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Although a keen walker for many years, living on the
South Coast, David had not previously done much fell-walking apart from
an occasional trip to Wales. He had, however, for many years wanted to
climb Scafell Pike and Helvellyn, but the 350+ miles distance to get to
Cumbria had previously put us off making the trip to achieve his ambition.
Our first trip, in April 2000, was only for a weekend,
and we climbed Scafell Pike, and resolved to return in the autumn, to
climb Helvellyn. We had fallen in love with the beautiful scenery, and
realised that the journey, although long and tedious, was well worth making.
By the time we returned, in October 2000, David's idea
of climbing the two mountains had somehow grown out of all proportion.
Whilst reminiscing one evening about the wonderful views and the exhilaration
of climbing Scafell Pike, David suggested that it would be great to climb
the top 100 Lakeland Mountains, and so the next trip to Cumbria was not
to complete David's hitherto modest ambition of two peaks, but to start
a much bigger adventure altogether.
The way we decided to do this, was to compile a list
of the top one hundred mountains (which, as you can see on the Mountains
Page, was easier said than done), then to work our way through this
list, at our own leisure and whilst enjoying good walking and splendid
views, rather than simply ticking them off as quickly as possible. The
idea is that I take David's photo at the summit of the fell to make it
count. In the mist this has not always been easy, but you can just about
see him in most pictures! Our main obstacle, of course, is the distance
and the lack of suitable local walking to prepare us for the fells, so
we aim to make at least three trips a year, when we walk for three or
so days in the high fells, with breaks in between when we might do smaller
fells, or simply take in the views and visit local attractions.
I created this website to monitor our progress, which
was of course hampered greatly in 2001 with the outbreak of Foot and Mouth,
but we are steadily continuing to make progress, and I would not be surprised
if, when we get near the end of the top one hundred fells, David should
suggest that we aim to climb them all, which is why I have left all the
other fells in our list!
Photos
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FUJIFILM MX-500 DIGITAL
COMPACT CAMERA
David brought his film camera with him on our first trip to the
Lake District. Unfortunately, it broke while on Scafell Pike and
all his pictures were ruined. Luckily, I had my digital camera in
the rucksack, and I used that instead.
The MX-500 was my first digital camera, bought back in 1999, in
the dark ages of digital photography. With 1.3 megapixels, it was
a good camera for its day, but not compared to the quality of an
SLR and today's digital cameras.
I had a 16Mb memory card for this camera - quite a lot at the time,
but still not a lot of memory when having to store the photos from
several walks until we got home, as I tend to take my photos at
high resolution, then reduce copies down for web use as required.
I therefore have not got a lot of pictures from our early walks.
I used the MX-500 for our walks from April 2000 to September
2001. |
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NIKON F60 FILM SLR CAMERA
Due to the limited memory, the indifferent quality
and the inability to use the MX-500 for macro photography (my main
interest is wildlife photography), I brought my F60 SLR camera with
a 35-80mm Nikon lens along on our trip in October 2000
and my photos from that weekend are taken with a combination of
the two cameras.
Unfortunately, the weather was very poor all
weekend, so I never got any decent shots anyway and I decided not
to bother carry the additional weight on future trips. |
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FUJIFILM FINEPIX 6900 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA
I replaced the MX-500 with the 6900 in February
2002, as it was a good compromise for wildlife photography, with
the price of Digital SLRs still astronomical.
The 6900 is a 6 recorded megapixel camera, with
macro and the ability to add telephoto and wide-angle lenses, so
it is a hybrid in a way between a compact and an SLR. it also has
full manual functions, which makes it a very good camera all-round.
I gradually increased the memory cards, as the
prices tumbled, to 4 x 128Mb. This gave me the chance to take more
photos, and when staying in hotels and youth hostels also started
bringing my laptop, so I could clear the cards in the evening after
walking, ready for the next day.
I have been using the 6900 from our trip in March
2002 to March 2007. Although I am now relying more on my
Fuji S2 Pro Digital SLR, the 6900 still comes in very handy when
the weather is poor, as it is compact enough to bring out for a
quick photo and then put it away again before it gets too wet. |
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FUJIFILM S2 PRO DIGITAL SLR
The prices of Digital SLR finally started to
tumble in 2003, and by early Spring 2004 I invested in the S2 Pro.
The S2 Pro is a 12 recorded megapixel Digital
SLR, based on the Nikon F80 body. As such it has a Nikon F-mount,
which meant my existing lenses were compatible, although the 1.5
conversion factor meant I was effectively left without a wide-angle
lens, so I did invest in a Sigma 18-50 digital lens, which is what
I now use for my Lakeland photography.
It is a large camera, and I was not convinced
about carrying it around in the fells all day to start with, so
it was not until June 2004 I started using it in the fells. Although
it is obviously bulkier, the weight difference is not too great
as the Sigma lens is very lightweight, and the potential additional
quality in photos on a good day more than makes up for it. I still
use the 6900 in the rain, though, as I am not brave enough to find
out whether it is waterproof.
I have been using the S2 Pro from June
2004 to date. |
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HP R507 COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERA
I am always coming across a potential photo, but cannot carry my
large cameras with me all the time, so when we came across a good
deal on this very compact 4 megapixel camera in a chemist shop in
Hawkshead, David bought it for me to keep in my handbag, so I will
stop moaning about that shot I missed out on because I didn't have
a camera with me.
Another benefit is when we are walking in rain and I am reluctant
to get my SLR out, I can quickly get a picture with the little R507
and get it put away again before it gets wet.
I have been using the R507 from September 2005 to date. |
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Sony Ericsson K800i CAMERA PHONE
The occasional picture may crop up from my phone, as this is also
a Sony Cybershot 3.2 megapixel camera with quite advanced features,
so I am increasingly using it alongside my other cameras.
I have been using the K800i from November 2006 to date. |
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Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 Digital Camera
Due to on-going problems with my hands and general strength, I
had to consider using a more lightweight camera than the S2 Pro
for walks as I was no longer able to hold it steady without a tripod.
I chose this Sony camera as it is lightweight and has a powerful
zoom, and I am getting some great results with it.
I have been using the DSC-H2 from April 2007 to date.
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