Author Archives: Peter Ireland

Coast to Coast Day 1: St. Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

It took us just over 7 hours to walk these 14.5 miles. The weather was kind, providing some beautiful views while also giving us a taste of how English rain can be cold and wet. The highlight for everyone was the walk along the cliff tops of St. Bees Head, looking out over the IrishContinue reading “Coast to Coast Day 1: St. Bees to Ennerdale Bridge”

Coast to Coast Day 0: Ready to Start after a fine visit to Ulverston.

We have made it to St. Bees! If you want to know why we are here, scroll down to where I explain this “Coast to Coast” adventure we are doing to walk across England, which starts here in St. Bees. We left Houston on Friday evening, leaving our houses, pets, and plants under the watchfulContinue reading “Coast to Coast Day 0: Ready to Start after a fine visit to Ulverston.”

Barker Dam: Checking out my drone for our Coast to Coast trip

After our Grand Canyon trip of 5 days, it took me another 5 days to sort through the footage on my computer and post on Instagram, Relive, and this blog. That’s an issue for England where I want to post daily about each of our 10-15-mile days. In addition, I hope to get some greatContinue reading “Barker Dam: Checking out my drone for our Coast to Coast trip”

Counting Down the Days to Start the Coast to Coast

Our adventure is getting so close that I can smell the sea air and feel the wind in my face at the top of the Lake District fells. We fly overnight to Heathrow on Friday 24th June before getting a long shuttle from Heathrow to Ulverston to avoid the planned rail strike. After a dayContinue reading “Counting Down the Days to Start the Coast to Coast”

Grand Canyon Day 6 – The Hoover Dam

Samuel’s interest in the Glen Canyon Dam made me think of visiting Hoover. It looked like they had a cool tour inside the dam, with tickets only available in-person, on the day. With a 3:48pm flight out of Vegas, which was 30 mins away from Hoover, we had time. While it meant another 5:30am start,Continue reading “Grand Canyon Day 6 – The Hoover Dam”

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Grand Canyon Day 5 – The Epic Buckskin Gulch

It is wrong to group such a standalone classic with the Grand Canyon, but that was the name of our trip, so I’ll have to live with it. Buckskin Gulch is truly the classic slot canyon. I’ve had my eye on it for over a decade. It was extremely exciting to finally do it, andContinue reading “Grand Canyon Day 5 – The Epic Buckskin Gulch”

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Grand Canyon Day 4 – Rest Day at Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend

After 3 days in the Grand Canyon, we knew a day off would be a good idea. Once we’d arrived in the area, we realized there was lots of easy stuff to do! Peek-a-boo canyon looked exciting, but one review indicated how easy it was to get stuck in the sand, even with an AWD.Continue reading “Grand Canyon Day 4 – Rest Day at Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend”

Grand Canyon Day 3 – From the Esplanade to the North Rim

The overnight wind had amplified the chilliness of the ~50 degF overnight temps. We’d chosen down blankets over sleeping bags to save weight, and I’d got a bit chilled a couple of times, but Samuel had been fine. The “5.4 degF per 1000 ft” rule seemed to be applying well. The day was bringing aContinue reading “Grand Canyon Day 3 – From the Esplanade to the North Rim”

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Grand Canyon Day 2 – Deer Creek and Night Hiking

The night had been filled with thousands of stars. The temperature had dropped from 80 degF when we felt asleep to a refreshing 60 degF when we woke, but the ground was still warm! We had both slept well and felt surprisingly refreshed. Our plan was just a 4.5-mile hike along the Colorado to DeerContinue reading “Grand Canyon Day 2 – Deer Creek and Night Hiking”

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Grand Canyon Day 1 – Bill Hall to the Colorado

Hiking from the North Rim to the river in a remote corner of the Grand Canyon National Park was a daunting prospect. We were packed with the lightest and least equipment that we could, and a new approach to food that I hoped would work. I found the best overview of the route at AllTrails.com,Continue reading “Grand Canyon Day 1 – Bill Hall to the Colorado”

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Buffalo Bayou Paddling Trail: Terry Hershey Park to Woodway Memorial Park

After I had completed the lower “half” of the trail, I was eager to do the top half. I found few accounts of other’s adventures, but one suggested some obstacles, which made me a bit concerned. I was reluctant to do this by myself the first time, so I waited for the right opportunity. AfterContinue reading “Buffalo Bayou Paddling Trail: Terry Hershey Park to Woodway Memorial Park”

Hiking Through a Forest Fire on The LSHT Grand Loop

How did we get here? I’d wanted to hike the Eagle Rock Loop in early January with buddies Vance and Max, but it didn’t happen. Vance and I managed to arrange the Grand Loop starting February 10th, a 3-day, 2-night, 30-mile loop following 18 miles of the Little Lake Creek Loop (LLCL) from LSHT TrailheadContinue reading “Hiking Through a Forest Fire on The LSHT Grand Loop”

Scanning Scrapbooks (and more)

Before everything went digital, Janet used to create inspiring scrapbooks of our adventures. They sit on the shelf, occasionally brought out for some fantastic memories, but there remains the nagging concern that they are not “backed up.” While a digital copy cannot do them justice, I’ve just finished scanning the scrapbooks so this post isContinue reading “Scanning Scrapbooks (and more)”

How I Shot the Sunrise With My Drone

This is a quick description of how I shot the sunrise photos I posted separately. Most of the work is done by a DJI Mini 2 drone and in Adobe’s Lightroom software, both of which I am quite new to. This was my second attempt to take sunrise photos from our house. I’d had aContinue reading “How I Shot the Sunrise With My Drone”

Sunrise Over Downtown Houston

Waking up this morning before dawn to catch the sunrise, my first thought went to Louisiana as Hurricane Ida bears down on them. My photo feed yesterday brought back memories of Harvey, and there are many comparisons between Ida and Katrina which made landfall 16 years ago in the same week. I prayed for safetyContinue reading “Sunrise Over Downtown Houston”

Samuel’s Scouting Journey

This post is about Samuel’s 3-4 years spent in scouts. Hopefully you will like the photos and stories, and get an appreciation of what scouts is about and what it takes to advance. It all started in January 2016 with our first campout at Alligator Creek with Troop 13 which was affiliated with Samuel’s school.Continue reading “Samuel’s Scouting Journey”

Reflections on the Collegiate Loop

My 16-year-old son Samuel and I completed this loop over 11 nights/12 days in the summer of 2021. The daily adventures are captured in other blog posts on this site. This post aims to provide background in the hope that it might guide or even inspire others. It is a fantastic hike but is bestContinue reading “Reflections on the Collegiate Loop”

Collegiate Loop Day 12 – Hunt Lake to Monarch Crest

Our last day of the loop. The weather was kind, but an unexpected detour briefly dampened spirits. We were not going to let is get us down: Up at 5. There had been beautiful stars and moon earlier. Tent was very wet but we packed everything up with a new energy knowing today was theContinue reading “Collegiate Loop Day 12 – Hunt Lake to Monarch Crest”