January
January was there for me to learn about Lena. I was quite quick to learn that she likes to sniff the breeze and we've been out in no stiffer winds this year than in January above Stanage. The flap-o-meter reading was high.
February
While there were many special moments in Whtitby in February, our visit to RSPB Bempton was mind-blowing - mentally and physically.
March
There were a few walks in March that were pretty special, in that TSK managed to come along, or Lena and I were out nice and late to catch the moon, or just those special, crispy icy days. Then there was also a trip to Wombwell to the pedal car races, where me and Lena sneaked off with the camera and, until today, I did not know I got this shot.
April
April was so FULL but our trip to Aberdeen has to take the top spot. Such wonderful sunshine and great to catch up with friends I haven't seen in years.
However, this is my cheat month since there were also some excellent camping trips in April.
May
All right! All right! When you've got an incredibly photogenic dog, it's really difficult to chose highlights of each month. Our camp out for a summer fell race was ideal - secluded, pitched in daylight, undisturbed. Evesham had more sunshine and smiles than I could shake a stick at. I can't choose!
June
June rolled by in a series of toasting summer days. Glyn and Marie came to visit which gave us the brilliant opportunity for a lift out to the peak and a dog-walk home.
July
July had us in Surrey for a visit and no trip to Surrey is complete without some serious forestry.
August
August had a lot of good sunshine days and it was difficult to pick one but this day Lena had a photogenic moment and I sat in a deck chair and sketched a landscape for a few hours while she had a nap so it went down as one of the best long days in a while.
September
Everyone's seen my Glen Affric 3-day hike photos but I'm not sure I shared the sunset - from my bivi spot high up on the mountain. We went on to spend the best high-level day known to man (zero human interaction) and the hike out wasn't bad either. I realised I'd rather spend a few nice days in the Yorkshire Dales than ever again, repeat the 3 Peaks bike race without any cycling in my legs.
October
I really enjoyed Autumn flourishing in the Peak. Reservoir pics come as standard but you can't beat climbers on sun-baked rock in bracken.
November
November saw the arrival of the scooter but, more photogenic than that, a long, drawn out snap of hoary frost that's not been repeated in December. For 10 straight days, everything sparkled.
December
In December, I celebrated a major birthday with the shortest of trips to the Lakes. Driving half way across the country for one big walk and a couple of nights sleep has been something that's been missing from my life for a while. Let's call it environmental consciousness.
One week later and we've done more hikes from the back-door than is possible to enjoy. I admit, I tuned some of them out in favour of spending time with my favourite family people... but when we've got outside the edges of the valley, we've mourned for the loss of green, embraced the brown and looked forward to the renewal of the seasons next year...
then we slipped away to the coast to wash the sea into our hair again.
What's in the bag for next year? 
On the final day of 2023, I packed my old 3-4 season tent, big sleeping bag and a day's worth of food and headed out for a final lap of the valley "fully loaded" to see if it's still do-able and to start my weight training programme for next year one day early. I'm not big on gyms any more so this way seemed more productive.
I over-packed tent weight and under-packed on food / fuel for a full 24 hours out so I will at least know what the weight feels like - even though we won't be committing to a night out because the dog hates fireworks. So tonight we'll be sleeping under a slate roof.
Why the backpack? Well this year, I'm aiming to tally up a bunch more Munros, having realised I covered a lot of the hard ones during my twenteens and am now at an age where I relish the more "boring" ones - starting with those that have a big walk-in - while I still can.
Carrying the pack reminded me that I need to strengthen my big muscles some more but also how important my little core muscles are too, to the balance of Trep. So if I can sneak myself away to the yoga mat a few more times a week, that's also on the cards. I've had enough of being unfit and "a bit shit" this year so my resolution for '24 is to get back to fitness with purpose and start getting myself "out there" again, back to my happy place (mountains), without the encumbrance of any race performances.
And I'm really rather looking forward to it. I hope you're looking forward to 2024 too.
In stats (walking this year)
January - 274 km
February - 237 km
March - 298 km
April - 271 km
May - 270 km
May - 270 km
June - 164 km
July - 270 km
July - 270 km
August - 218 km
September - 264 km
October - 261 km
November - 168 km + scooter - 129 km = 297 km
December - 212 km + scooter - 128 km = 340 km
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