Page 11 - 2020 AMA Winter

on several occasions I genuinely felt like throwing in the towel. But, ultimately, the lows simply served to make the highs taste even sweeter.
When the sun did shine, the adventure was everything I wanted it to be. It was my chance to experience every hidden corner of the Lake District – that magical place of wobbly dry stone walls, sweeping ridges, craggy buttresses, towering summits, tumbling streams and glistening lakes. I camped on summits, mesmerised by the setting sun; I scrambled over knife-edge rocky ridges, gazing over a landscape of immense beauty; and I relished the way the intense exercise - 12 to 13 hours of hard, fast walking every day – helped me to de-stress and relax.
My favourite moment was on Holme Fell. I sat in the porch of my tent, tucking into a hearty chilli con carne expedition meal, and watched the sky morph into ever-changing pinks, oranges, and reds above the jagged, distinctive horizon of the Langdale Pikes. After a few days of awful weather, it was a moment when all the anxieties of my challenge and fears of failure simply floated away. My mood was restored and I felt a renewed determina- tion to see my quest through to the end.
All of these experiences served to solidify my belief in one thing: that hill-walking in Britain can provide you with a truly challenging, intrepid and awe-inspiring adventure. Hill-walking doesn’t have to be the boring alternative to higher-octane, more technical disciplines such as trad climbing, fell-running or mountaineering. Of course, hill-walking is a simpler and more understated approach to adventure, but it can still provide the key building blocks of a grand expedition: a physical and mental challenge, wild and remote terrain, and a goal to aim for.
Arguably hill-walking has many advantages over other disciplines too. Anyone can do it, you don’t need par- ticularly technical or advanced skills or kit, and it’s quick and simple to plan a walk. Plus the slower pace of hiking seems to strike a perfect sweet spot, enabling you to truly appreciate and take in the beauty of where you’re adventuring. The wider benefits of hiking in the countryside are well-documented too: increased car- dio-vascular fitness and improved mental health (courtesy of those happiness-in- ducing endorphins), as well as fresh air, nature, inspiring views and escapism from the 9-to-5 grind. But how do you turn a simple walk into a grander expedition?
My personal approach has been to become a peak-bagger. Peak-bagging is ticking off, or ‘bagging’, a pre-defined list of mountain peaks. Each summit
James Forrest makes it to the summit of Cat Bells, his final Wainwright
James Forrest struggling in the rain during his challenge
climbed is another one ‘in the bag’, so to speak. It’s an approach that gives you an overarching mission, bringing structure and meaning to your hill-walking. It encourages you to explore new places and have new experiences, and offers a wonderful sense of achievement when you reach a milestone.
James Forrest wild camping near Little Hart Crag
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