Hiking, climbing and the great outdoors

One of the things I have always enjoyed doing since I was a little child is to go exploring in the countryside. To pack a bag and just set out walking somewhere I have never been before and with only the basics to survive. One of my favourites is to not just spend a day exploring but to spend the night out in the wild with only the things I absolutely need to survive.

Over the years one of the things I have regularly had to use is my knowledge of foods available in the countryside, what berries I can eat, where to find fresh water and how to navigate when you have lost your map. All these skills I learned from my Grandad (better than Ray Mears) who learned it all when he was a child from his Dad and Grandad who learnt it from.... you get the point. This information has been learned and passed on time and time again in my family right down to me and I am able to survive in many circumstances in which others would find almost impossible.

Now I feel absolutely blessed to have been taught all of this because it gives me opportunities many others do not have. Some of the scenes and vistas I have seen while out hiking are simply breath taking, scenes that when you see them you realise God has an amazing sense of beauty and has created an amazing world for us. Also when you go to the other extreme and pay attention to the very tiny things you realise that God has not only made these huge sweeping landscapes that look amazing, He also paid the most minute detail to the workings of it so that it may stay beautiful too.

Hopefully now that January is almost over and the worst of winter is hopefully gone I am going to be able to get out and do much more exploring and climbing in the coming weeks and months. Being out and isolated in the middle of nowhere but feeling that sense of being completely surrounded by Him and His work is a great feeling. A feeling that is conducive to some of the most amazing prayer times I have ever had, because being completely alone allows me to drop any and all barriers and truly stand there open and honest with God with no distractions, no stray thoughts in the nearest thing to perfect peace I have ever found.

So I am looking forward to getting back out in to the countryside soon, exploring new places and visiting old favourites. Hoping to also spend some more time out on the hills with some friends of mine who have also been known to climb a hill or two (even if it requires a certain amount of encouragement). Here is to a year full of hiking weekends and lots of beautiful mountain top views to share.