This blog tracks my progress on a “virtual” hike of the Pennine Way. Virtual because I live in Vancouver, and transporting my mind and surgery recovery regime goals to a real life hike I have long admired seems like a good idea.

I have just completed open heart surgery, quadruple arterial bypass, and am starting into a walking regime for recovery. Walking as exercise is not strange to me, I live adjacent the Vancouver seawall, and walk it regularly. The seawall path is an amazing and pleasant LEVEL place to hike, run, bike, etc; to meet interesting people from all over the world, watch dogs and kids playing, dragon boats and scullers training in in False Creek, the City buildings, the North Shore Mountains and constantly changing views. 

And it rains a lot here, and so on heavy rain days I walk the apartment hallways. The only relief from boredom is the changing door numbers.

So I decided to do a virtual hike of the Pennine Way.

Parts of the Pennine Way are not unfamiliar, I was born and bred next to the moorlands at Ramsbottom, and hiked and walked on the moors regularly. I have childhood memories of the peak District area, and am familiar with the mid Ribble valley (the Yorkshire part of Lancashire) and around Malham. Three times in recent years my wife and I have stayed at Airton, near Malham, and walked parts of the Pennine Way daily.

Progress will be slow. I am starting out at under a mile a day, and slowly building up. My intent is to record what is happening on my virtual journey, post photos from a variety of sources, interesting news items, maybe some posts from real life travellers. I may augment it with what I encounter on my real time walking. This my first ever blog, I am a 69 year old techno dwarf, so bear with me as I set out on this learning curve and healing journey.