In May and June 2022, I will be hiking the Pennine Way in the UK. The Pennine Way is a 268 mile (435 km) long distance trail stretching from Edale in the south to Kirk Yetholm just over the Scottish border.

It was the first long distance trail created in the UK opening in 1965 and is notorious for its bad weather, muddy stretches, wet feet and rugged terrain.

The difference between the Pennine Way and other trails I’ve hiked is that, on most days, the trail starts and finishes in a town. This usually means a big climb to start the day and a long descent to end it with the bulk of the day being walking along the top of the Pennines. Some days the trail actually goes through a town (Gargrave for example) all of which means that the Pennine Way does not require large food and water carries as many other trails.

In terms of the Pennines themselves, they are described on Wikipedia as follows:

The Pennines, also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England:  North West England on the west, and North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commonly described as the “backbone of England” the range stretches northwards from the Peak District at the southern end, through the South Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines to the Tyne Gap, which separates the range from the Cheviot Hills across the Anglo-Scottish border (some definitions include the Cheviot Hills). South of the Aire Gap is a western spur into east Lancashire, comprising the Rossendale Fells, West Pennine Moors and the Bowland Fells in North Lancashire. The Howgill Fells and Orton Fells in Cumbria are sometimes considered to be Pennine spurs to the west of the range. The Pennines are an important water catchment area with numerous reservoirs in the head streams of the river valleys.

The North Pennines and Nidderdale are designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), as are Bowland and Pendle Hill. Parts of the Pennines are incorporated into the Peak District National Park and Yorkshire Dales National Park. Britain’s oldest long-distance footpath, the 268-mile (429 km) Pennine Way, runs along most of the Pennine Chain

I’ll be hiking the trail with my good buddy Ben also know as the social media influencer TwoSocksHikes over on Instagram. Our plan is to fly via Dubai into Manchester and then catch the train across the Pennines into Leeds where we’ll be based for the first few days before our hike. After the hike, we’ll also be taking some time to do some sightseeing around the south and London.

The Pennine Way will no doubt be challenging – in part due to the weather and, in part, due to the lack of training for this one. Stay tuned!