July
A busy and exciting two-month period is coming to an end as we head into August.
I've spend two long weekends in Snowdonia exploring new routes and re-visiting old favourites. Under the June full moon I led a walk all the way to the top of Snowdon and back without the use of torches, just finding our way by moonlight, which was magical!
There's been lots of caving work, assisting on several trips for school groups and youth groups in Goatchurch cavern on the Mendips, and also one trip with three dads and their sons, in the same cave. I absolutely love taking first-timers underground, and especially children, with their wide-eyed enthusiasm and sense of wonder.
A few days ago I was out on top of the Mendips assisting a colleague who is a bushcraft instructor: it was fascinating to learn something about what can and what cannot be safely eaten in the wild, and exciting to watch and help the clients make their own fires from the natural tinder and fuel lying around.
If you had been on the Somerset Levels one fine day a few weeks ago you might have seen me in a faded purple wetsuit (not a colour that suits me, really) wading chest-deep along the bed of an opaque river, taking care of a group of lovely boisterous people on a stag weekend who had just built a very sturdy raft from bits and bobs, and who were paddling it enthusiastically towards their target, a submerged crate of beer.
Despite the heavy load of outdoor work, I have managed to find time to do some outdoor activities with friends, just for fun, poking about in dark holes underground in the never-ending quest to discover more chambers and more passages, and hiking solo in the Brecon Beacons.
August and beyond
August looks like being another busy month.
I am busy in Snowdonia from 31st July to 3rd August, but I may be free for a few days after that.
I am busy again in Cumbria from 7th August to 10th August, but I am free for some of the weekends and some of the weekdays after that for a while.
In late September I will be working in the Mendips, then away in the Alps with friends doing via ferrata for fun.
