manchester, ‘doing’ the Outdoor Trade Show with team TGO. While it was great to catch up with so many friends and
Went to mow the meadow
Is this an essay about solastalgia, automation, landscape, history, or just a little tale about a walker and an owl? I don’t know, but I hope you enjoy reading it. Nine o’clock on a midsummer’s evening, and I hike through farmland that had once been the grounds
Three lessons I learned by going offline for a month on the Cape Wrath Trail
It isn’t really about technology at all. In January 2019, when attempting to explain why I felt compelled to leave the internet behind for my winter Cape Wrath Trail, I wrote that ‘For some years, I’ve been aware that I can’t think properly when my mind is
Paper vs. digital journaling on a long-distance trail
When I go backpacking, keeping a journal is an important part of the process for me – as important as taking photographs. But should you keep a digital journal or record your thoughts in a real, physical notebook? Here’s what I’ve learned about the pros and cons of each.
Aonach Beag and Ben Nevis, Alpine-style
A decade ago, my life was very different. I’d been living in Glen Coe for just over a year, working behind the bar at the Clachaig Inn, and I spent all my spare time writing, climbing and hillwalking. Looking back now, it hardly seems real. On the 10th of
Chased by Storms: 113 miles along the Haute Route Pyrenees and GR11 in 2016
Three long-distance routes traverse the Pyrenees: the GR10, GR11 and, most challenging of all, the Pyrenean Haute Route. In 2016, on the hunt for mountains and summer sun, Alex Roddie got a taste of each of them. This feature was first published in the August 2017 issue of The Great
The delicate balance of information and uncertainty in adventure
This essay was first published in my Pinnacle Newsletter on 26 April 2019. Sign up for my newsletter here. Some say that ‘adventure’ has become a meaningless term. Today, it’s used for everything from a five-minute walk in the park to summiting unclimbed peaks, but most would agree that
Haute Route Pyrenees planning: maps, apps, GPX data, and more
Updated 2019-07-12 to reflect my final setup on the eve of my hike. From mid-July 2019, I’ll be thru-hiking the Haute Route Pyrenees. Planning is now well underway, and in this blog post I’d like to outline my approach to maps, route planning, and how I’ll handle
News: Cape Wrath Trail features published
There’s plenty to read about my February Cape Wrath Trail in TGO magazine this month. In my last blog post about the CWT, I promised that more detailed features about this trail would be published in due course. I’m glad to announce that the first of these features