Contour Lines: On the Path to a Thousand Mountains

Mick Harney returns with more unique perspectives on fell and hill walking in Scotland and the English Lake District. He offers a fresh crop of new and compelling insights, including many detailed descriptions of individual mountains, the paths we take to them, and what they reveal to and about us.

Contour Lines contains significant exclusives. Newly unearthed facts and a reinterpretation of the critical moments in Coleridge and Wordsworth’s Lake District trek in 1799 exposes the inside story of how Coleridge really became the prototypical fell-walker. The never-before revealed trip-ups Alfred Wainwright made when mapping the boundary of his Lakeland guide lead to intriguing psychological insights into the man and his creation.

There is much to appeal to any lover of the hills. Are you an experienced and passionate walker but tied to a city life? Then you should read about the ‘urban peakeys’ and see whether their realities and rewards match your own. Have you ever encountered oddly out-of-place people in the mountains, ill-suited for the environment but bizarrely present in the most wild and dangerous of spots? Check out the accounts of some classic waifs and strays.

Running throughout is an account of the inevitable absurdities and sometime successes of Mick’s journey to complete his round of the Wainwrights. You are with him as he travels towards the hoped-for goal, bagging the fells he still needs but taking care to respect and learn from each fell as he goes. In little Helm Crag’s case, reflecting on its geology, the shape of its parts, and the challenge its summit presents sharpens understanding of the wider world of mountaineering and illuminates an individual’s walking history.