Happy Sunday all!

This week I wanted to share with you the hike I went on with my Mum last week.

I had originally booked the day off work to help on a Ten Tors training hike but due to the latest lockdown it was cancelled. So, rather than missing out on a nice long walk, on Sunday morning I walked out the front door and collected mother bean on route and we went on a lovely 22km hike round our local area.

I was incredibly excited when I woke up in the morning and saw how frosty it was out, I’d really been longing for a frosty walk as I find the cold (when it’s sunny and cold) incredibly relaxing and refreshing. I’d even said to a friend on a facetime that next time it’s frosty I want to go hiking in it, I just love the crunch of frost beneath my feet and the freshness of the cold air on my face and lungs.

Just as the glowing sun was catching up with us and trying to shine down on us in our many many layers (with our rucksacks full of more — as well as hot tea and coffee and soup), we set off at about 9 am.

Despite having now done several walks around our local area and the Gordano round (which is our local public footpath), I’m still so astonished by how beautiful most parts of it are.

Perhaps it helps seeing it in different weather conditions and seeing the sun capture parts of the landscape in different ways, as the section of the walk from Portishead via the Quarry towards Clapton-in-Gordano has surprised me every time I’ve gone by over the last several months.

Our feet took us along our mentally refreshing journey (yes I still am equally surprised by how great I feel mentally after a good long walk, even after saying it each time) and gave myself and my Mum a lovely time to catch up. It can often feel so weird not living at home with my parents during lockdown, and it makes me feel so grateful for moments with my Mum like these (and like our boxing day hike) where we just get to walk and talk and ignore the rest of reality for a while.

For those of you who know the area, we walked in a loop from Portishead to Clapton- in- Gordano, towards Clevedon, across to Walton-in-Gordano, and back through Weston-in-Gordano to Portishead again.

If you don’t know the area, here’s a map to visualise our loop:

We are so lucky to have such a great hiking route literally on our doorstep, especially now! And as much as I miss places like Dartmoor, I’m very grateful for our nearby fields, woods, and excellent view spots.

It’s also a great feeling to be able to say I walked from the front door!

What was also great was that I had somehow managed to preserve some DELICIOUS choccie that my brother had sent from New Zealand for my Christmas present.

I don’t normally take chocolate (that isn’t like a high energy Mars bar) on a hike but it really made the walk even more of a treat. Somehow made the walk more special, or maybe the maybe the chocolate really was just that good that it would’ve felt special anywhere!

Man it was good chocolate — it was also good when I finished off the rest of it surrounded by bubbles in the bath tub when I got back.

At the end of our 22km and almost 500 meters of height gain, I have to say I was relieved to take my boots off and sit down.

We hadn’t actually sat down at all on our walk out of fear not complying to lockdown rules and that we might be told we weren’t exercising and were instead having a picnic, and so lunch was on the move (as we the tea and coffee breaks!).

I hope to get out on a hike again soon, and I hope you too find time to tie up your walking boots and get out on a good long walk.

A good walk, for me, is the perfect reset button — although, the bath afterwards for an aching and cold body is needed for the physical side of the reset too!

Keep safe and well. Sending my love to you all x