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The Dambusters Challenge was long, committing, and intimidating, mapped in winter for “maybe June.” Nine hours later, 37 km and 1180 m of ascent done. From steep climbs to calm reservoirs, quiet moors and shaped tors, what sticks isn’t the distance or climbs but the feeling: exploring new areas, sunshine on my skin, endless views, and that sense of being fully alive. That is what I remember most.

Edale Skyline in March - The coldest Skyline I have done, and somehow one I will never forget. I started the day giving directions to lost runners and ended it fighting a snowstorm straight to the face. Somewhere in between, the Peaks decided to throw everything at me, and my brain is still pretending it was fun.

After weeks of grey skies, a sunny day in the Peak District was too good to waste. Starting from Whaley Bridge, this walk delivered two more Ethels, a beautifully positioned trig on Sponds Hill, a shiny toposcope pointing to distant peaks, and an intense standoff with four very large cows. The only thing missing? The elusive Ladder Hill trig.

Blue skies, brutal gusts, and the stubborn streak that carried me through nearly 8 hours of the Edale Skyline.

A solo circular walk from Grin Low to Oliver Hill, featuring Solomon’s Temple, panoramic views, spontaneous route changes and the quiet freedom of hiking alone.

Clockwise Edale Skyline in January was a choice. 31.6 km, 1,306 m, 3°C (feels like -4), five hours of fog and savage wind with no views until km 20. Hope Station to Lose Hill wasn’t a warm-up, the Lose Hill trig was being hogged, Brown Knoll was bog theatre, and Kinder Low tried to exfoliate my face. Somehow it turned into a PR by 3 minutes. Unplanned. Unhinged. Loved it.

A cold winter solo walk in the Peak District, starting from Winscar Reservoir and crossing frozen moorland, empty edges, and invisible summits. The route took in South Nab trig and the Ethels of Britland Edge Hill, Dead Edge End, and Snailsden Pike End, all requiring careful navigation rather than visual cues. With solid ground underfoot and very few people around, the day became about precision, movement, and quiet focus, from bleak moorland to the drama of Ramsden Clough.

Six months earlier, I booked a place above a pub. When I arrived, I realised I hadn’t booked a room but the entire second floor of a 17th-century pub. Alone. After very little sleep, I set off at 07:20 on an endurance round that depended on a bus timetable I thought I’d researched properly. The day brought brutal wind, poor decisions, unsettling surprises, and a finish that nearly left me seven miles from my car. Somewhere in all that, I climbed 17 peaks.

A fog soaked November hike in the Peak District that turned bad weather into atmosphere. I set off from Tittesworth Reservoir and climbed the Ethel Gun, then wandered across the Roaches and over to Hen Cloud. Mist hid the world and revealed the landscape in a new way. Drizzle, silence and rock shaped the day, proving that visibility may disappear, but imagination and wonder certainly do not.

A violent-wind, bright-sky day in the Peak District ticking off four new Ethels: Mt Famine, South Head, Eccles Pike and Chinley Churn. A route from Hayfield with cow stand-offs, Highland cows, an overgrown “path”, a missing trig ripped out by a farmer, and a winter-grade wind that felt more like February than late October. Finished cold, feral and satisfied. Still convinced the Peak District is my endurance training ground and still full of surprises.

After five years and 214 fells, the list ended on Lingmell in Wasdale, in violent wind that tried to turn us back. It wasn’t the calm finale I imagined, but it felt exact. Above the worst of the wind the views opened: every chapter of the journey in one frame. I ran the last metres to the cairn and then synchronicity struck. The same two people I met three weeks ago arrived to finish their 214 Wainwrights journey at the exact same minute.

Fog, sunlight, and self-belief on the Edale Skyline. 32 km of calm focus, one sandwich, and a finish I never thought possible - 6h 58 min

A perfect Wasdale morning turned into one of my most memorable hikes yet. I abandoned my 9 km plan within minutes, wandered to Burnmoor Tarn in total silence, faced down two herds of cows 🐄🙈, and climbed Slight Side & Scafell. By pure chance, four of us hit our 213th Wainwright together 🤯. Sunshine, summit banter, and spooky coincidences made it feel like destiny. Some hikes tick boxes but this one made memories. 💚

Trip #8 of 2025 took me back to Wasdale, my favourite valley, for a solo climb of Yewbarrow. From the steep grassy nose that everyone says is horrible (I enjoyed it), to the scramble at Great Door, to the easy grassy ridge, the fell felt like a compact adventure. The real surprise was Stirrup Crag - a descent that looked fine from above but delivered two airy downclimbs. Calm in the moment, reflective afterwards, Yewbarrow proved that small fells can pack big drama.

Whetstone Ridge, Highland cows, and a surprise COM- two Ethels, a trig, and a perfectly timed Peak District adventure before the rain.

The Eastern Fells are officially complete! In true Mira style, it took an 11-hour ‘fell shift,’ 9 summits, and one phantom path disaster at Blea Cove that had me crawling on all fours and losing my glasses. The day brought sunshine, relentless heat, and the rare miracle of zero wind on every top. I crossed Striding Edge and Swirral Edge, lounged on Catstye Cam with a cheese sandwich, and wrapped up with fish and chips at Glenridding. Just four Wainwrights left - the finale is

This was my 7th trip to the Lakes this year and clearly, I can’t stay away. Day 1 was a mellow evening climb up Troutbeck Tongue, my last of the Far Eastern Fells, with rain on the drive giving way to sunshine, blue skies, and a pint by the water. Day 2 was a contrast: ridge views from Hartsop Above How, buzzards circling above, and a grassy plateau on Ullscarf. Two fells, two chats with inspiring older hikers, and another area completed.

After a ‘leisure hike’ reset, I went full Mira mode: berries, a mystery tall furry creature, new peaks, soup, beer & Sofia views.

Berries, soup, cheese, beer, and family. A slow, joy-filled Cherni Vrah day that fed my soul as much as my face.

On my final day, I set out with a light pack and a full heart, hoping the Central Fells would finally show me some kindness. What I found was quiet magic - a startled fawn in the bracken, perfect hiking weather, and my 200th Wainwright. I wandered slowly, soaked in every view, and ended the trip exactly as I’d dreamed: with 13 peaks bagged and 13 left to go.