Having never been to New York before, I was a bit intimidated by the idea of navigating our way around the city looking very much like the bimbly tourists that we are. But Neil was adamant he wanted to fly to New York then take the train to Atlanta in … Read More
2023 turned out to be a challenging year, but not in the way that I expected. A week before I was due to fly to America to hike the Appalachian Trail, I got a call to say that my 84-year old mum had suffered a stroke, and the prognosis wasn’t … Read More
Feeling incredibly grateful right now for all the support I’m getting for this adventure! First of all, a huge enormous thank you to everyone who has sponsored me to do this hike and donated to Cancer Research UK. I really appreciate it, it’s a great cause, and the more sponsorship … Read More
So much has happened since our last adventure. On a global scale, we have all endured the pandemic and associated lockdowns, with the complete up-ending of everything that we once considered normal; on the personal side, an encounter with cancer certainly made me re-assess what I wanted to do and … Read More
Well, I’m sorry to say that after two and a half days of really brutal hiking, we have quit the trail. Progress was simply too difficult, too slow and too strenuous. Hiking through deep snow was exhausting, and if anything had gone wrong I doubted that we would have had … Read More
We’re on our way! Two days later than planned, thanks to us both coming down with flu during the week. But we’re feeling a bit better, so have taken the plunge and driven north to the Drovers Inn at Inverarnan, just north of Loch Lomond. Luckily the outside temperature has … Read More
An inspired idea or complete madness? Time will tell. But when Neil was unexpectedly released from his work contract a month early through no fault of his own, it seemed like a good opportunity to go hiking. The fact that we are both somewhat broke dictated that it would be … Read More
Six and a half weeks to go until we set off for America, and I can’t say I ever thought I would feel this physically unprepared at this stage! I really hoped that stopping work would lead to a major improvement in the state of my back and allow me … Read More
Well, after a hectic three days we’re pretty much ready to go! Since dossing down in Manchester Airport on Sunday night, we’ve taken five flights, numerous airport shuttles, way too many security checks, a seriously late Greyhound bus journey, and finally arrived at Lordsburg, New Mexico at 3am Wednesday local … Read More
Just back from our little trial excursion onto the trail, and pleased to report that we really liked it! It is rough, rocky and spiky underfoot, it’s so hot and windy that it feels like you’re walking under a hairdryer, but it is beautiful. We only walked about 4 miles … Read More