What is Paddy Dillon doing in 2010?
Paddy Dillon walks hard for a living and is always juggling a variety of projects. His work can take him anywhere, and at any time of the year. Next destination - Everywhere!
Last year's projects - Paddy explored the Canary Islands of La Gomera and La Palma for a month apiece, delivering the first two manuscripts for guidebooks which will cover the whole archipelago over the next few years. These books will include day-walks, as well as new long-distance trails, such as the GR 130, GR 132 and the island-hopping GR 131. After a month-long trip to Sardinia, the groundwork was laid for a guidebook to the most spectacular walking on the island, and the route research will run into 2010. An urgent request to write a new guidebook covering the Pennine Way was fulfilled in the summer. An amazing trek along the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland took place before the winter weather effectively closed the trail.
Guidebook projects - Paddy has already started work on a five-volume series of guidebooks that will eventually explore walking opportunities throughout the Canary Islands, and recently returned from exploring Tenerife. The island is crowned by El Teide, rising to 3718m, in a national park mostly lying above 2000m. A return trip to Sardinia has just been completed, so all the route research has been finished for a guidebook to a range of stunningly scenic walks between the highest mountains and the coast. Paddy once wrote a guidebook covering the Channel Islands, and this is due to be split into two volumes, one covering Jersey, and the other covering Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm. The route research is now complete, and as a result of his efforts, Paddy has been told that he is the first person to walk the brand-new Channel Islands Way. This summer features an extended trip to Iceland, checking out a range of amazing and dramatic walking routes. Paddy has also written a chapter about the GR5 through the French Alps, to be included in a new guidebook called Trekking in the Alps.
Out and About - Paddy finds the time to visit all sorts of odd places for short periods throughout the year. He often delivers 'talks about walks' at various venues around Britain, and has just completed a whole weekend of talks and seminars for The Outdoors Show at the National Exhibition Centre again. Topics included the Pennine Way, GR20 through Corsica, GR221 through Mallorca and Lightweight Trekking.
The English Lake District - The Lake District is on Paddy's doorstep and is visited regularly throughout the year to keep abreast of route changes and other developments, and because it is one of the finest places anyone could ever wish to walk!