A Government-esque U-Turn

Remember how I said that I wasn’t interested in the Neo-Air?

Remember how I gave lots of reasons why I didn’t want one?

Remember how I got serious gear envy when I saw Mick’s in the flesh?

Sitting next to me just now is my very own Neo-Air :-)

Absolutely tiny and allegedly only 260g (a weight claim that I will of course check when I get home).

I’ve never tried a short mat before, but having questioned a lot of people about short-mat-sleeping (thank you to those who submitted to my obsessive questioning!), I thought that I would give it a go. I may find that it’s not for me, but I can’t knock it until I’ve tried it, so try it I will.

The other reason why investing in the dinky Neo-Air was a bit of a flier was the number of reports of problems with the short length. However, it seems universally to be the case that problems show themselves immediately. I blew mine up at about 5pm yesterday and it’s still firm. I take that to be a promising sign.

A report will follow after first use (either a smug report or a ‘anyone want to buy a pre-tested Neo-Air? Short is not for me’).

TGOC: What I Carried

A couple of weeks ago I said that I had catalogued and weighed all of the kit that I carried on the TGOC and that I would post it. It’s taken me a while (including battle with Google Documents that didn’t like the formatting in any of my pretty versions) but I think that I got there in the end.

You’ll find the full kit-list here. On top of that little lot, I also carried a reducing amount of gas and varying amounts of food and water.

I’ve not done a similar exercise with listing and weighing Mick’s kit list, but the theory of ‘shared load = shared weight’ doesn’t necessarily apply to us. Unless I’ve overlooked something I would only need to add a toilet trowel (+75g), and the balance of the weight for a whole tent (say +300g for a Laser Competition) to make myself self-sufficient.

The kit isn’t wildly different to what I carried on the Big Walk last year, so it has been tried and tested and it works for me. The usual disclaimers apply that we are all different and what I’m comfortable with (e.g. wearing a single pair of trousers for three months), may be someone else’s nightmare. With that in mind, do feel free to comment.

(Thanks go to Alan-of-the-ear who saw this kit-list prior to publication and spotted that the reason for the half kilo discrepancy between the total pack weight and the sum of the parts was that my sleep mat had dropped off somewhere. It’s now reinstated and the total weights now tally.)

TGOC Photos

I've finally uploaded the photos from the TGO Challenge. You can view them by clicking on this link and then clicking on 'slideshow' (near the top, on the left side).

If it's going too fast or too slow, you can change the speed of the slideshow at any time using the controls at the bottom of the screen.

A couple or three of the photos are out of order, so it does jump around a little bit, but once I'd uploaded them I couldn't find a way of moving them around (and I wasn't going to start again).

Oooh, it just makes me want to go for a walk!

Smug Mick and the Neo-Air

Our campsite on Friday night was within three miles of Ma-in-Law’s house. Had we diverted from Ogden water, it would barely have added any distance to the route to have a bed in a dry house for the night. But, Mick had his new Thermarest Neo-Air to try out…

…And was he smug about that Neo-Air? Oh yes!

Even though it’s the Medium sized mat, at 5’6” long, it packs up into a tiny package and is is noticeably lighter than the Pro-Lite 3 that he was using before (and that I’m still using). Despite these attributes, I was adamant that I didn’t want one.

Then Mick inflated it, and there it was lying next to my Prolite 3, and suddenly all of the reasons why I didn’t want one flew out of the window and I had serious gear envy.

Mick was smug; very smug indeed, but he was also an absolutely gentleman and was quite insistent that he swap with me.

I couldn’t possibly have stolen the first use of his new mat though, so he had a very comfy night. I didn’t have a noticeably uncomfortable night (well, except for the usual bruised ribs where my bony elbow dug in), but the gear envy remained.

I wants one!

  Even Ma-in-Law has a go on the Neo-Air

 

Denholme to Ripponden

Quite a while ago now Martin said that he was going to go on a backpacking trip this week. Without knowing a precise location, we said that we would join him for the weekend. The weekend in question was this weekend, and conveniently his schedule (a truly crazy schedule – really, go and look at it!) had him walking within just a few miles of Ma-in-Law’s house, making logistics a lot less complicated than they might have been.

Now, you may have noticed that we’ve had some uncommonly good weather this last week or so. You may also have noticed (if you follow his blog (and if you don’t then I would recommend it)) that Martin has a bit of a knack for getting good weather for his trips. Conversely, Mick and I have a dreadful record for good weather…

Friday

The sun was shining yesterday morning, and it was in summer-wear that we took up residence outside of the Mechanics’ Institute (in the absence of an open pub) early in the afternoon to wait for Martin’s arrival.

It was the bright orange Crocs that first alerted me to his approach and exactly at his predicted time he strode up to us and, being just about lunchtime, lunch was the first priority.

By the time the Co-op and the chippy had been visited and the dining started, the sunny day had turned into an ominously cloudy one. By the time the last chip was eaten, the rain was starting to fall.

For the reasons outlined in the second paragraph above, I accepted full responsibility for the sudden appearance of rain after so many consecutive days of fine weather.

Time to give in to the need for waterproof trousers

We managed to negotiate our way out of the village (new housing estates have made navigation of the local footpaths a bit trickier until the maps catch up (or maybe the maps have caught up and we just have old ones)) and a gold star goes to Martin for also managing to pay attention to the map even with the chatting (a notoriously difficult task and one in which I failed).

It wasn’t too long before we had to concede that the ‘passing shower’ wasn’t going to pass, and out came the waterproof trousers, which became a permanent feature for the rest of the trip.

Approaching Ogden Water we got onto ground with which I’m vaguely familiar and which I know to be very pretty indeed on a sunny day. As it was, the surroundings were a little marred by the dampness.

Blossom around Ogden Water – not marred by the rain

Respite from the weather was had as we dripped over the floor, chairs and tables of the Ogden Visitor Centre, and during that time the sun came out, which would have been quite an exciting event given the previous couple of hours, except that on this occasion the appearance of the sun didn’t cause the rain to stop.

Back out onto steaming tarmac we stepped, but the sun was soon beaten back into submission by the cloud as we crossed the almost-deserted Halifax golf course and then picked up the Calderdale Way, which was then followed all the way to Jerusalem Campsite just by Booth.

It looked unlikely that the rain (admittedly light rain) was going to abate for long enough for us to pitch so we wasted no time with picking a spot (amongst mole hills, in the hope that one didn’t appear underneath us in the night) and diving for shelter. It was an unsociable evening given the conditions and by 8pm (oh, what party animals we are!) there was a sound of snoring coming from our tent.

Saturday

The rain overnight was almost without cease. The other feature of the night was that I listened to fourteen chapters of my audio-book, but managed to sleep through twelve of them!

Fortunately the pattering on nylon was barely noticeable at 5.30 as we came to pack the tent away. Unfortunately, the respite was brief and the belief that it was going to be a showery morning was a misguided one (because surely a 3 hour shower is just called ‘rain’?).

Lots of places passed through this morning looked very oooh-worthy and would ordinarily have seen me reaching for the camera. As it went, I didn’t take a single photo. Perhaps, with the route being so close to Ma-in-Law’s house, we’ll return on a sunny day to appreciate more fully those surroundings.

Various stretches of treacherously slippery cobbles (“well recovered!” I said to Mick after a bit of arm-waving saved him from the jaws of a slip; two steps later his foot shot from under him and he appreciated the cushioning attributes of his sleeping bag in his backpack) were negotiated. Through some very pleasant (but drippy) woodland we passed. A blissfully muddy disused railway line (so many are hard surfaced, it’s nice to find one that’s soft underfoot) was negotiated. After all of which (at all of 8.40am), we were three dripping but cheerful walkers as we presented ourselves into a tea-and-sandwich-serving-but-no-tables-or-chairs establishment in Ripponden.

Along came Sue, who had by prior arrangement arrived to deliver some different footwear to Martin, who had been suffering from a bit of a poorly ankle tendon. The different-shoes mission turned into a ‘take us home’ mission as the sensible decision to abort the rest of the trip was announced. Martin had already walked further than most would in his five days (really, if you didn’t go and look at his schedule when I told you to earlier, then go and do it now!) and had thoroughly enjoyed himself in the previous good weather (i.e. until Mick & I arrived!). There was no value in making a poorly ankle worse and enduring two days of rain just out of principle – and I can’t claim to have been disappointed to have missed our final six miles of hoods-up heads-down yomping, before we were due to do battle with Bustitution (or Rail Replacement Bus Service for those who don’t understand the term) from Marsden.

And so…

The weather was undeniably shitty. We walked 6 miles fewer than intended. I destroyed a second pair of waterproof trousers within the space of a month (I’ll post about that separately). And would I have rather have been sitting on the sofa in front of the telly? Absolutely not.

Blogging LEJOGgers Update

A few weeks ago I mentioned a few LEJOGers who had started blogging their journeys north and one blogging JOGLEr who was due to set out in June. Subsequent to that post another LEJOG Blogger was pointed out to me (thank you Karen!). Here’s an update:

Finished
Last week Aly and Malcolm finished their LEJOG run (yes that’s right, they ran it and without taking a single day off, although they did refer to any day of fewer than 20 miles as a ‘rest day’). Their regular updates were short and to the point so if you didn’t follow them at the time it won’t take a dreadfully long time to skim through their adventure retrospectively. Having read and enjoyed all of their updates along the way, I stand in awe of anyone running such distances every day for seven weeks.

Still Going Strong
I met up with Geoff for a couple of days’ of walking at the beginning of May, and he is now in the north of Scotland with only a handful of days left to go – and it’s good to see that he’s loving it. He’s just off into the wilds of north west Scotland now, so there should still be interesting reports to read between now and when he finishes.

Then there’s Brendan who should today (by my reckoning) be crossing the Scottish border. I’ve been following his blog since he was way down south and have found it a particularly interesting read, as he started out from Land’s End as something of a novice when it came to backpacking. Now, approaching two months later, he has climbed a steep learning curve and there’s barely a hint of the obstacles he had to contend with at the outset. He’s still having the occasional crisis of confidence as to not going fast enough or that he’s carrying too much gear, but perhaps we only know about that because of his detailed and open blogging style.

Just started
And on Monday this week Sophie and her dog Patch set out from John O’Groats to walk south. There have only been a couple of blog entries so far, but I will be following her travels with interest and wish her all the best.

Twenty Four Big Puffs

“Twenty four big puffs, very comfy but sounds like crisp packets” was my brief report to Mick when I took delivery of his new Thermarest NeoAir Medium.

The inflation took me two stages, as I had to recover from the dizziness in the middle. I then gave it the obvious comfort test and it seemed … well remarkably comfy.

All being well he’ll be trying it out this weekend.

Not that he’s turning into a kit monster, but there was another parcel for Mick yesterday. I noticed at the weekend that he’s worn though the inner of his Sealskinz socks (which have always leaked anyway), so it was time to get him a replacement.

Many people seem to sing the praises of GoreTex socks (whereas nobody seems to sing the praises of Sealskinz (although to date, with many miles on them, mine have been absolutely fine)) so I ordered a pair of Trekmates Amphibians.

I didn’t test those out for him, and hopefully the weather forecast will be wrong, meaning that we’ll have a perfectly dry walk on the weekend, with no bog at all, so they will remain untested. Wishful thinking?

Hills vs Culture

Peeping out of the curtains this morning I had to conclude that the day wasn’t looking too shoddy. Not a cloud was to be seen in the sky and it was that intense colour of blue that heralds a perfect day.

Such a perfect day called for one of two courses of action. One option was that we could go for a walk. It seemed like a perfect mountain day, but journeying to mountains would have taken time and eaten too much into the day, so a walk would likely have meant us finding ourselves on the Chase. The other option that appealed was to pop down to Stratford-upon-Avon, enjoy a bit of sun on the riverside while having a picnic lunch, before going to see whatever was being performed at the Courtyard as the Saturday Matinee.

A phone call was made to the ticket office when it opened with the crushing news that the matinee was sold out. What a blow! I really did fancy a bit of Shakespeare.

Hot on the heels of that news was a correction that it wasn’t sold out but that the only tickets left had a restricted view.

“How restricted?” I asked.

The only answer I got was that there was a pillar obstructing view; no information as to whether it was a three-feet wide pillar immediately in front of the seats, or a pillar off to one side. Still, restricted view seemed a better option than no view, so the tickets were bought and with unprecedented swiftness we pulled ourselves together and got out of the door.

I do like Stratford, particularly in good weather, and today didn’t disappoint. A picnic was had as planned, Mick read a newspaper whilst I relaxed with a book and then we ambled over to the theatre to see As You Like It. The restricted visibility turned out to be a small pillar that blocked the very corner of the stage; moving the head by two inches either way got around that tiny lack of visibility.

It was an excellent performance, and the fight scene was right up there as the best I’ve seen. As You Like It doesn’t go down as one of my favourite plays, but it was still a good three hours of entertainment.

Disgustingly large ice-creams were enjoyed with more lounging on the riverside before we made our way home (and we did get a modicum of exercise to and from where we parked (thanks to me being too tight to park in town when there’s free parking to be had a pleasant 1 mile riverside walk away)).

It’s unusual for us to pop out for a good-and-proper day out of this nature, and an excellent time was had.

Back to the walking next weekend (and if the weather could be as fantastic as today, that would be just fine too).

To Sew A Toe

Back at the beginning of March 2008 I posted about a blister remedy I had come across in a book from 1848:

'Blisters:
On the feet, occasioned by walking, are cured by drawing a needle full of worsted through them; clip it off at both ends and leave it till the skin peels off.’

I was rather sceptical.

Mr. Sloman commented at the time that he thought that there was something in the advice given, as the thread would act as a wick, but at the time I didn’t think that sewing a piece of thread through a blister was something that I would be trying.

Of course, opinions can change, particularly when someone has acted as a guinea pig.

The guinea pig was Vic (the one who goes to great lengths to help me out when I find myself in urgent need of something in the middle of a long walk and who occasionally pops up on this blog). When she suddenly found herself inflicted with a number of blisters after a wet day on her Grand Union Canal walk last year, she thought the thread method to be worth a try, and found that her blisters dried out astoundingly quickly.

So, after the fourth day of the piffling blister on my little toe reforming during the TGOC, I decided that drastic action was needed. My needle and a length of thread were thoroughly wiped down with a pre-injection swab, and through both layers of my double-decker of a blister I sewed the thread. At this point Mick, who had been wandering around the vicinity of the tent taking photos, returned and snapped a quick photo of the work in progress:

I then trimmed the ends off the thread.

The following night I removed the thread and sewed another piece through, in the other direction.

It was still a couple of days before I was pain free, and who knows, maybe it would have got better by itself by then anyway, but I wouldn’t write off repeating the experiment in future (hopefully not for a very long time though – as I said at the time, I’m not accustomed to getting blisters and I don’t want to start getting accustomed to them).

 

It’s A Sign!

Every now and then whilst out and about I spot a sign that amuses or intrigues me. Here’s a selection, all seen in the last year:

I had to trespass to get that photo.

A worrying sign to find on the path of a National Trail!

From a distance I only saw the “Warning: Sheep Grazing” bit

Makes a difference from the usual “Forestry Operations Keep Out” sort of sign

I’m pleased to say that the milk wasn’t served via a pump on the forecourt

What is the world coming to? H&S instructions on how to use a ladder stile.

As opposed to …

I think I’m closer than the sign suggests (but, wow, do I look miserable there?)

At least it wasn’t raining when I took it.

Tea bags: that well known form of sanitary disposable…

Post-TGO Challenge Random Thoughts

Thank You!

Firstly a thank you for all of the comments left whilst we were away. I’m not yet sufficiently technologically advanced that I can access comments on the hoof (so please don’t think that I was being ignorant in not replying to them), but it’s always very nice indeed to catch up with the comments when we get back.

The Blogging Device

Despite having a very annoying fault and being limited compared to other solutions, my new phone did the job for sending the blog posts. I even got a signal far more often than expected (and on no occasion did I have a signal on o2 or vodafone but not on T-mobile, so I needn’t have gone to the trouble and expense of getting the phone unlocked).

It was a few days through the trip when it dawned on me that I should be able to send photos, and it was good to finally see the results on a proper sized screen. In fact, at the time that I sent each of those photos the daylight on the screen meant that I couldn’t see what I was sending, so it was particularly pleasing to see that my ‘point, click and hope’ method worked just fine (even if the Edinburgh photo does look like it’s been tampered with).

Coming up - Kit

After a few people asked me, as we progressed east, what was in my pack, I thought I would put together a kit list of what I carried on this trip (although it’s not much different from what I carried on our LEJOG last year). This time, I even sat and weighed every single item. I ran out of time at the weekend to put the spreadsheet into a sensible order, but I’ll do that this weekend and post it.

I’ll also try to pull together a few thoughts as to various bits and pieces.

Also Coming Up – Another Angle

On the first night of our trip, as we sat there amidst the slug-fest, I typed my blog entry and I gave the notebook to Mick – and without complaint (even though it was girly pink) he wrote an account of our day. He then continued to write up the journal each night.

Now, I may be biased, but I thought it was rather good. So, if you can bear a second account of the same walk, once Mick has typed it up (it would be faster if I typed it, but I can’t read the writing!) I will post it here, probably in ‘seven episodes’.

Also Coming Up – Photies

We took a lot of photos! On the ‘to do’ list is the job of culling them and putting them somewhere suitable so that others can view them.

Comfortable Sleeping

Before the Challenge, when lots of people were getting excited at the Thermarest NeoAir and I was looking at other comfy looking mats, I managed to convince myself that I was trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. As nice as the thought of having a thicker mat was, I don’t have trouble sleeping on my thin Prolite 3 (mine isn’t actually the one shown in that link; it’s the old, heavier, pink one).

Once again, I had no problem getting a good night’s sleep, but with my mind now concentrated on the alternative mats that are out there, I did notice my stiff shoulders in the morning, which felt (unsurprisingly) like I’d been lying on a hard surface.

Mick now has a NeoAir on order, and I’m contemplating an Exped Downmat or a POE Thermo Thingy Whatsit.

And so…

…that really was a random selection of thoughts wasn’t it?

 

200 feet and 6 inches above Edinburgh

With an hour and a half between trains in Edinburgh I thought we would briefly be tourists.

The first touristy thing that we stumbled across (diffcult to miss, really) was the Scott Monument - and if there's a tall structure of that nature with public access then I like to climb it.

The £3 entrance fee seemed reasonable and the chap taking money was happy for us to leave our packs in his tiny area, so up we went.

As much as I like going up towers and such, it's always about a minute into the climb that I remember that spiral staircases make me silly-dizzy.

The views from the four viewing platforms were superb and the structure of the monument itself magnificent.

Staggering with dizziness we reached ground a good while later happy to have found a worthwhile way of stretching our legs and lungs whilst getting a bird's eye view of the city - and all within three minutes of the station.

Only two more trains and a bus now before home is reached.

Day 13 - North Water Bridge to St Cyrus

Wed 20 May
8.5 miles

(delayed posting - too busy being sociable yesterday)

It was a leisurely start from the campsite yesterday morning and half of the tents had gone by the time we got away (Rory's Argos tent having gone in the bin - not that there was anything wrong with it but he was quite adamant that he was never going to backpack again).

We had not gone far when John Maning caught up with us and so it was as a party of three that we chased Kim from Yorkshire, who was just ahead of us, to the coast.

The miles flew by and before we knew it the tea room in the village came into view just in time to see Kim's back disappearing through the door.

A short discussion was had as to whether it was acceptable to stop for tea and cake within sight of the end before we followed Kim's lead.

A few others (who had got the seqence of finish - tea - cake right) came in whilst we were there but we managed to drag ourselves away.

I recalled someone saying on the way across that St Cyrus is not the wisest choice of finish because of the long walk down to the sea. At the time I pictured a long beach. The reality is a steep cliff path down to the beach - fine on the way down, a bit of a pull on the way back (and for completeness we did carry our packs).

Of all the nationalities on the Challenge I did note that I found myself on the beach with three blokes - all from West Yorkshire. John and Kim were each completing their 10th crossings and so photos were accompanied by a rather nice 10 year old whisky that John had carried to mark the occasion.

After the toil back up the cliff more tea and cake was consumed before the bus ride to Challenge Control in Montrose to sign in and officially complete our first Challenge.

Montrose

All go at Challenge Control.

Made it!

And the sun came out for us too.

Day 13 - Elevenses

We would be on the beach at St Cyrus by now, except that to get to the beach we had to walk past the tea room. Unsurprisingly we fell in and in front of me I now have a very large pot of tea.

Next, the beach.

North Water Bridge Backpackers' Convention

Some of the tents at the campsite (28 in total at the last count).

Terra Nova dominates by a whisker above Hilleberg but there has been much discussion of the Argos Tiger Paw, in the middle of the cluster, which set Rory back £15 when he bought it new 8 years ago. There is talk of condensation amongst those with the expensive tents. Rory looks duly smug as he confirms that his Argos model is condensation free.

Day 12 - Forgotten detail

Ooops. Forgot the stats again for that last post.

Day 12 is Tuesday 19 May (good job my watch tells me these things or I would have struggled to work that out) and the mileage for the day was 17.

They were fast and easy miles though, so it didn't feel that far.

Day 12 - Tarfside to North Water Bridge

Twenty five or so tents were pitched on the field at Tarfside last night, but by 7.30 this morning that number was already reducing as people made their way to one of the breakfast establishments or to start their day.

By just gone 7.30 we were away too, retracing our steps a short way to the other side of the river North Esk from where we followed paths and tracks alongside the river the whole 12 miles into Edzell.

Arriving dripping (heavy showers once again today) at the tea room we joined 3 other Challengers who were already inside and set about consuming quantities of food and tea. More Challengers (increasingly soggy ones) came in until the place was full and it became only proper that we give up our table to some new arrivals.

Edzell marked the point where our route becomes a road-walk to the coast so the final five miles of the day were fast but unremarkable.

We were the second tent to pitch at the campsite but it wasn't long before many more arrived (all pitching on top of us and one another despite the big area available).

The showery weather is continuing, so having done laundry and taken a blissful hot shower we're now unsociably zipped up in the tent.

The end is now in sight. Tomorrow morning we will set out for the final 9 miles along little roads to the sea at St Cyrus.

Day 11 - Glen Clova to Tarfside

Mon 18 May
14 miles

As we walked into Glen Clova yesterday and I saw the hills over which we were to walk this morning I was really looking forward to the views we would get in the good weather that was sure to hold.

As I opened the door of our bunkroom at 6.15 this morning I gave fleeting thought to just turning around and going back to bed. The cloud was down and it was raining. This was not the day we had planned!

By 8.10, 20 mins into our day, we were up in that cloud and the light rain had become wind-driven heavy rain. The climb up to Green Hill (870m) got the blood pumping but we saw nothing and we made our way along the tops often with compass in hand.

The compass got even more use as we decided that we didn't fancy following the path as it descended 200m off Skuiley only to reascend 200m up Burnt Hill when there was an obvious route across the tops. The heather and hags
made it a strenuous option but it felt better than the alternative down and up.

As the morning went on the odd few holes started appearing in the low cloud giving us occasional glimpses of our apparently stunning surroundings but still the rain fell.

The best thing to do in the conditions seemed to be to keep moving so we motored along until at just after noon the rain stopped - which coincided with us reaching a wind shelter on Cairn Caidloch - our last hill of the day. We didn't need persuading to pause briefly for lunch.

Then all we had to do was to drop down to the road (took an interesting route there too) and follow it to Tarfside and as we did that the weather turned to heavy showers interspersed with a golden orb.

Arriving at 2.30 between showers the tent was pitched before we hotfooted it to the church for tea & chat & tea & cake & chat & tea & chat.

A damp day, with 5 hours of rain in the 6.5 we were out, but not a bad one all in all.