The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Tuesday 22 April 2008

Week 1 - Land's End to St Mabyn

Distance:

One week gone and my goodness how fast it went. I've wondered whether time goes as fast when you're walking as it does when you're reading the daily account of someone else's adventure and the answer is that yes it does.

By way of a bit of a 'first week gear review':

Tent: Given how cold some of the nights have been, I think that we were right to bring Vera Voyager. Even she has struggled to cope with the low temperature and the lack of breeze on some nights.

Bushbuddy: Things started well with the Bushbuddy. We used it the first three days and were getting into quite a routine involving cups of tea and evening meals in one lighting. With the help of tinder paper I've really got to grips with lighting it too. Alas, then the wet weather started and it's just sat in my pack the last few days. Even if we found dry wood I don't fancy sitting outside in the rain to light a fire. As a result we've now used up our first canister of gas.

Shoes: In case I overstated the shoe situation the other day, I'm not on the point of disaster with the shoes yet. On day 1 left foot suddenly became too big for my Salomon's, which I've worn quite successfully for the last eight months. They'll be heading back home next time we pass an open post office. Fortunately I'm now liking the Roclites a lot. Fingers crossed that the heels last a few more miles yet.

Hair: loving the lack of hair. Contrary to what I said before, I may actually keep it this way.

Husband: He has a beard! The 40 day razor lies unused in his pack.

Other kit: Except for a few emergency/first aid items, everything in my pack has been used. Contrary to common practice of sending things home at this stage as unnecessary weight I have actually addd a couple of things to my pack. I'm happy on a short trip to use my MSR Kettley Thing as a mug, but with the Bushbuddy found that a separate mug was useful and more efficient, so a plastic mug has been added. A notepad was also found to be an omission which has now been rectified.


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