I'm off up to the White Lion at Cray (the highest pub in Wharfedale) tonight for a weekend of walking and drinking with 9 other blokes! Should be fun... We head off twice a year (spring and autumn) for our walking weekends, staying at great country pubs and then doing a full day's walk on the Saturday and an easier stroll on the Sunday.

This is what life's all about... two days spent walking through some of England's finest landscapes in the company of friends and then a convivial evening at a traditional Dales pub with its stone-flagged bar, oak beams and roaring fire. Not to mention the local ale... it's Copper Dragon and Moorhouse's at the White Lion.

On Saturday, we're going to climb up to the summit of Buckden Pike (703 metres) then walk along the ridge down to Kettlewell for lunch. The afternoon section is back up through Upper Wharfedale to Cray via Starbotton (Fox & Hounds) and Buckden (Buck Inn).

cheers, Mark