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A WALK IN THE CLOUDS
FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE MOUNTAINS
by
Kev Reynolds
2 POLICE SQUARE, MILNTHORPE, CUMBRIA LA7 7PY
For the Masters of Cicerone:
Walt Unsworth – who had enough faith to give me my first break
Jonathan Williams – for continuing to believe,
and for his support and friendship
PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD
My friend Kev Reynolds has spent fifty years exploring mountain landscapes and thirty years writing about his experiences. In A Walk in the Clouds he shares some of the high points of a full and happy life as a wanderer and writer.
I first met Kev at a book fair in London many years ago, when my wife Lesley and I were in the process of taking on Cicerone Press. Kev had come to inspect his new publisher. He brought with him the manuscript of a guide to trekking in the Manaslu region of the Himalaya to see whether we would publish it. Naturally we did and we have carried on doing the same slightly crazy thing ever since.
Over the years, we have shared many days and weeks in the hills, whether in the Alps or the Himalaya, Cumbria or Kent. There have been whole days poring over maps and debating how best to bring new mountain areas to life for walkers, trekkers and mountaineers.
Kev is the leading authority on many mountain ranges, including the Pyrenees, many regions of the Alps and the Nepal Himalaya. As the author of numerous guides he has inspired many thousands of trekkers to explore some of the most beautiful parts of the planet. As a lecturer in the dark winter months, he regularly evokes the mood and majesty of the mountains to spellbound audiences.
In this book Kev tells how he set off, aged 21, to explore the Atlas Mountains of Morocco – and never looked back. He abandoned his desk-bound local government job to pursue a life in the mountains, living and working in Britain, Austria and Switzerland before finding his true metier as a writer.
Kev’s first book, Walks and Climbs in the Pyrenees, came out in 1978. Now in its fifth edition, it is still regarded as the definitive guide to the range, even by many French experts. Since then Kev has written 37 books and guides with Cicerone, and 14 with other publishers, and written widely for other books and magazines.
Even today, Kev is always looking for new places to explore as recent trips to Ladakh and the newly-opened Mugu region of western Nepal attest. To those who know him, Kev is one of the world’s natural and great gentlemen. He is always positive, ready to help, and a true friend and great family man. To the rest of the trekking world, he is our leading guide. Few tributes can match the question often heard around an alpine hut in the early evening from trekkers pondering the next day’s challenge or looking back, tired but happy, on excitements just experienced: ‘So...what does Kev say?’
Jonathan Williams
We all have these moments, moments as big as years,
when we experience something so powerful or profound that,
although it may last for only a very short time,
it can be recalled decades later in all its vivid intensity.
All I know is that life is an adventure and
we must cherish every moment to live it to the full.
© Kev Reynolds 2013
First edition 2013
ISBN: 978 1 85284 726 5
Printed by KHL Printing, Singapore
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated.
Cover photo:
Alpamayo in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru,
once voted the world’s most beautiful mountain
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Camaraderie being a valued offshoot of high adventure, the first word of thanks must go to the numerous friends, named and unnamed, who shared memorable days among the mountains, and who feature in some of the stories in this book. I hope they’ll enjoy reliving these times too, but forgive me if there are some they’d rather forget! My wife is the ultimate life support system. For years she worked tirelessly to pay the bills and hold the family together while I roamed the high places in an attempt to become established as a writer. Words are insufficient to express my debt to her, but I trust she knows through the love we share. I’m grateful to my friends Michèle Ravier in Bordeaux, and Pete Smith (nearer to home) for their lively company and use of photographs. Cicerone has gathered a talented team in Milnthorpe, and their skills and friendship are much appreciated. Special thanks to my editor, Hazel Clarke, for her sound advice and encouragement, to Caroline Draper who designed the book, and to Jonathan Williams who took it on and, having discovered that he features in it, threatened to embarrass me with his words of introduction. He, and his predecessor, Walt Unsworth – the ‘Masters of Cicerone’ – have enabled me to survive for so long in the world’s best job, so my final words of gratitude are saved for them. By producing literally hundreds of guidebooks in the past four decades, they’ve contributed hugely to the outdoor community. They also changed my life, and I’ll always be thankful for that.
CONTENTS
4 Out of the shadows into the light