Activity log

Selected activities: 44
Last update: 2025-05-11

2025-04-20 Horwich - Anglezarke Moor

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
20.6 km, 390 m↑, 410 m↓ West Pennine Moors
Clear - sunny - good visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Pennines. Training for HML assessment in the outskirts of the Pennines. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored unmarked paths. Fine weather.
Decisions and experience: A whole wood that was visible on the map had been cut down. Walked on paths which did not appear on map and relocated using contours, aspect of slope, and occasionally an altimeter. But most importantly, enjoyed a great sunny day in the outdoors!

2025-04-19 Horwich - Rivington Moor

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
15.2 km, 440 m↑, 440 m↓ West Pennine Moors
Overcast / Strong wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Pennines. Training for HML assessment in the outskirts of the Pennines. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored small paths and open moorland. Fine weather, but quite windy.
Decisions and experience: Relocation after walking on small unmarked moor paths or over open moorland, sometimes over a few legs. Tested my new large group shelter in high wind.

2025-04-16 Cornwood - The Dancers - Ugborough

Walking, Solo, 8+ hours Quality day   Flagged
27.6 km, 670 m↑, 720 m↓ Dartmoor
Partially cloudy / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. Training for HML assessment, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Fine weather, but quite windy.
Decisions and experience: Decided not to walk on day before: yellow rain warning, weather predictions seemed unstable (good decision, 7 mm rain per hour is a lot). Located to contours, but abandoned last target as ground became too dangerous. Tried “rough” navigation (just as much as needed) in combination with multiple unchecked legs. Tried walking around swollen Erne river, but decided to return after some kilometres instead of pushing on towards uncertain ford. Used mixture of OS and BMC maps on return to ease strain by walking on as many paths as possible.

2025-04-14 Princetown - Cramber Tor

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
15.6 km, 300 m↑, 280 m↓ Dartmoor
Light rain - good visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. Training for HML assessment, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Mixed weather, but not too bad.
Decisions and experience: Used catching features. Learned about scale: found the contour I was looking for, only it was too small by a factor of 3 and too close to a stream - everything else matched! Trained relocation: multiple legs over the moor without checking. Tried out group shelter in a hollow (I am aware of the potential hazard of flooding).

2025-04-13 Princetown - Great Staple Tor

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
21.6 km, 570 m↑, 580 m↓ Dartmoor
Light rain - good visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. Training for HML assessment, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Mixed weather, but not too bad.
Decisions and experience: Researched access to firing ranges. Trained relocation. Navigated through large boulder fields and around sheep - and still arrived on correct spot after distance of 900 m. Tried out two-person group shelter at Great Staple Tor, on an exposed top and in a more sheltered position. Also tried out different clothing from what I normally use. Thought about the kind of tours I want to lead in future. Logged the 40th quality day on DLOG!

2025-04-12 Postbridge - Princetown

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
21.4 km, 430 m↑, 310 m↓ Dartmoor
Overcast / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. Training for HML assessment, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Overcast - best weather for walking.
Decisions and experience: Exclusively used Harvey BMC map (a first). Trained relocation, and also located to contour lines. Walked on wet ground which I deemed to be dangerous, so I carefully stayed on small animal trails. One feature which looked like a re-entrant did not exist on the ground. Checked on OS Explorer map, which showed no re-entrant. Denser contour lines are definitely helpful.

2025-04-11 Postbridge - Grey Wethers

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
16.8 km, 360 m↑, 340 m↓ Dartmoor
Clear - sunny - good visibility / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. Training for HML assessment, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Fine weather.
Decisions and experience: Located to more complex features on the map. Fought through dense gorse, looking for a wall. Walking in straight lines for more than a few meters was impossible. Overran target by approx. 100 m, and found a very overgrown decayed wall! Noticed that I had gone too far, but checked GPS to see whether this wall appeared on the map (it did not). Then navigated back and found the original wall, overgrown with grass, but thankfully out in the open.

2025-04-10 Widecombe - Postbridge

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
22.8 km, 660 m↑, 540 m↓ Dartmoor
Clear - sunny - good visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. Training for HML assessment, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Fine weather, but quite windy.
Decisions and experience: Located to more complex features on the map, including a small re-entrant. Used boxing (with pacing) to move around herd of wild ponies.

2025-04-09 Buckfastleigh - Scorriton

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
19.7 km, 600 m↑, 490 m↓ Dartmoor
Clear - sunny - good visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. Training for HML assessment, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Fine weather, but quite windy.
Decisions and experience: Located to contour lines and more complex features on the map. Studied accuracy of timing vs pacing.

2025-04-07 South Brent - Buckfastleigh

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
20.8 km, 530 m↑, 600 m↓ Dartmoor
Clear - sunny - good visibility / Strong wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. Training for HML assessment, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Fine weather, but strong and chilly wind.
Decisions and experience: Located to simpler features on the map, mostly using timing and pacing. Walked longer stretches on a bearing than on the day before.

2025-04-06 Ivybridge - South Brent

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
14.5 km, 430 m↑, 370 m↓ Dartmoor
Clear - sunny - good visibility / Strong wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Dartmoor. HML consolidation period, roughly on the “Dartmoor Way” long-distance trail. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Used public paths for access, then explored open moorland. Fine weather, but strong and chilly wind.
Decisions and experience: First time walking on Dartmoor. Located to simpler features on the map, mostly using timing and pacing. Some of those features were hard to identify on the ground.

2025-03-30 Nant Ddu - Pen y Fan - Libanus

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
21.3 km, 690 m↑, 800 m↓ Brecon Beacons
Clear - sunny - good visibility / Strong wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Wales, Brecon Beacons. Ridge leading to “Pen y Fan”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Some navigation training, followed by nice traverse via small paths on ridges. Was completely alone until I reached Pen y Fan, where I met the “Instagram caravan”. Returned via byways. Severe wind chill on the mountains.
Decisions and experience: Started later than usual to allow wind to decrease. Climbed mountain using a bearing, starting from gate which was missing on the map - and hit plateau straight away. Learned lesson that the length of improvised walks must be planned more accurately if buses only run every two hours.

2025-03-29 Moorland (Fan Fawr)

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
16.2 km, 270 m↑, 250 m↓ Brecon Beacons
Partially cloudy / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Wales, Brecon Beacons. Moorland around Fan Fawr. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Planned to get to moorland via a bridle way. There was not even a path, so the adventure began much earlier. Had to change my plans again as I could not pass some marshes (and one cairn I was searching lay hidden in them). The bridle way on my return leg also did not exist.
Decisions and experience: Learned to take the small blue icon on OS maps for marshes more seriously. Found bunkhouses and a road which did not appear on the map. Evaluated accuracy of timing and pacing. Flatter hill tops did not work as intermediate bearings. In contrast, small bushes and tufts of grass worked astonishingly well for bearings. Learned to recognise (and walk around) skylarks.

2024-11-02 Ilsenburg - Brocken - Schierke

Walking, Solo, 8+ hours Quality day   Flagged
25.7 km, 1,130 m↑, 750 m↓ Harz
Overcast / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Germany, Harz National Park. First day of a two-day circular hill tour, planned as homework for my Hiking Guide assessment. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Gravelled roads, forest paths and mountain trails. Terrain is very similar to Scotland. Despite late autumn, the weather was gorgeous. Frost during the night.
Decisions and experience: First professionally planned tour, including full risk assessment and emergency routes. See screenshot of the tour plan which earned me a commendation during assessment. During the walk, I checked the plan against a virtual group I was leading. First use of map by “Harzklub”. Experienced wind chill for real on a cold day and the windiest mountain in Germany.

2024-09-11 Butzenspitze

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
16.9 km, 1,070 m↑, 1,060 m↓ Tyrol and South Tyrol
Cloudy - poor visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Italy, Stilfser Joch. Preparation for Hiking Guide training. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Mountain paths and pathless ground. From sunny start via continuous cloud cover to beginnings of fog.
Decisions and experience: First time I walked alone on pathless ground in the mountains. After leaving the second mountain hut (Italian espresso!), I did not meet a single person for remainder of the day. Path to the summit was only marked with tiny cairns, quite a few of which were definitely incorrect. Therefore, I decided to skip the summit, and to return before the fog became too dense to find my way back.

2024-09-10 Madritschjoch - Vorderer Rotspitz

Walking, Solo, 8+ hours Quality day   Flagged
21.0 km, 1,560 m↑, 1,550 m↓ Tyrol and South Tyrol
Showers - mixed / poor visibility / Strong wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Italy, Stilfser Joch. Circular tour as preparation for Hiking Guide training. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Mountain paths and pathless ground. Harsh winter conditions until middle of the day, then wonderful sunny weather.
Decisions and experience: Decided to abandon planned route, as it was too dangerous in winter conditions - especially alone. Returned to mountain hut for lunch and then started out again, partially on pathless ground. First time I ran on a trail (8 km and 700 m descent in exactly 60 min).

2024-09-09 Aufstieg Zufallhütte

Walking, Solo, 3-5 hours Quality day   Flagged
11.1 km, 980 m↑, 600 m↓ Tyrol and South Tyrol
Clear - sunny - good visibility / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: Italy, Stilfser Joch. Alternative ascent to mountain hut “Zufallhütte”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Mountain and forest paths. Sunny autumn weather with a light breeze.
Decisions and experience: First semi-professionally planned tour, taking the following into account: virtual group with certain abilities, their speed, alternative routes depending on the weather, and so on. Later used this tour as homework for my Hiking Guide assessment, making it fully professional.

2024-09-05 Seewandspitze

Walking, Equals, 3-5 hours Quality day   Flagged
8.1 km, 600 m↑, 620 m↓ Tyrol and South Tyrol
Showers - mixed / poor visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Austria, Venedigergruppe. Circular tour as preparation for Hiking Guide training. Walked with a friend as equals.
Activity and conditions: Mountain paths and pathless ground. From sunny start to foggy end.
Decisions and experience: First tour I planned with an equal. Walking on pathless ground. Differences between online map, actual map, and reality. I decided to skip the last summit as it became too foggy. My friend would have walked on, but only “around the corner”.

2024-04-23 Biggin - Ilam

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
16.5 km, 310 m↑, 410 m↓ Peak District
Overcast / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Peak District. Long-distance trail “White Peak Way”. Lead my father, aged 78.
Activity and conditions: Roads, paths and pathless ground. Typical English weather.
Decisions and experience: Decided to make a detour due to heavily flooded path. Taught my father climbing to avoid flooding later in the day. Decided not to walk over a slippery slope instead. Tested group shelter in cold wind.

2024-04-16 Tideswell - Castleton

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
15.1 km, 330 m↑, 400 m↓ Peak District
Heavy rain - poor visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Peak District. Long-distance trail “White Peak Way”. Lead my father, aged 78.
Activity and conditions: Roads, paths and pathless ground. Mixed weather again.
Decisions and experience: Had to descent on a path run over with water. My father thought I was deliberately leading him down a small river! Learned that paths can quickly become un-walkable.

2024-04-15 Buxton - Tideswell

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 8+ hours Quality day   Flagged
20.1 km, 430 m↑, 430 m↓ Peak District
Heavy rain - poor visibility / Gale force wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Peak District. Long-distance trail “White Peak Way”. Lead my father, aged 78.
Activity and conditions: Roads, paths and pathless ground. The gale made hail fly almost horizontally… Four seasons in one day: the day ended in bright sunshine!
Decisions and experience: My father (of all people) convinced me to walk despite the gale. Walked in wrong direction because I mixed up a closed path with the alternative route. Promised to myself that I would never hike in such wind again.

2023-04-29 Grasmere - Dungeon Ghyll

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 3-5 hours Quality day   Flagged
9.3 km, 480 m↑, 420 m↓ Lake District
Overcast / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Lake District. Connected sections of long-distance trails. Lead my father, aged 77.
Activity and conditions: Paths and pathless ground on hills. Followed map and description of Wainwright. Best weather for walking.
Decisions and experience: Asked my father to choose our route according to his knees. He selected one of Wainwright’s paths on Blea Rigg. I mistook animal tracks for paths and had to relocate. Also found out that the compass in my iPhone is mostly useless. This was one of the greatest hill days I ever had!

2023-04-26 Windermere - Ambleside

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
12.6 km, 510 m↑, 550 m↓ Lake District
Overcast / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Lake District. Connected sections of long-distance trails. Lead my father, aged 77.
Activity and conditions: Roads, paths and pathless ground. Steep descent from hill top. Beautiful weather, yet again.
Decisions and experience: Learned that descending was pretty bad for my father’s knees, although he could ascend hills to a remarkable extent. Adjusted future routes accordingly.

2023-04-22 Stonethwaite - Dungeon Ghyll

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
15.0 km, 390 m↑, 390 m↓ Lake District
Light rain - good visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Lake District. Connected sections of long-distance trails. Lead my father, aged 77.
Activity and conditions: Bad paths in valleys and on hills. Rather rainy.
Decisions and experience: Path was newly “improved” by adding “flagstones”, thereby making it slippery and very strenuous to walk. Decided to call taxi transfer and delay pickup time by two hours. When we descended from Stake Pass, my father became exhausted. He slipped and one of his walking poles broke. I encouraged him to take a break and eat some chocolate. We still talk about this day - and I am proud of my father!

2023-04-21 Keswick - Stonethwaite

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
15.5 km, 380 m↑, 380 m↓ Lake District
Partially cloudy / Strong wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Lake District. Connected sections of long-distance trails. Lead my father, aged 77.
Activity and conditions: Roads, paths and pathless ground. Pretty strong wind.
Decisions and experience: Tried to walk over Catbells in high wind. Decided to leave ridge due to some risk of being blown off, and because the route included some light scrambling.

2023-04-18 Thirlmere - Keswick

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
12.1 km, 280 m↑, 400 m↓ Lake District
Partially cloudy / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Lake District. Connected sections of long-distance trails. Lead my father, aged 77.
Activity and conditions: Roads, paths and pathless ground. Beautiful weather.
Decisions and experience: Completely modified prescribed (simple) route. Walked over pathless hill ridge instead. Recollected learnings from walking with my father and adjusted them to his increased age. He was still incredibly fit!

2019-11-08 Manaslu Circuit Trek

Walking, Technical Advice, 8+ hours Quality day   Flagged
146.0 km, 6,750 m↑, 5,470 m↓ Manaslu Circuit Trek
Partially cloudy / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Nepal, Himalayas. Member of a guided tour around the Manaslu mountain. Due to circumstances, I became (unofficial) medical advisor.
Activity and conditions: Gravelled roads, suspension bridges, donkey tracks, and mountain paths. 14 days of gorgeous weather. This entry counts as one quality day.
Decisions and experience: Studied German standard medical work on high-altitude trekking before starting out. Due to bad guidance by the main guide, I offered medical advice to a group member severely affected by mountain sickness. I constantly urged him to move to lower altitudes. When he was stumbling up a slope, I decided to abandon a tour and help him down. We later learned that he had HAPE and HACE, so I might have saved his life… Closely studied my reactions to high altitude (e.g. daily check with pulseoximeter). Learned a lot about guided groups in the outdoors: group dynamics, pressure by expectations and peers, and hiding of medical conditions. Also did smaller walks without guides.

2018-05-18 Lauragh - Uragh

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
15.6 km, 600 m↑, 580 m↓ Beara Way
Overcast / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: Ireland, Southern Ireland. Long-distance trail “Beara Way”. Lead my father, aged 74.
Activity and conditions: Paths and open moorland. Yet another day of beautiful weather.
Decisions and experience: Signposts on the moorland were few and widely separated. Learned to use transport strategically: by reducing the time of walking on asphalt, my father had more energy left for tougher (but more beautiful) ground. And another lesson about walking / leading on wet moorland.

2018-05-17 Eyeries - Lauragh

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
16.5 km, 430 m↑, 450 m↓ Beara Way
Partially cloudy / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: Ireland, Southern Ireland. Long-distance trail “Beara Way”. Lead my father, aged 74.
Activity and conditions: Paths and open moorland. Fine weather.
Decisions and experience: Signposts on the moorland were few and widely separated. Re-adjusted speeds again (1 km/h less on wet moorland), and limited time spent on such ground to one hour. This allowed my father to enjoy the wild countryside, without making him weary of it.

2018-05-13 Adrigole - Castletownbere

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
12.7 km, 500 m↑, 530 m↓ Beara Way
Overcast / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Ireland, Southern Ireland. Long-distance trail “Beara Way”. Lead my father, aged 74.
Activity and conditions: Paths and open moorland. Beautiful weather, but windy.
Decisions and experience: Signposts on the moorland were few and widely separated. Re-adjusted speed and tour length to my father, using experience from the day before. From this day on, the tours suited my father well.

2018-05-12 Glengarriff - Adrigole

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
15.4 km, 720 m↑, 630 m↓ Beara Way
Partially cloudy / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Ireland, Southern Ireland. Long-distance trail “Beara Way”. Lead my father, aged 74.
Activity and conditions: Walking on paths and meadows. Fine weather, but quite windy.
Decisions and experience: First time I lead my father. I planned each tour carefully, but put too much strain on him on the first day. The escape route recommended by locals was not only longer than the planned one, but also in rather a bad shape.

2017-05-29 Orton - Kirkby Stephen

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
20.4 km, 230 m↑, 290 m↓ Coast-to-Coast Walk
Partially cloudy / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Yorkshire Dales. Long-distance trail “Coast-to-Coast Walk”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Walking on paths and fields with livestock. Rather windy.
Decisions and experience: Strayed off the path to find a stone circle by compass and step counting. It was so tiny and overgrown that I would not have found it by any other means. First time in the Yorkshire Dales.

2017-05-26 Howtown - High Street - Glenridding

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
18.1 km, 690 m↑, 670 m↓ Coast-to-Coast Walk
Partially cloudy / Strong wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Lake District. Long-distance trail “Coast-to-Coast Walk”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Walking on paths and pathless ground. A strong and cold wind was blowing.
Decisions and experience: Walked partially on pathless ground. Change route on the go, according to my likes and the strong wind. Decided not to walk on the upcoming day, as a thunderstorm had been forecast. No thunderstorm was observed, but I still think it was a wise decision.

2017-05-25 Grasmere - Glenridding

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
16.7 km, 890 m↑, 780 m↓ Coast-to-Coast Walk
Partially cloudy / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Lake District. Long-distance trail “Coast-to-Coast Walk”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Walking on paths, and a bit of light scrambling.
Decisions and experience: Discovered Helvellyn mountain on the map, was intrigued and changed the route accordingly. Then found Striding Edge and scrambled along, a few meters below the top because I was alone. Decided to leave the ridge when the scrambling grew too tough. Learned about changing plans en route.

2017-05-24 Stonethwaite - Grasmere

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
13.7 km, 560 m↑, 590 m↓ Coast-to-Coast Walk
Partially cloudy / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Lake District. Long-distance trail “Coast-to-Coast Walk”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Walking on paths and a craggy ridge.
Decisions and experience: Learned about the CroW Act - and directly applied gained knowledge. Decided to stray from pre-defined path and walk over a small ridge instead.

2015-04-28 Kingshouse - Kinlochleven

Winter Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 3-5 hours Quality day   Flagged
14.2 km, 380 m↑, 610 m↓ West Highland Way
Overcast / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Scotland, Scottish Highlands. Long-distance trail “West Highland Way”. Lead a friend of mine.
Activity and conditions: Technically, this was a winter hill walk. The paths were good and relatively wide.
Decisions and experience: Second time I lead in winter conditions. I learned, a lot as terrain and conditions were quite different from those of the day before. In comparison, navigation was definitely easier.

2015-04-27 Glen Coe - Lairig Eilde - Kingshouse

Winter Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
18.2 km, 430 m↑, 470 m↓ West Highland Way
Heavy rain - poor visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Scotland, Scottish Highlands. Detour from “West Highland Way" to Glen Coe valley. Lead a friend of mine.
Activity and conditions: Technically, this was a winter mountain walk over a pass. It started snowing heavily while we were up in the mountains.
Decisions and experience: First time out in the Scottish mountains, and also leading in mountainous terrain. Navigation was tough due to the weather conditions. My friend wanted to continue the circular route via another mountain pass, just as I had planned. However, I decided that the path was not safe any more due to newly fallen snow. After some discussion, I managed to convince her of returning via a detour on asphalt.

2015-04-26 Bridge of Orchy - Kingshouse

Walking, Leader / Supervisor, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
19.2 km, 470 m↑, 390 m↓ West Highland Way
Heavy rain - poor visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Scotland, Scottish Highlands. Long-distance trail “West Highland Way”. Lead a friend of mine.
Activity and conditions: Walked a long tour over gravelled paths across the moor. Four seasons in a day - from nice weather to sleet and back again.
Decisions and experience: First time I took the responsibility of leading someone. I did all of the planning and made all decisions regarding walking (for the whole trail, not only on this particular day). Among other things, I learned a lot about the quality of different weather reports - those on my friend’s iPhone were ridiculously bad.

2014-11-12 Stow-on-the-Wold - Winchcombe

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
21.0 km, 330 m↑, 480 m↓ Cotswold Highlights Trail
Light rain - good visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: England, Cotswolds. Three-day circular walk. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Walking on bridleways, public paths and fields. Close to freezing temperatures with some rain.
Decisions and experience: This section of the trail was rather badly signposted. Worked out the confusing bits with compass and map. Extensive walking on fields with livestock. Decided to take a detour to avoid field full of young bulls.

2014-05-24 Caherciveen - Waterville

Walking, Solo, 8+ hours Quality day   Flagged
30.0 km, 750 m↑, 760 m↓ Kerry Way
Heavy rain - poor visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Ireland, Southern Ireland. Long-distance trail “Kerry Way”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Pathless over hill ridges. First glimpse of moorland. Quite remote without any mobile phone reception. Signposts on moorland were widely separated. Rainy and foggy.
Decisions and experience: Most walkers I met on the trail had taken a rest day. Thus, in case something had happened, I would have had to deal with it on my own. Only met a single person during the day.

2014-05-23 Glenbeigh - Caherciveen

Walking, Solo, 8+ hours Quality day   Flagged
28.8 km, 450 m↑, 440 m↓ Kerry Way
Showers - mixed / poor visibility / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: Ireland, Southern Ireland. Long-distance trail “Kerry Way”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Path went along a mountain face, then over lonely byways, and finally over fields.
Decisions and experience: First time of hiking over fields with livestock. In one of them, a dozen cows came stampeding towards me. Stopping and waving thankfully made them turn away… Another field was so boggy that I sank in up to my knees. Learned to walk on tussocks, while fleeing from threatening black clouds.

2014-05-21 Black Valley - Lough Acoose

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
18.2 km, 630 m↑, 560 m↓ Kerry Way
Overcast / Gentle breeze (DLOG)

Location and role: Ireland, Southern Ireland. Long-distance trail “Kerry Way”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Mostly on small paths or pathless. Trail went over a grassy saddle strewn with boulders. Ground was still wet and occasionally slippery.
Decisions and experience: Mistook round yellow lichen for painted signs and ended up under Ireland’s highest mountain. Stopped, relocated using compass and map, enjoyed the scenery, and returned. Also gained experience with „wild“ dogs on a farmyard I had to cross. (I used to be afraid of dogs.)

2006-06-07 Drumnadrochit - Invermoriston

Walking, Solo, 5-8 hours Quality day   Flagged
21.0 km, 600 m↑, 580 m↓ Great Glen Way
Overcast / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Scotland, Scottish Highlands. Long-distance trail “Great Glen Way”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Good, wide paths, but long and somewhat monotonous.
Decisions and experience: First navigation with compass and digital step counter. The somewhat featureless paths along Loch Ness were perfect for trying out relocation by cross navigation.

2006-06-05 Inverness - Drumnadrochit

Walking, Solo, 8+ hours Quality day   Flagged
30.7 km, 460 m↑, 430 m↓ Great Glen Way
Heavy rain - poor visibility / Moderate wind (DLOG)

Location and role: Scotland, Scottish Highlands. Long-distance trail “Great Glen Way”. Solo walker.
Activity and conditions: Good, wide paths, often with gravel. An hour of intense rain.
Decisions and experience: Lots of firsts: hiking alone, long-distance walk, Scotland, navigation with a map, OS maps, planning when and where to take breaks. I did not know about luggage transfer and carried too much luggage (18 kg, if I remember correctly). Organizing accommodation just a night in advance was harder than I had thought.