Getting back out into the Northern Fells again on Saturday, I decided to try and automatically geo-tag my photos using the tracklog from my GPS. There appear to be various solutions for this. Essentially, you need an application to read your GPS's tracklog, which you save in a folder with all the associated photographs. The geo-tagging application compares the date/time stamp of the photo with the tracklog, and writes the co-ordinates into the EXIF data of each photograph.

The walk was in the North West corner of the Northern Fells (Wainwright, book 5) and the album is HERE.

After a bit of Googling for reviews and ratings of suitable (ie/ free!) solutions, I settled on Geosetter, which is a German product with the option to install in English. For my purposes, very quick and easy to use. I just exported the tracklog as a GPX file, saved it in the images folder, and Geosetter did the rest.

The absolute top tip if you intend to do this is to ensure that the time on your GPS and the time on your camera is in sync. Being a technically minded person I obviously did exactly that - after all, I'm not stupid. Unfortunately, I didn't check to see if the date was set correctly...

So, my second product endorsement is for another application from the same author, called Exifer. This allows you to batch process EXIF data to correct the time/date stamps. It also does a lot more than that, but all I needed was the date change, and it worked great. The product is discontinued, but as stated, it's quick, simple and did what I needed.

However, remember to check the date and time in your camera, and it will be a lot easier!

"to those who travel alone, the solitary wanderers on the fells,
who find contentment in the companionship of the mountains"
A. Wainwright

Click here for route. (Can't upload track because my GPS is missing. Doh!!) Click here for Picassa gallery.

Even when I was seriously into backpacking (or, for the "first" time, as I'd prefer to think!) for some reason I'd never visited Skiddaw. There's a lot of negativity about it, but not sure it's entirely justified. This route took in a fine ridge walk along Ullock Pike, Long Side, and a short detour to Carl Side. There was a nice scramble up a scree slope (if such a thing is possible) to the shoulder of Broad End and then a bit of a detour to visit Little Man. Then back over Skiddaw and descending via Bakestall.

I was also trying out my new Bridgedale Comfort Trekker socks, which are a midweight sock in a merino and coolmax blend. Very nice socks, extremely soft and comfortable, but will have to see how they stand up after a few washes... not literally of course!

I parked up at Peter House Farm, next to the access road that leads to Skiddaw Forest, wanting to have the car a bit more convenient for the end of the walk. This meant a couple of miles walk to Barkbeth Farm where you begin to get onto the ridge. The path was a little indistinct in places, disappearing in a field for 100 yards or so, but kept on in the same direction and it suddenly became a clear farm track again. Couple of fords to cross too, but managed to step across without the water getting over the top of my Moabs.

The path to Ullock Pike was a highlight of the route, steep in places and the opportunity for a couple of little scrambles where the path passed around some steep rocky patches. It was also the best weather of the day and excellent views down to Bassenthwaite Lake. It was also around here that I caught a first, and unfortunately final, glimpse of Skiddaw's summit.

From Ullock Pike I followed the ridge a short way to Long Side, second Wainwright of the day, before pushing on to Carl Side. It's a fairly rounded summit, but with good views into the valley and of Little Man. While the skies were clear, there are fantastic views across Bassenthwaite and Derwent Water, from here and more especially from Little Man.

Spent a while on Carl Side, trying to decide on a sensible route to Skiddaw Little Man. I didn't want to take the main path to the Summit of Skiddaw as it felt like too much doubling back on myself. It looked like there was some sort of track horizontally across the scree below the south summit, but when I got up close, it was far too indistinct.

I avoided the main path anyway, taking a more direct route straight to the south summit. Trekking pole was essential and crampons would have been useful! This aspect of my route was a bit contrived - I just didn't want to miss out Little Man when I was so close, but if you were looking for a proper circular walk, it's a detour that perhaps doesn't make a lot of sense, involving a fair bit of descent before retracing your steps later.

Fantastic views from Skiddaw Little Man, but the clouds were closing in again and the wind was getting ridiculous! The path from here to Skiddaw is admitedly a bit dull, and I suppose this is where some of it's "not interesting" bad rap comes from. As above, approach via Ullock Pike and I think it's a very enjoyable climb.

Had to take shelter below a small cairne so I could hold the camera steady to get this shot of the trig point at the summit of Skiddaw. There was no let up in the cloud, unfortunately, until I started dropping down towards Bakestall. It was an interesting time at the summit. Had a snack and a drink in one of the stone shelters and talked to a few people who were sheltering or passing by. Every few minutes you'd hear the relentless whipping rattle of waterproofs and you'd know someone else was on their way!

Bakestall was not a Wainwright I was familiar with, but it consists of some impressive cliffs high above the Whitewater Dash falls. This had been my sixth and final Wainwright of the day, before the short walk back to the car.

Final look back along the valley towards Whitewater Dash. From here it was a short walk back the car; maybe a mile. It had been a day of six Wainwrights, bringing me up to 14 in total. All very enjoyable, although it was a pity about the wind and lack of visibility from Skiddaw. In the picture below, the cloud started to roll down over the cliffs of Bakestall as if they were being poured from above.

One thing I probably do need to find is a better Mountain Forecast. I've been using Accuweather which are generally excellent. I'm not a metorologist, but if the mountain forcast for 2900 feet says that the cloud-base is at 30,000 feet, that sort of suggests to me that a 3000 foot peak should not be shrouded in low cloud. Clearly this data requires some sort of weather forecasting logic that I haven't quite grasped!

Next decision, whether to stick with the Northern Fells and mop up the remaining 10 fells. I bought the "Eastern Fells" second edition last week, so might go there for a bit of variety! Watch this space...

About to don raincoat and walk down to the gym. Don't think it's stopped raining since breakfast, so have been spending a bit of time thinking about where to go for my next Wainwrights trip. I'm thinking Skiddaw, via Ullock Pike, Long Side, Carl Side, Little Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall. Six Wainwrights, bringing the count to 14, and leaving a nice round 200 to go!

Will have to see how the time's going towards the end of the day, but I do think there would also be a pleasant diversion from the Whitewater Dash waterfall up to Great Calva; Whitewater Dash being the waterfall below Bakestall. Would add about 5km to the route, so should be fine, provided I make an early start. (Has to be a first time for everything!) I would think there should be some good views from Great Calva. Will be tempting, as according to shop psychology, the number 199 is infinitely preferable to its slightly higher neighbour. For example, why would you dream of selling a sofa for a straight £1000 when you can sell one for that almightily convenient sum of £999 and 99 pence?

Cycled to the Metro Centre on Saturday with the idea of looking for a new pair of walking socks and picking up a couple of waterproof stuff-sacks that were on special offer in Field & Trek.

I can confirm that cycling is quicker and almost infinitely preferable to the two buses I'd have needed to make the same trip. It's a pretty leisurely 20km round trip, about 30 minutes on the way down, and that's the scenic route along the Tyne stopping for a few minutes for a drink on the river bank. If you're a cyclist bound for the Metro Centre and have ever wondered about the nature of the "six secure and covered bike parking areas" their website proclaims, they consist of a plastic smoking shelter, outside, with a rail to chain your bike to! I guess I shouldn't have expected armed guards and retina scanners. Maybe there's a camera pointed at it? They seem to have plenty.

My plan was working perfectly up until the point I walked into Field & Trek and saw the poster saying "Terra Nova Laser Competition" followed thereafter by the words "£140 while stocks last". Half the RRP, and at least £60 cheaper than I'd seen on the web. Had to give into temptation. There were two left, and someone else was eyeing up the other one. The Photons were also reduced, but only to £245.

Had a quick test pitch in the back garden this morning, in a slight breeze. It's actually bigger than I imagined and, compared to my old Robert Saunders Fellpacker, a bit fiddly to pitch. Still don't think I've got the tension exactly right, and in the setup above, a strong gust would probably bring the fly into contact with the inner; but with modern materials, maybe that doesn't matter as much as it used to. Bit more practice required, but OK for an initial test run. At about 6'1" (I guess) I can sit cross-legged in the inner, head just brushing the top if I sit up straight.

Unless I'm missing something obvious, the pitching instructions consist of a small printed label inside the tent bag, less than A5 size. Might have been nice to have had a few more tips, but I suppose a few practice runs will sort it out - and there are tutorials on YouTube, and a video on the Terra Nova site. While looking for such hints and tips, I re-read this article over at BlogPackingLight where there's also some really useful mods to the Laser Competition that help resolve some of the more fiddly aspects of the pitching.

Still on the lookout for a rucksack, stove, and decent sleeping bag, but will just keep an eye open for any bargains and stick with day-walks for the time being. I'm thinking Skiddaw might be next, via Ullock Pike and Carl Side. Blog post to follow later this week!