• Seven Trees
• Seven Days, embracing the Summer Solstice
• More than eighty miles walking
• The Lake District’s highest fells
• Camping under the sky’s short nights

That’s it. We’re committed. Our bags are packed and our route is planned. Tomorrow we begin to walk from the Little Asby Hawthorn, the easternmost of the seven trees, and steadily tread our way across the Lake District, via each one of The Long View trees, to finish at the Wasdale Oak in the west.

The next seven days will be a time of gradual unfolding as we get to know the land through our feet, cope with the challenges of long walks and numerous ups and downs, deal with whatever weather comes our way, and allow our creative responses to arise. It is likely to be a week of little sleep as we give in to the temptation to experience each of the trees under a midnight sky, and also a week of excitement as we will inevitably be treated to countless staggering views, reasons to wonder, to laugh and even to cry. We are familiar with a lot of the routes but not all of them, so we’re looking forward to the thrill of crossing new ground.

We have one fixed point – at twelve noon each day we will stop, write and photograph for twelve minutes – but beyond this we will enjoy the freedom of walking, pausing and responding as we go.

The Light Walk (and it’s seasonal opposite, the Dark Walk) have been a long time in the planning. You can  check out the map and find out more here.

And if you want to follow what we’re up to we’ll be tweeting when we can, using #thelongview and #thelightwalk, and posting on Facebook. When we emerge from the walk and have had a chance to fill our bellies with a proper breakfast, wash ourselves and reflect a little, we’ll put out another blog post.

Happy Midsummer!