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From the first top a path, sometimes faint, takes you to the summit of Croaghcarragh, via a short sharp slope. The path then continues along the ridge to the cairned summit of Urris Hills, which is another fine view point.

Choices, if you were traversing the full ridge, a descent to Crummie's Bay with its sandy beach and the option of a paddle in the sea is hard to resist. The 12-13 km back to your starting point, may help to focus the mind on ensuring a second car is left at the finish. However, it is not an unreasonable distance to do in summer, given that most would be on tracks & a minor road.

We continued to a ring contour on the ridge before descending (avoiding steep ground) to Lough Fad, a wonderfully dark lochan with a rocky ridge behind it. From there, we followed the river down to a lane, which took us down to the road and a short walk along tarmac back to our car.

The Challenge Website is a bit lost at the moment - it appears that it has been moved to a new host, but the address does not, as yet, point to it.

So, in the meantime if you use www.tgochallenge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk you will go straight to the right place. Probably a good idea to bookmark it ("add to favoutites" in Microsoft parlance).

Thanks to John Jocys and Theo Fokker who put this information on the message board - the only reason it is here as well is in case you navigate to the message board from the website...in which case you won't have seen it!

The outline details for next years 30th anniversary Challenge are there under the "News" section. Worth a peek, especially if you are an old hand, as Roger is looking for more 'imagination' from us! What can he mean?

Well, new to us - the actual story is from 1989.

It's another great report from Peter Goddard. I haven't worked out the distance and ascents on this crossing, but there are one or two big days in there!

You can go straight to the story HERE.

A petition is not a campaign. It is a start - no more than that. Andy Howell expands on this point on his own excellent 'Must be This Way' blog - clearly the views of a seasoned campaigner who has padded along the corridors of power in his time.

So where are we now? 2000 signatures on a petition proves what? Only that 2000 people (out of a population of around 60,000,000) support the proposal. So in essence, we have demonstrated that 0.003% of the UK population support the wildcamping petition, or in terms of votes (there were 44,401,238 registered voters in 2001) 0.005% of the electorate.

Hardly going to get the government quaking in their boots, is it? No. Twenty times as many people (41,000) petitioned to have Jeremy Clarkson as Prime Minister (a considerable improvement perhaps, but, sadly, that hasn’t happened either).

So, this is the just the beginning of winning hearts and minds. If you wrote to, or emailed your MP, he might just have had a peek at your website, so construct your arguments with due care. A measured and credible approach is required - Oh, alright, no ranting - OK?

My MP, Richard Spring, wrote to Hilary Benn on my behalf, and received a letter from Jonathan Shaw who rejoices in the title "Minister for Marine, Landscape and Rural Affairs and Minister for the South East" (no, I’ve never heard of him either) so I was acquainted with the official position some time ago. I regarded it as a neutral stance, which I found both surprising and vaguely encouraging.

What is needed now is a steady campaign, gaining publicity and building support. Eventually it will gain the same currency and credence as the CRoW legislation did. Yes, it will take time. Maybe a long time. There really are problems peculiar to England, Wales and Northern Ireland that need to be addressed. Much of the land is managed very differently to Scotland. The new Marine Bill is the current government access project, and one can see that suddenly advocating free access to wild camping on top might considerably increase opposition to the access proposals in this bill, limited as they are.

So I say let the Marine Bill pass. Keep up the publicity – let’s at least out Clarkson Clarkson!

We haven't really lit the touchpaper yet.

Softly, softly catchee monkey.

Mike Knipe's 2008 Challenge account is now available in the TGO Challenge section. Another cracking read from Mike - and this time with pictures!

More to follow - The next is from 1989!

I'll be updating the site generally over the next weeks (yes, yes, I know the 'events' page is way out of date) so if anyone wants to drop in a new story or photo(s), now is a good time. Just go to the Contact Us page to email us or notify us of any new events.

Toodle pip for now.

There are so many landscapes - let's celebrate them all!

Up rather too early at 4.00 am tomorrow, and away at 4.30 to Alan's place for our taxi to Stansted - then Scotland for two glorious weeks on the TGO Challenge.

So I'll be wildcamping within the law for a change - which reminds me, my MP, Richard Spring, sent me a letter today. He has evidently acquainted himself with the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, and says that he recognises the value of our interests.

As always, this has been referred to Hilary Benn for comment.With any luck Hilary might just begin to get the message that there is a tide of opinion that is worthy of recognition.

If you haven't signed the petition , do so now, and follow it up with a letter to your MP - you'll find all you need to know, and draft letters here.

Well, I'm on holiday now, so I'll leave the running of the world to you lot for the next two weeks. Please look after it. Ta.