9 May 2019 Mountain Man!
In September 2017 James Forest completed the ascent of all the Mountains of England and Wales in an incredible six months.
Now his book on this epic journey has just been published. We thought we might take it with us on our next backpack and read it after dinner in the tent. We've done that in the past with such classics as Wild Wales by George Borrow and Pennine Walkies by Mark Wallington, but it seemed a shame to wait and so we've taken to it as bedtime reading.
And an enjoyable experience it is proving to be. We have been reminded of those days when, like for us, the rain never stopped or the wind threatened to blow him off the summits. He got lost too. But there's also those magic moments when the sun breaks through, turning the mountains orange under a clear blue sky. And of course there's having them all to yourself.
As many mountain baggers will testify there are many hours during the day when you can experience the mountains alone - when no-one has yet arrived from the valleys and again in the afternoon when everyone else has headed off down to the valley for a meal and a comfy bed for the night.
We were going to wait until we'd finished reading the book, but why wait? So it's off to bed a bit early tonight for another chapter to discover what delights and disasters befall the hero.
Now his book on this epic journey has just been published. We thought we might take it with us on our next backpack and read it after dinner in the tent. We've done that in the past with such classics as Wild Wales by George Borrow and Pennine Walkies by Mark Wallington, but it seemed a shame to wait and so we've taken to it as bedtime reading.
And an enjoyable experience it is proving to be. We have been reminded of those days when, like for us, the rain never stopped or the wind threatened to blow him off the summits. He got lost too. But there's also those magic moments when the sun breaks through, turning the mountains orange under a clear blue sky. And of course there's having them all to yourself.
As many mountain baggers will testify there are many hours during the day when you can experience the mountains alone - when no-one has yet arrived from the valleys and again in the afternoon when everyone else has headed off down to the valley for a meal and a comfy bed for the night.
We were going to wait until we'd finished reading the book, but why wait? So it's off to bed a bit early tonight for another chapter to discover what delights and disasters befall the hero.
New Book by James Forest
Mountain Man is published by Bloomsbury Publishing.