I was in Geneva last week and wanted to walk up Mount Saleve which is just over the border in France, however none of the main routes up it were mapped on OpenStreetMap.

One of my colleagues confirmed where the start of the main trail going up the North face was, and as I was itching to climb my first mountain I decided to map it whilst I was at it.

It was a long climb up the Grande Gorge trail to the top of Saleve from the trailhead at Route de Verdaz in Bossey. This was after a 2.5 mile walk from Veyrier, over the Swiss/French border and all the way to trailhead.

The climb itself is not for the faint hearted, as parts of the route are very steep, slippery and narrow. I managed it in 1 hour 40 minutes, taking it at a reasonable pace and with frequent short rests (the signpost at the trailhead says it takes 2 hours 45 minutes. I suspect that any fit person that is either a regular climber or hiker of 20 miles can do it in under 2 hours.

I think I did very well, especially as the highest I've been in the UK is only 350 metres on the South Downs.

Obviously I have now added the route to the OpenStreeMap site for all to use. If anyone wants the GPX or KML file of the trail then let me know.

Harrow Hill that is:

My only day of hiking/caching over the Easter weekend was a 21 mile hike up and down and over the south downs from Amberley to Harrow Hill via North Stoke, Camp Hill, The Burgh and Wepham Down. Taking in Blackpatch Hill, Harrow Hill and Barpham Hill too whilst there, before heading back up to the South Downs Way via Chantry Hill and it's spectacular views and then back to Amberley along the South Downs Way.

The weather was cool and overcast when I started at 09:30 in the morning, but by 13:00 the sun was out and it became very warm; only respite was the nice breeze and the occasional bit of shade along the way.

In fact the sun was so strong that I got sunburnt for the second time during a hike this month! Last weekend I did a 23 mile hike further south; from Arundel via Wepham and Burpham to Patching and through Angmering estate and surrounding areas and back again in a large figure of eight.

Loads of butterflies about now; Peacock, Speckled Wood, Sulpher, Orange Tip and plain White species. Many Skylarks singing and the occasional Lapwing with it's distinctive call. Lots of tit species spotted along with robins and the occasional bunting. Several raptors were seen using the thermals, as were many crows.

Numerous primroses and cowslips were spotted and all the trees are bursting into life. Lots of vegetation sprouting along with the less welcome stinging nettles which seemed to grace almost every cache I did today. Thankfully I had my walking pole and gloves and also a long sleeved fleece to protect me from their wrath.

Shame I had to go back to work today as I can already feel the need for another decent walk today :-(

I did manage to map some new footpaths around Harrow Hill and Blackpatch hill area, so that was worthwhile.

Decided I needed a long walk today, so jumped on the train and was in Amberley at 07:15 and walked up the South Downs Way across Bignor Hill to Glatting Beacon. I was here for a good walk and also to do a series of caches [70+].

I arrived at the first cache at 08:30. Spotted some other walkers getting out of the car with their dog. As it happens it wasn't the last time I saw them during the day. The whole series (plus 3 other separate caches) took exactly 10 hours to complete; finishing at 18:30 at number 70 not far from the Car Park near Glatting Beacon.

Just before the 4th cache in the series I'd seen the walkers again and yes they were fellow geocachers. I then spent the first half of the series in a game of virtual leapfrog; I'd zoom off and they would occasionally catch up when the cache was proving to be difficult to find, until we parted after number 17, but I'd caught up with them again by number 20 which was proving to be elusive. I zipped on again and during the second half of the series we were closer together and from about 45 we were almost together the rest of the way.

The other cachers proved very handy, especially towards the end of the series as I was starting to seriously flag after 22 miles [I'd already walked over 4 miles before starting the series].

After the series I walked another 4.5 miles in the dark back along the South Downs Way from near Bignor Hill to Amberley; glad to have a train ride to take me almost all of the way back home.

The countryside is amazing with excellent views and lots of wildlife and flora too in and around this area. If you are a geocacher it is well worth the effort to try and complete the Sussex Amble series in one go.

I kept a steady, but moderately quick pace all the way round, so you should be able to make it round in one day with an early start and allow up to 12 hours to complete it, before it gets dark.

The geocaching series is just about 20 miles in length, but I ended up walking 28.5 mile during the day including the walk from and to Amberley station.

Oh and as to the mapping I added several paths around Heyshott and fixed a number of others nearby as well as more paths mapped around Graffham and Duncton too.

A wonderful if exhausting walk :-D

Up early today (at 06:00) as couldn't sleep, so by 07:30 I was in Balcombe (the train station) hotfooting it towards Ardingly to attempt to do three series of geocaches in one day.

Lots of deer seen on route as well as plenty of birds seen and/or heard. Geese, Grebes, Woodpeckers, Pheasants, lots of ducks too as well as the non-water birds, magpies, pidgeons, thrushes, blackbirds, lots of tits, finches and sparrows too.

A beautiful day (at last). My first find was just before 08:00 and the last at 14:30, 24 caches attempted and found and over 16 miles of walking.

Loads of Primroses about and another walker informed me that the Rhododendrons were also in bloom; the smell of wild garlic was evident in many woodland areas. Lots of catkins and you can tell spring has arrived as the stinging nettles are growing again and there are buds breaking out on hawthorn and many other bushes and trees too.

All the series were done in reverse, well almost. This meant a fair bit of backtracking for the bonuses. That'll teach me! ;-)

The good news is that many footpaths in the area are now mapped, and I hope to get down that way again soon and map more and also along the Ouse towards Handcross, including Nymans Wood, around Slaugham and Staplefield too.

I decided to come back down on the train to Arundel on Saturday [28th June] to do some more geocaches in the area, including some in Rewell Woods and the areas around Madehurst [just off the A29]. This turned out to be another 17 mile hike in sunny and humid weather; although it was rather nice in the shade when in the woodland areas and there was a good breeze. Nice area with stunning views at times and very nice countryside all around. I really like this part of Sussex and I'll probably come back again in about a months time.

The terrain was very mixed, from open farmland and meadows to deep woods [new, old and a mixed too]. From the top of Rewell Woods you can see right down to the coast; both Bognor Regis and Littlehampton are easily recognised, even from here. The non-arable fields were either occupied by cows and bulls or sheep. The occasional field had some horses in them instead. Arable fields were full of wheat, maize or barley.

Lots of wildlife about on this mild sunny day, rabbits galore, a fox, loads of different birds too, including pheasants, green woodpeckers, magpies, lots of crows, jackdaws, rooks, pigeons and many robins, wrens, tits and blackbirds too. Insect life was also in abundance, especially the butterflies; Speckled Woods, Red Admirals and Peacocks being the most frequently spotted varieties, I also helped a large Stag Beetle across a road. Flora were represented by the dozens of wild orchids along the route, mainly early purple, common spotted and pyramid varieties, as well as loads of foxgloves and many vetches and worts.

I had hoped to get over to Binsted again, but I ran out of time and energy, so that will have to wait for another day.

As part of this trip I managed to map a number of footpaths and bridleways which I will add to the map shortly.

Late on Saturday aftrenoon I decided to tackle a new series of geocaches [see http://www.geocaching.com if you want to know what this is] that had been placed around Nuthurst. I also noticed that many of these were just off footpaths and bridleways I hadn't yet mapped in the area, so off I went.

I got dropped off at Mannings Heath by my brother-in-law and then wandered up through the woods towards Sedgewick Castle (remains of) and proceeded to find those of the series hidden on this side of Nuthusrt before tackling those on the other side.

There were six caches on this side of Nuthurst and the remaing four were the other side; not including the bonus cache for which you had to collect a clue from each of the others to work out where it was actually hidden; great fun.

Geocaching for me is just an excuse for a really good walk/hike and to have some fun along the way. It was a glorious sunny day; not too warm and the views were spectacular as this is a slightly hilly area, so from some parts, you can see for a fair few miles; lots of woods, meadows and other fields and the picturesque church at Nuthurst too. The church is a very popular place for weddings as it is very old; the churchyard and surrounding areas are also very well groomed.

As usual I spotted lots of wildlife about on this mild sunny day; rabits galore, loads of different birds too, including green woodpeckers, magpies, crows, pigeons and many robins, wrens and blackbirds. Insect life was also in abundance, especially the butterfiles; Speckled Woods, Red Admirals and Peacocks being the most frequently spotted varieties. Flora were represented by the dozens of wild orchids along the route, mainly early purple and pyramid varieties, as well as loads of foxgloves nodding their pink/purple bell flower spikes in the very welcome light breeze.

Once the series was completed, all ten, and yes I did find the bonus cache, it was back home to Horsham for a well deserved rest and some tea, via Mannings Heath again; 16 miles in all! A lovely circular walk.

All the footpaths/bridleways I used have now been mapped and added to the site.

I took the train down to Arundel on Sunday, which was a bright sunny and very warm day [25C]; as usual the train was late ;-). The purpose of the trip was to break in a new pair of boots, geocaching and some mapping too.

Once I arrived at Arundel station I proceeded to walk up through the town, past the castle, and down to the A27 roundabout before taking the first available footpath heading up towards Tortington Common. It was very muddy there; almost swampy in places. Once there I carried on through Binsted and Paine's Woods, before walking down to Goose Green and back to the station again, via Binsted Woods and Tortington Common once more. Parts of Binsted Wood were also very boggy and swampy in places. I managed to map many of the footpaths/bridleways in the area and plan to go back in the next 2-4 weeks and map other footpaths/tracks in the woods between Madehurst and the top of Arundel itself.

As usual there was lots of wildlife about; deer, rabbits, foxes, pheasents, lots of other more common birds too and some rather less common ones too such as yellowhammers and buntings. Didn't see too many people, although there were some youths camping in the far end of Binsted Wood.

Other walkers using this area should be aware that there are ticks about; found two wandering on my hands and arms, luckily I managed to remove them before they attached themselves to me. No I'm not squeamish, I just don't fancy Lyme Disease. Also, GPS reception is very patchy at times in these woods, even with a high sensitivity receiver such as a Garmin Etrex Legend Hcx. My other GPSr, a Garmin GPSmap 60c was losing lock very frequently.

The whole walk was 15 miles in all, oh and I managed to get some geocaching done too ;-)

Getting back from Arundel via train was a pleasent trip and allowed me to cool down before the final trudge from the station to home, by now my new boots had rub me raw at the top of the heel/ankle, I think that my new boots have now broken me in, rather than the other way round ;-).

Decided to have a ramble late yesterday afternoon/early evening as the weather was significantly better than expected [by the Met office]. So, as I have new boots that I'm still breaking in and have only done short 5-8 mile walks [about 5 so far] in them whilst they adjust to my feet, I thought it was time for a longer walk to really test them out.

Starting from north Horsham I walked part way up Old Holbrook and took the first footpath on the right; leading towards Rusper Road, which I crossed and then proceeded up Bush Lane and on to the road at the end as if heading towards Faygate. Lots of birds about including Wagtails, Robins, Chaffinches, Sparrows, Magpies, Pigeons and Seagulls too. As several footpaths round here hadn't yet been mapped I took the second footpath on the right which followed the field boundary and the rail-track before crossing the line and used the footpath that leads up to the A264 [near the Cherry Tree pub].

After crossing the A264 I headed up Tower Hill towards Colgate [no suitable footpaths were available]; passed the Scout Camp on the way up as well as the water tower before finally heading downhill towards the Green Dragon pub in Colgate.

I then crossed the road and took the private road/footpath which skirts the pub's carpark. Following this until it lead to the footpath I was also planning to map. This heads downhill towards some ponds [where I spooked some Mallards] and some very nice woodland before heading up hill towards Grouse Road. A large female red deer was seen bounding across the open heathland just before I turned down the footpath to head towards St. Leonards Forest.

I could hear several Cuckoos as well as the odd Green Woodpecker and I made my way towards the forest; passing a herd of young inquisitive and skittish bullocks along the way. I reached the northern outskirts of the forest and then started uphill onto the High Weald Landscape Trail which cuts through the forest from North to South; ending up in the Lillybeds before climbing uphill out of the forest towards Horsham [via Hampers Lane]. Along here, as well as large numbers of rabbits, I spotted another red deer; this one was a young buck with small antlers and although I passed within 10 feet of him, he didn't bolt. More Green Woodpeckers were seen as I headed down Hampers Lane [almost to the end] before taking the footpath on the right leading towards Leechpool Woods, by now twilight was upon us and the blackbirds and robins were in full song; glorious!

With this heavenly chorus I climbed up out of Leechpool Woods and made my way home for a well deserved rest.

Oh, the walk was just over 10 miles; and I think my boots won, as my feet were rather tender. More breaking in required I think.

I decided that Friday's jaunt to Nuthurst and Soutwater hadn't been enough exercise, so I went off on another hike yesterday [I had the day off because it was my birthday] and also do some caches in the Bewbush/Ifield area of Crawley; taking in the old mill ruins and pond at Bewbush, Ifield mill and pond and the 13th century church at Ifield were also visited.

From there I went on to Lambs Green; no I didn't get chance to stop at the pub there [or on any of the routes], before making my way back to Horsham via yet more unmapped paths; 15 miles in all.

Many people I said hello to durimg the day mentioned that it was unusually warm for May; more like July, they said. Certainly, it was very warm. Even at 08:00 yesterday it was warmer than I normally prefer for walking.

I saw loads of wildlife; rabbits, deer, herons, geese, ducks, yet more swallows had arrived and were wheeling and swooping in the sky whilst feeding on flying insects. I also picked up an unwanted hitch-hiker on this walk; a tick!

In all the years I have been walking/rambling and even as a child in the countryside of the Isle of Wight I had never been bitten by one before. Luckily I spotted it quite quickly and managed to remove it before it had gorged itself on my blood!

I decided to go out on Friday evening for a hike and geocache, so I headed out from north Horsham towards Nuthurst [as there is a cache there] via several footpaths and bridleways that weren't yet mapped.

Nice walk, although it was rather warm. I then proceeded towards Southwater to map yet more paths as well as find several caches once I finally got to Southwater, and walked past the reservoir there and the church which was very busy; some function was happening at the time.

Then back home to Horsham via yet more paths not yet mapped, I even managed to map the end of Compton's Lane in Horsham which had been incomplete for a very long time. I covered 16 miles on foot in all.

I saw loads of wildlife; rabbits, geese, ducks as well as the more common local bird-life which abounds in Sussex.

Decided to go out for an evening walk yesterday as the weather was so nice.

Hiked up to Rusper where I saw what I believe to be a Sparrow Hawk or Hobby skimming over the top of the wood, looking for some tasty morsel no doubt.

Then walked back down towards Horsham via a number of footpaths I've never been on before; first towards Faygate and then down towards Horsham using more footpaths I've never used before. Lots of bluebells out, many different butterfly species spotted as well as lots of birds, including Yellowhammers, Partridges and also the first Swallow I have seen this year. The usual Tits, Sparrows, Thrushes, Blackbirds, Wrens and Finches were well represented too.

The usual obligatory, for the time of year, lambs were enjoying the lovely weather, as were the rabbits who were out in abundance.

All in all a glorious and refreshing walk to end a busy week; all 11 miles of it.

Went out for a 15 mile hike over the weekend, walked all around Balcombe via footpaths and bridleways and then went up to Cowdray forest and walked through to Tilgate Forest and park.

Lovely sunny day, so much so that I got sunburnt a bit. ;-)