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Our top Instagram shots of 2020
From playful puffins to towering peaks, we're sharing our best Instagram shots of 2020 Kia has previously written about how 2020 was testing, to say the least. The year started off promisingly, as you'll see below, but it wasn't long before all of our trips were canceled or postponed. As a result, many of this year's Instagram photos were either reflective posts about past trips or shots of hiking and camping trips sandwiched between UK lockdowns. I was lucky enough to take a few trips to Europe over the summer. In July I met up with one of my oldest and best friends for a hiking tour through...
Our top Instagram shots of 2020
From playful puffins to towering peaks, we're sharing our best Instagram shots of 2020
Kia has already written about how 2020 was testing, to say the least. The year started off promisingly, as you'll see below, but it wasn't long before all of our trips were canceled or postponed.
As a result, many of this year's Instagram photos were either reflective posts about past trips or shots of hiking and camping trips sandwiched between UK lockdowns.
I was lucky enough to take a few trips to Europe over the summer. In July, I met up with one of my oldest and best friends for a hiking tour through Berchtesgaden National Park in the Bavarian Alps of Germany. Then in September I took part in the Highland Velebit Trek in Croatia.
Despite these trips, it's no use pretending that 2020 was anything but a lost year. But it's no use crying over spilled milk and missed mountains. We just have to chalk it up as a loss and look to the future. As soon as it is safe we will return to the trails.
In the meantime, I wish you a Happy New Year. We hope that you will continue to follow us here and on Instagram in 2021.
January
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The first of our best Instagram shots of 2020 was a short video of my climb of Aconcagua in South America, my third (arguably fourth) summit of the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on all continents.
Aconcagua was the culmination of a 10-year journey and the next step toward realizing my ultimate dream of climbing all seven peaks.
Given that Asia's winter climbers were still in their lower camps when I reached the summit of Aconcagua, it is very likely that for those few moments I was the highest person standing on earth. Even though I will never climb Everest, I will always have that moment on the “Roof of America.”
February
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During our 2018 self-drive safari through Namibia, we stopped at the Okonjima Nature Reserve, one of the best places in the world to spot cheetahs and leopards.
Namibia is home to the world's largest free-roaming cheetah population, but due to commercial agriculture and urban encroachment on wild habitats, cheetahs and leopards often venture onto the country's approximately 7,000 commercial farms.
Okonjima is a 200 km2 private nature reserve that aims to restore the land to what it once was and protect leopards and cheetahs forced onto farmland from diminishing habitats.
A highlight of our visit was observing a charming display between a leopardess and her mischievous son, pictured in the shot above.
march
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Prayer flags flutter in the wind at the Everest Monument in Chukpi Lhara near the village of Pheriche in Nepal.
It was almost criminal that I hadn't seen Nepal yet. When I finally put that to rest with a hike to Everest Base Camp in 2019, it instantly became one of my favorite countries (funnily enough, alongside three others starting with N: Namibia, New Zealand and Norway).
I vowed to return as soon as possible to complete the Annapurna Circuit and Langtang Treks. Fingers crossed for 2021.
April
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After penguins, puffins are clearly the most adorable birds in the world. They never fail to please.
Faroese puffins breed in colonies on grassy, steep slopes where they dig nesting cavities. We spent a day hiking around Mykines, the westernmost of the Faroe Islands, where we saw dozens of the little cuties!
Can
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In 2018, Kia and I moved from London to the charming town of Richmond on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Since then we have missed our friends and family terribly, but when the pandemic took hold we were happy and relieved to be where we were.
Transported to our area, we discovered some charming mini-trails around Richmond. This view of our adopted home became one of our best Instagram shots of 2020.
June
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Another mountain shot from Nepal, the 6,749 m (22,142 ft) Lingtren peak near the village of Gorakshep.
Lingtren is not a particularly well-known mountain, but it looks mighty good. I hiked past the Himalayan giant as I reached Everest base camp the day before as I descended the Khumbu Valley.During the trek up Khumbu, most of the landscape was obscured by low clouds and heavy snow, but on the return journey the skies cleared and the Mountains were simply majestic.
July
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The standing moai at Ranu Raraku, one of the most famous sites on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in Chile.
We spent five days on the breathtakingly beautiful island in 2015. After all these years it is still one of the most extraordinary places we have visited. This shot captures just a small taste of what makes it so special.
August
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Namibia proved to be one of those destinations that fully lived up to the hype. It is a vast country full of fascinating landscapes, fascinating wildlife and a bewildering array of natural wonders.
From desert plains and towering sand dunes to lush wetlands and deep, winding canyons, Namibia offers almost every iconic African landscape imaginable. Our 2018 trip produced some of our most popular photographs, including these petrified trees in the surreal landscape of Deadvlei, Namibia.
September
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This short video shows the highlights of my Highland Velebit hike in Croatia, a 104km, 5-day alpine hiking trail that traverses the Velebit Mountains that separate continental Croatia from the Adriatic coast.
It was my first trip post-lockdown and part of Highlander Adventure, a collection of organized walks through some of Europe's classic hiking regions. If you've never done a multi-day hike before, this is an ideal first expedition.
October
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After two weeks of quarantine after my trip to Croatia, I really wanted to get some fresh air again. I immediately left Kia at her desk and fled into the Dales to tackle the last few climbs up the highest mountains in the Yorkshire Dales.
This night shot of my tent under the stars shows why I love wild camping so much.
November
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My exploits in the Dales earned me a bit of local press, with features in the Yorkshire Post, Darlington & Stockton Times, Living Magazine and This Is Y Magazine.
The 41 mini-mountains of the Yorkshire Dales were no match for the Aconcagua, but they were certainly entertaining and offered some classic English views, including this one over Barbondale from a cairn at Eskholme Pike.
December
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The last of our best Instagram shots of 2020 shows me and Kia sharing a moment in Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni salt flats in 2015.
A last-minute U-turn from our hapless Prime Minister meant we couldn't see our families over the festive period. We took the opportunity to reflect on how fortunate we have been to navigate the various lockdowns and restrictions together. As bad as 2020 was, it would have been much worse without each other.
Mission statement: Atlas & Boots
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