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, 10 May 2016

Beinn a’Chrulaiste

Tuesday 10 May

Beinn a’Chrulaiste (NN246567; 857m)

There was just one hill on the agenda today, and it was the biggest of the trip so far. Indeed, a Corbett as well as a Marilyn.

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Early intentions of following the route given in the Cicerone Corbett guidebook were soon forgotten, as we forged a cross-country line easily over dried-out bog, finally taking to a feint ATV track which seemed to be going in our direction. It was at the point when the coire came into sight ahead of us (which we were supposed to cross to gain the ridge, before coming back on ourselves to the summit) that we had a little discussion and found that we’d both been thinking that a far more direct line looked feasible.

Our sometimes-steep route would likely be hideous for most months of the year, but today we had the current dry conditions to thank for it being relatively dry and grippy.

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The final approach to the top boasted a hint of a trodden line, and also featured a sprinkling of water hitting us. The latter was a bit confusing to start with, what with the blue skies surrounding  us. It took me a few seconds to realise from where it was coming: the strong wind was whipping up the steep east side of the hill, and depositing snow melt off the remaining cornice onto us as if it was rain.

Having taken the short route up, we opted for a longer descent, following what should have been our ascent route – or, at least, something similar to it. As it went, we dropped off the ridge as soon as was practicable, to skirt just under it, so as to take ourselves out of the worst of the wind. Gosh, it was a bit breezy up there (the forecast for Kinlochloeven had said 35mph today, so it wasn’t a great surprise).

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Arriving back at Colin having walked 5.1 miles with 2000’ of ascent, off we headed northwards on the A82 (where the surrounding hills all looked so enticing in today’s conditions), with the intention of spending the night at Glen Nevis campsite – a place where we have stayed many times before.

After a stop in Fort William to sort out the need for groceries, gloves and diesel, off to the campsite we went and whilst I filled in the check-in card, Mick looked at the price list and did some sums. Then we checked with the receptionist that we were doing our sums right. Then we opted to go elsewhere. Immediately before the TGOC last year, the fee at that campsite was £20.50. This year it’s £24 – an increase that we weren’t prepared to accept.

It was probably a blessing in disguise, as there was no real point in us staying near Fort William, as I have no hills planned in that area. Instead, we came out to Morvich, where the continuing summer conditions are so incredible that the washing that I did upon arrival, which didn’t get hung out until 6pm, was completely dry before 7.30! If only this could last for another couple of weeks.

Marilyning around Dumfries

We have electricity this evening, so the laptop has been charged and now I can publish this delayed post, about the first couple of days of this trip.

Thursday 5 May 2016

Woodhead Hill (NX927713)

imageHaving left home in wall-to-wall sunshine, and having driven north in similar, gloriously warm, conditions, we hit the Scottish border to be greeted by low cloud and drizzle. My enthusiasm for the afternoon’s hill started to wain and a good hour was killed in Tesco’s car park in Dumfries.

Happily, the miserable weather didn’t persist and by the time we were parked up and setting out the cloud was lifting and it was dry. Such was my enthusiasm now that I didn’t even baulk (too much) at having to pay for parking (even though our start point had been a last-minute change of plan; the original plan would have seen us start from a free layby on the other side of the hill, for a much shorter walk).

A bit of a navigational blip at the start (should have looked at the map, rather than following the ‘all walking trails’ signs in the car park!) gave us a bit of a circuitous start, but it was on good trails through nice woodland, and we were in no rush, so no harm was done.

The information I’d gleaned from hill-bagging.co.uk, as to the location of a narrow mountain bike trail which winds through the trees and comes out within 40 metres of the summit, was spot on and before long we were thrashing around in a newly replanted scene of devastation, with the detritis of the felling of the previous trees still very evident. Presumably it was because of the replanting (which seemed very recent) that the cairn marking the top has disappeared, as I couldn’t find it, even though I visited every possible high point.

A bit of variety was had by following a slightly different route back (via an enormous dress, made out of marble, deep in the woodland) and we returned to Colin with 5.3 miles walked with 700’(ish) of ascent.

Friday 6 May

See Morris Hill (NX902779)

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A good start to the day: the parking spot which looked a bit tight for Colin when I viewed it on StreetView turned out to be perfectly sized in reality and thus rather than having to leave Mick behind, to move Colin if access was needed, he was able to join me for this early outing. A nice easy one it was too, with a track up to a mast providing access to within spitting distance of the summit.

By 9am we were back down at Colin for second breakfast, having covered 2.3 miles with around 600’ of ascent.

Killyleoch Hill (NX878820)

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The parking for this one was exactly as it looked on StreetView – probably big enough for a car not to cause an obstruction, but not so for a 6m van, so Mick was left reclining on the sofa with his book as I set off upwards.

It would have been a lovely walk, if not marred by a ‘Private – No Public Right of Way’ sign on a gate through which I had to pass. I knew the sign to have no legal standing, but still find such notices off-putting by the implication that the landowner didn’t want me there. So, I strode up the track as fast as my little legs could carry me, and met no-one until my descent (and they didn’t bat an eyelid at my presence).

The top provided an excellent 180 degree viewpoint (the other direction being forested), but it was protected by bogs such that my socks were wrung out when I got back to patiently-waiting Mick. I’d covered 3 miles with 700’ of up.

Bennan (NX821769)

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I couldn’t find a single other log on hill-bagging.co.uk which took my intended approach for this hill, but aerial photos suggested it was viable, so rather than spending time and diesel driving around tiny lanes, we used the same start point for both this and the next hill: the car park at the NW end of Glenkiln Reservoir.

It did give a longer walk in, but forest tracks are easy going, and when we got to the point where I’d identified a break through which we could exit the trees, we could see a potentially better route ahead of us. It worked nicely, even depositing us close to a place where we could cross a barbed wire fence and a wall without any need for clambering. With only a bit of yomping through heather left ahead of us, we were soon at the big monument (a memorial to a John Turner) which sits atop this hill.

A rather more direct route was taken to descend, and ‘rough’ would be the best word to describe it. Bogs and tussocks a-go-go. This one was a round trip of 4.5 miles (2.9 miles up, 1.6 down) with 850’ of ascent. 

Bishop Forest Hill (NX849796)

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Being pathless, I’d feared that our passage up Bishop Forest Hill would be as rough as our descent of Bennan had been, and in places it was, but those areas were few and relatively small. Moreover, the summit, which had looked such a long way away when viewed from Bennan, didn’t seem so distant once we got high enough for it to come into view.

What a fine viewpoint it was when we got there! All of the previous three hills were within sight (possibly yesterday’s too – I didn’t look for it at the time and I’m not going back to check!), and lots of empty lumpiness surrounded us. Lovely!

With a carelesss amount of wandering into bogs on the way down (on my part anyway), I arrived back at Colin (with just over 2 miles walked, and 700’ of ascent) with shoes, socks and lower trousers in such a state that a visit to the nearby stream was in order to get the worst off (oooh, that reminds me: must go and get my shoes in before dark, or we’ll be driving off without them in the morning).

Monday, 9 May 2016

Tinto and Glas Bheinn

Monday 9 May

Tinto (NS953344; 711 metres)
Tinto is a striking hill, particularly when viewed from the south, and apparently it's a popular one too. The car park is sizeable (and was still very busy when we arrived around 4pm yesterday) and there's a motorway of a path leading up the hill.

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Despite its popularity, we had it to ourselves this morning, mainly due to setting out, into the blue-skied day, just after 8am. It seems to me, after lengthy observations that the majority of day walkers set out at 10 am (and, indeed, that's exactly when cars started arriving today).

We may have enjoyed stunning blue skies for this outing, but they were accompanied by a heavy haze, so we couldn't pick out the places named on the topograph which sits atop the massive summit cairn.

The only variety in our return journey was that we picked up the water bottles and crisp packets we'd spotted on the way up. With the subsequent litter pick in the car park (which is well supplied with bins), we couldn't help but have again the conversation about the mindset of people who go to such a spot to enjoy the scenery yet can't quite manage to carry their empties out with them. (*fume*).

It was then time for something completely different. Our current journey is taking us to Dornie by the end of the week and it had come to my notice that we weren't making much progress northwards, so whilst the day heated up to full 'heatwave' standards we drove north, all the way to Rannoch Moor and:

Glas Bheinn (NN327473; 501 metres)

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By the time we'd spent a few hours driving north, pausing only for a grocery shop (oh, and for many incidents of lorries struggling to pass each other on the A82), I was so hot and lethargic that I was tempted to pass this one by. However, it was only 2.30 and the stats were similar to yesterday afternoon's quick bag, albeit I expected this one to be rather harder, what with it being on Rannoch Moor.

What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. The line I took up (which bore almost no resemblance to the line I'd intended) was exceptionally good going (nice crisp flattened last-year's-grass and mainly adequately firm underfoot) and the views from the top were incredible. By choosing to sit this one out Mick missed one of the finest viewpoints I've ever seen.

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My return route was far more direct than my outward one (and would have been awful in ascent). Despite having read dire bog warnings online, I manages to get within 20 yards of Colin before I carelessly plunged my foot into one.

So, another excellent couple of hills, this time about as similar to each other as chalk is to cheese. The stats were 4.4 miles for Tinto with around 500m of up and for Glas Bheinn were 1.9 miles with around 190m ascent (30 minutes up, 18 down).

(Post Blog Note: It was a couple of days later that I looked at the map on my computer, on which I have all of the Marilyns marked, and saw that there’s another Marilyn right across the road which would have been just as quick and easy bag as this one. Even though they’re really close to each other, they sit in different Sections in the Relative Hills of Britain book, and thus they aren’t depicted on the same map within the book, hence I failed to notice the second one at the time. How annoying! If I’d known I would definitely have done both.)

Sunday, 8 May 2016

Two Planned and a Late Bonus

Sunday 8 May

Well Hill and Ballencleuch Law (NS913064 and 935049)

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My high hopes for these two hills were not disappointed; an excellent walk was had in fantastic surroundings.

From a layby just a tiny bit south along the A702 from the county border (D&G/S Lanark), I had hoped that it would be feasible to follow the boundary fence up to Well Hill, and so it proved to be. Pretty good going underfoot too, so much so that I was genuinely surprised when we got to the point at which no more 'up' could be seen. My question of "Is this the top already?" was a tad ridiculous given the excellent visibility and the quality of my eyesight these days.

The descent to the pass was Very Steep Indeed, and the climb up to Durisdeer Hill got the heart thumping too, but the effort must have soon fallen out of my mind, as on the approach to Scaw'd Law I suggested that it looked as easy to go over it than taking the planned line around.

It was just gone noon as we arrived on top of Ballencleuch Law, where we might have paused for lunch had the wind not been so strong. Instead we snapped a few photos (including of the 'golf ball' radar station on Lowther Hill, next to which we camped just over a year ago) before dropping down Gana Burn where suddenly the promised hot day materialised. By the time we stopped for lunch in the valley it was plenty warm enough to sit around in t-shirts, and I was thinking that shorts would have been a good choice.

Returning back along easy tracks to Colin, 8.3 miles had been covered with around 2500' of ascent, so it wouldn't have been unreasonable to have sat around doing not much for the rest of the day. Moreover, as I had now exceeded my planning for the first part of this trip (given that I've known for almosy a year that I'd be Marilyn bagging in Scotland this month, it was nothing short of careless that I didn't do any planning at all until 3 days before we left home, and equally careless that I didn't plan nearly enough hills).

A quick shufty was had at the resources I did have available and, having selected a hill for tomorrow, and a kipping spot for tonight, I thought we might as well detour slightly on the way to see if it was possible to park to the west of:

Dungavel Hill (NS942305)

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It was possible, right by the cattle grid, but even so, Mick decided to sit this one out. He found some entertainment just after I'd gone, as a man in a van stopped to chat (it was soon established that the man's brother was in the RAF and lived in Forres; for once it wasn't someone Mick knew). Meanwhile, I discovered that this pleasingly-shaped pimple isn't quite as easy as it looks (it was easy, it just looked *really* easy). Bog low down and long grass and tussocks towards the top slowed me down a bit, but as it was only three quarters of a mile each way, it wasn't a lengthy outing.

The best thing about this hill (as is the case with so many Marilyns, thanks to the prominence requirement of the classification) was the view from the top and I was particularly taken with the look of tomorrow's hill, just a stone's throw away.

Relocating to tonight's intended kipping spot a bit of Colin repair was called for. His water pump switch (which is part of the electronic control panel, not a simple mechanical switch) broke yesterday. With the removal of thirteen (!) tiny screws and the application of a dod of superglue, I soon had the broken bit put back together and Mick declaring that he has a clever wife. Let's just hope the superglue holds for at least 3 weeks!

As for the current weather, the evening has become a glorious one and as I type this at 7.30pm it's still 27 degrees inside Colin (and we have 3 windows open). Tomorrow is also promising to be good. I do hope the weather isn't peaking too soon - it needs to be this nice next week for the TGO Challenge!

Wauk Hill and Queensberry

Saturday 7 May

Wauk Hill (NX841909)

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There possibly was just enough room to get Colin onto the verge alongside my access gate off the A702, but rather than risking putting all tyres on grass of unknown firmness, Mick opted to go for a slightly obstructing position and sit this hill out.

Thus I trotted through a field of inquisitive/very mildly threatening cows with very young calves and about a third of a mile uphill before I realised that I couldn't breathe and that a slower pace would be sensible.

It's only necessary to cross one wall to summit this hill from my start point, and that wall bears an excellent built-in stile. Knowing that there were more stiles further up, I decided to ignore that crossing option and instead keep to the easier looking ground on the S side of the wall. The further crossing points were all present, but were ladder stiles of great age and dilapidation. I opted to return on the north side, which turned out not to be bad underfoot after all.

Being only 1.1 miles from the road, it only took me just over half an hour to gain the pleasant summit (another excellent viewpoint, but it was hazy today) and twenty minutes later I was again proving overly interesting to the cows on my return to Colin. With the 2.3 miles of walking came just shy of 700' of ascent.

Queensberry (NX989998)
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I'd only put two hills on the agenda today because this one required a bit of a walk-in, particularly as we didn't know until too late that it was acceptable to park by the buildings at Mithellslacks.

So Colin was neatly abandoned half a mile away and back down the road we walked, noting that the 'down the road' would become 'up the road' for the very end of our outing.

Queensberry sits in a lovely area of lumps and bumps of various shades of beige and green, often with few or no buildings, roads or windfarms within sight (helped, perhaps, today by the heavy haze!) and it was a pleasure to walk the old being-reclaimed-by-nature track which runs up the valley.

Leaving the track, an arduous yomp might have been expected for the final mile of so, but a log entry on hill-bagging.co.uk had once again come up trumps and told me the location of an ATV track which runs the whole way to the summit. I've often found ATV tracks to be a double edged sword, having created horribly boggy lines through the landscape, but happily today's wasn't one of those. In fact, it had created almost perfect underfoot conditions (firm and grassy, but without the tussocks), meaning that the only impediment was the headwind which had picked up since this morning's hill.

Sheltering behind the large cairn at the top, a good while was spent sitting around before steps were retraced. The outing came in a bit shorter than expected at 7.6 miles with something like 1500' of up.

If the weather will just play ball, then I've high hopes that tomorrow's hills will be just as fine as this afternoon's.

Out of Order!

I'm about to post two blog entries about Days 3 and 4 of the current trip. Unfortunately, I wrote up Days 1 and 2 on my laptop (rather than my phone) and now don't have enough power to post them. So, I'm going to post out of order. The start of the trip will follow in due course.

Sunday, 24 April 2016

ODP Day 11: Moel Famau to Prestatyn

Sunday 24 April
21 miles
Overcast start, 15 minutes of spitting rain, clearing to blue patches later

A decision needed to be made last night: to make an early start today so as to finish the walk, or split the final 21 miles into two days. For a number of reasons (including the lack of buses to our village if we were to travel home on a Sunday), we decided to split it.

At 4.30 this morning I woke up and after lying there for half an hour I gave Mick a violent shake and whispered quietly in his ear "Are you awake?". He grunted, which I took to be a "Yes".

"As we're both awake" I said "we may as well get walking." He grunted, which, I took as agreement and so I put the kettle on.

At 6am we were walking. At 6.30 we were stood atop my final Marilyn of this trip, Moel Famau, which didn't require any diversion at all; ODP goes right over its summit. There would have been a second Marilyn later in the day, but in return for getting up super-early I'd volunteered to omit it. It's so close to the A55 that it can easily be picked up when we're passing sometime.

From that first tower-adorned top, the route then goes along the ridge, and stays up high (well, except for a couple of long dips to cross roads) for a good while. All quite lovely it was and a highlight of the trip. Moreover as, contrary to the forecast of heavy rain all morning, we hadn't just packed away a dry tent, but we were walking without waterproofs too. And, course, at that hour of day, we had it all to ourselves.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and after a few miles we were back on farmland, and more of ODP's speciality: pointless ups and downs, including the worst example of the route. It was just at the point where we would have achieved 10 by 10, except that a ridiculously steep pull up a field had me so hot that I needed to either take a layer off (knowing I'd need it back on as soon as we levelled out) or to stop a while, so we declared it time for elevenses. It was 9.43 and we had walked 9.75 miles. It was as we sat there that I looked at the map and realised that we were about to finish our climb and descend straight back down to the road we'd just left. To add insult to injury, the road route would have been one side of a triangle; our up-and-back-down route was two sides.

With four miles to go a few calculations were done and it looked like we were going to be arriving in Prestatyn just after the easiest train home. Not really a problem, as although it would have been convenient to catch it, I'd set out this morning anticipating an arrival at least two hours later (that ridge walk had turned out to be far speedier than expected, with good paths and no stiles).

Even so, who can refuse such a challenge? We put a spurt on and arrived in Prestatyn with just enough time to visit the monument at the ODP end, take some photos, nip to the shop for a drink (water had run out at lunchtime) and get to the train station for the easy train. So, once again we finished a walk and spent absolutely no time looking around the destination town. I should perhaps feel bad about that, but I don't (and not just because we were in Prestatyn  in the relatively recent past anyway).

So, a successful trip completed, including 6 of my 8 intended Marilyns. If my memory isn't deceiving me, we had pretty good weather too, with only one morning of precipitation too, which was the snow showers on the morning of Day 3.

My opinion on Offa's Dyke Path as a whole, now that we've done the whole thing (ish. We did take quite a few deviations from the defined route, but we did walk from its start point to its end point), is that I won't be rushing to repeat it. It does have some excellent bits and some good bits, but they're joined by too much farmland walking to put the walk into my "enjoyed that so much I'd do it again" list. As for the pointless ups and downs, not to mention the with-a-purpose-but-unrewarded ups and downs, I will say that they served our purpose (i.e. a getting fit training walk) very well indeed.

(Gargh! So much for rushing to catch the easy train home. I've been typing this at Crewe station waiting for our connection. We let a slower train go, because we were told the next one would get us there earlier. Foolish mistake - the later one has just been cancelled.)

ODP Day 10: Llangollen to Moel Famau

Sat 23 April
19 miles (>4000' ascent)
Glorious start, clouding as the day went on

I'm sure it must be a common experience amongst people who navigate with a 1:50k map, that you reach a point where the map shows a long block of buildings with a footpath emerging in the middle of the rear of them, and (in the absence of any waymarks) you have no clue which way around or through those buildings you're meant to go. It happened to us twice today (once we guessed right; the other time we thrashed though a forest to the right place). At the first instance (which wasn't on ODP - we took to the Clwydian Way this morning so as to detour via the Marilyn Cyrn-y-Brain) we also had a sense of deja vu.  There I was thinking that by taking the Clwydian Way we were doing something novel, but it turned out we had, in fact, walked that way before during a circular walk out of Llangollen. Didn't help us with the navigation too much, mind - we just recalled that we'd had the same trouble last time without being able to recall the answer.

The yomp up Cyrn-y-Brain  (we could have taken a path, but opted for the more direct option) was through deep, old, woody heather, but once on top was a joy to walk on this gloriously clear day. Mountain bikers outnumbered walkers up there by a large factor.

Back on ODP, before it had chance to throw in many of its trademark undulations, we reached Llandegla where the church outdoes the one in Newchurch with its provision of refreshments. They've built a little kichenette in a back corner, and provided a large table and cushioned chairs as well as toilet facilities and a local history display. Taking a long lunchbreak there, it was only as we were about to leave that it occurred to me that, as we were to have a dry camp tonight  (without even passing any streams this afternoon) we should have rehydrated an evening meal whilst we were there and had it for our lunch. As it was, we topped up our water bottles, decided to worry about finding more water later, and went on our way.

A few miles later a pause was had to save the life of a lamb, which had squeezed under a tiny gap in a fence and couldn't get back to its mother. It gave us quite the run around and we probably would have failed in our quest if three other walkers hadn't come along and lent a hand. It was only a tiny thing and definitely needed its mother, so it was good finally to corner it and lift it back over the fence where it immediately went in for a lengthy feed. A satisfying good deed complete.

Because one Marilyn wasn't enough for us today, we then threw in another two (both very close to the path: Moel Gyw and Foel Fenlli). With 18 miles already walked with lots of up and down, the steep pull up the last one was slow work. In fact, it's been quite a hard day really, so I'm glad I set out refreshed from last night's B&B; I think I would have struggled to have done today's walk yesterday.

Looking over from the top of the last hill to where we intended to camp tonight things didn't look promising for a good pitch (all we could see was heather, no nice patches of grass), but we carried on regardless. A small deviation off path led us to a grassy area which is perfect in terms of position (i.e. out of sight and not near a path) but is probably the worst we've ever had in terms of slopiness. As we weren't moved to search any further for something better we've only ourselves to blame if we spend the whole night having to climb back up to the top of the tent!

As for the water situation, a couple of litres were begged from a hotel/restaurant sort of a place that we passed (it wasn't clear from its signage what it actually was) so we should (barring excessive thirst or mishaps) get us far enough to find either a stream or a tap tomorrow.

(Post blog note: I've just established that it's possible to get two cooking pots adequately clean without water with two used (but not squeezed out) tea bags!)

Friday, 22 April 2016

ODP Day 9: Porth-y-Waen to Langollen

Fri 22 April
17.5 miles (3800' ascent)
Heavily overcast start, clearing to surprise us with sunny intervals this afternoon.

ODP is not an easy stroll in the park, but beyond the physical effort of the constant undulations we're finding the biggest issue is a mental one. In our opinion it is quite hard to huff and puff up 450', at quite a gradient, only then immediately to descend again, reaching the bottom of a valley only to ascend again. There was a bit of that again today, although we did have the treat of the section across Oswestry Old Racecourse Common, where the route stays up high for a good length of time, in very pleasant surroundings.

I'm not sure why ODP doesn't visit Llangollen, or at least have an optional route which does, as it seems to me that National Trails often make a special effort to detour to nearby towns or villages which offer amenities. Given the lack of shops and eating places directly on the northern end of ODP, Llangollen seems an obvious place to visit.

Having considered resupplying for the whole of the rest of the Path whilst in Welshpool, the decision made was that we would rather detour into Llangollen than carry that much food (I'd swear Mick's been slipping rocks into my pack as it is; I can do without extra food weight at the moment!).

The various options for getting to Llangollen were considered and the route selected saw us leave ODP just after Chirk Castle to lop off a corner (although that lopping did incidentally involve going up and over a hill rather than around the side of it). It was a lopping decision which was made easier by the fact that we've previously spent a couple of weekends in this town, and thus have walked before most of the bit of route that we have bypassed.

Having decided to come here the question then was where to stay. The thought of a campsite on a Friday night wasn't filling me with enthusiasm, so at lunchtime I greatly annoyed a dog in a kennel as I stood outside of its owner's house to use their BT hotspot (look Louise, I caught the autocorrect today! It was driving me mad last night with some of the things it was changing). Five minutes later a bonus, unscheduled B&B was booked.

We still had four miles to walk to get there and surprisingly, the highlight of the day came not on ODP but on that 'corner lopping' section, which boasted some fantastic views over the Vale of Llangollen. Worth that extra ascent, I declared.

The downside of picking a B&B at random and without any research was demonstrated when we arrived. It's certainly far from the best we've ever stayed in. I can live with dated (at an appropriate price) and I can live with a bit of dust around the edges of carpets and the like, but this room is seriously in need of a good clean. Oh, and the radiator valve is stuck partially on, combined with windows that don't open...

At least the shower is good.

As the B&B's advertised 'evening meals served every night' turned out not to include tonight, we went out and picked an eating place based on it being the first place we passed. That selection went well, as one of the photos above should show. Dee Corner is an eatery which doesn't skimp on serving quantities.

Thursday, 21 April 2016

ODP Day 8: by Welshpool to Porth-y-Waen

Thurs 21 April
17 miles
Mainly very hazy sunshine

We don't have a good track record of sticking religiously to the route of defined long distance trails, so it should be no surprise that we started this morning not by returning to ODP, but by deviating even further.

Heading down the road to pick up the Montgomery Canal, to take us through Welshpool and out the other side, to reconnect with ODP at Pool Quay, did add a little distance but had a number of other benefits. The main ones were: 1) it avoided the need for us to use Powys's appallingly maintained footpath network across fields to rejoin ODP at the nearest point (one of the paths we needed ran right through the campsite; I found no obvious trace of it); and 2) it would take us right past a big supermarket.

Even though we'd not long been walking, second breakfast was declared in Morrison's cafe and I discovered that the way to an efficient resupply shop* is to order a cooked breakfast, and to have a cup of tea poured and waiting, before you go shopping. I reckon I broke my all-time resupply speed record by a factor of 3.

The Montgomery Canal is a changed place from last time we walked along it when, outside Welshpool the towpath became wild and lumpy with long grasses and wildflowers galore. It now has an engineered path, which wasn't too offensive for walking and which sped us along.

The problem with speed today was that the owner of Bankside B&B, in whose garden we're camping tonight, had requested for us not to arrive before 4, as he would be out. Fortunately, the day was a nice one for time wasting, so not long after we left the canal to take to the top of the River Severn's flood-defence mound (that being the route of ODP), a lengthy elevenses break was had (unusually, actually at 11am).

It was the first of a series of poorly timed breaks today, as not long later we happened across a picnic bench outside someone's house on which sat an honesty box and a tub of slices of various homemade cakes. We bought some for after lunch but resisted another stop.

Lunch was had in an uninspiring spot adjacent to the road in Four Crosses, chosen because there was a bench there, but not long later (just after an underpass bearing such an interesting exhibit on its walls that it took us an unusually long time to get to the other side of the road) we rejoined the canal, where a bench sat in a much more pleasing position, if only we'd waited a bit longer for lunch. (Incidentally, we could have followed the canal the whole way from Welshpool, but we'd done that before, hence today we opted to stick to ODP as it veered off to follow the Severn.)

The next break was spent perched on a fallen gatepost alongside the canal, with cold pop and an ice cream apiece from Llanymynech village store. Of course, there turned out to be a picnic bench 50 yards further on.

Leaving Llanymynech the day ended with a shock to the system: after a combination of canals and the level top of a flood defence, involving almost no change in altitude, suddenly we had a steep 400' climb over a pleasant little hill whose top houses a golf course.

On the other side lay our night stop (where we arrived with perfect timing just a few minutes after 4pm) and we were greeted by an offer of tea and biscuits, which were duly delivered to the tent :-). The B&B has BT internet too, which just about reaches to the tent, so I'll be able to post this blog tonight via the public hotpot, rather than having to loiter outside someone's house as we're passing tomorrow.

(*Yes, I know we only received a resupply parcel yesterday, but our parcels only contain evening meals. All other meals and snacks are bought as we go along.)

ODP Day 7: Newcastle to by Welshpool

Wed 20 April
16 miles
Wall-to-wall sunshine

Last night I read my blog post from 2008 describing our walk from Knighton (where we left yesterday afternoon) to Mellington Hall (where we passed mid-morning today). It confirmed the section as being the lumpiest on ODP and I'd remarked that the steepest ascents were saved for the end of that stage. I did wonder, as I read those words, whether the ascents really were steeper, or if it was just our perception of them at the end of a very lumpy day. I have now been reminded that, yep, they are steep indeed.

The worst thing about these ascents is that you don't get rewarded for the effort by a nice high-level walk at the top. No sooner have you finished climbing than it's a knee-killer of a descent, ready for the next climb.

Given their steepness, and that it was a glorious day that soon started warming up nicely, we wondered how a southbound chap we met was managing to walk wearing a jacket and balaclava. He showed no signs of glowing as we passed the time of day, whilst I'm sure Mick and I were glistening at the very least.

Finally, we got to the top of a climb and below us we could see Mellington Hall and, way further in the distance, Welshpool, with much flatness between them.

And thus we found ourselves in rather nondescript farmland again - the penalty for wanting flatness - although there was one final short sharp shock towards the end of the day.

As part of the logistics planning for this walk, I'd struggled to come up with somewhere to send a resupply parcel. Eventually, the day before we left home, I concluded that the best option was to commit to making the detour to a campsite just outside of Welshpool and sending it there. My original plan for that detour was a little circuitous and involved a walk along a B road, but this morning I noticed an alternative: by leaving ODP sooner (at Forden) we could take to some footpaths along the Severn, keeping us off-road.

We did have slight misgivings (not about missing a bit of ODP - we've walked this bit before) but about how viable the paths would be, given our experience on Powys footpaths a couple of days ago when we tried (and failed) to cut a corner at Gladestry.

The first section of path went well; indeed, it was well marked. Of the next section we could find no trace at all, not even an access point (not even with the assistance of digital mapping). A longer route was taken and through a farmyard we went, assisted not one jot by any signage whatsoever, not to mention the locked gate we had to climb (and we must have been on the right line at that point as there was no other possible option).

We'd just shaken off some overly inquisitive cows who staged a hot pursuit of our progress across their field when we got to firm evidence of the RoW in the shape of a very official-looking stile, sporting a very official looking closure notice. The next section was, apparently closed for safety reasons, until such time as a solution could be found (no detail was given as to the issue requiring a solution). Further inspection gave the date of the temporary order as 25 August 2010. Hmmm, more evidence as to how seriously Powys takes its responsibilities as to RoWs?

Obviously, we ignored the notice and proceeded with fingers crossed that whatever the closure-causing-issue had been, it wouldn't stop us getting through (the path being squeezed between river and railway, we feared that it had washed away). Happily we popped out at the other end with no problem at all. There was no closure notice at that end - nor any evidence that anyone ever goes that way.

The faff with the footpaths took an unreasonably long time (as unpleasant as the road would have been, it would have been the easier and quicker option) but we did finally reach the campsite where we're pretty sure we've been undercharged (£5 for 2 people on an 'all facilities' campsite?!) even though we questioned the price and offered more.

So now we lie here in the tent with the Severn a stone's throw in front of us, and with the sun streaming in to the front of the tent.

Tuesday, 19 April 2016

ODP Day 6: Beyond Kington to Newcastle

Tues 19 April
18 miles (ish); 3800'
Overcast start, clearing to increasingly sunny intervals

Our day didn't get off to the best start. ODP is so well waymarked that one can get rather lax in navigation. That can cause a bit of an issue when either a waymark is missing or you miss one. Within five minutes of setting out this morning, having passed a marker and not seeing anything else, we merrily continued on the same path until Mick asked me to confirm we hadn't gone awry. We had, and thus within the first five minutes we had added half a mile to our day (by the time we realised our deviation it was easier to go around Herrock Hill than backtracking to go over it).

Things did then go more smoothly, or as smoothly as such a violently undulating day can go. Moreover, my fears of the last few days that I had dreamed our 2008 walk along ODP (a fear based on recalling almost nothing from the last couple of days' route) were disproved as lots and lots of today was familiar, right down to "isn't there a tap available for walkers in the next farmyard?" (there was).

Perhaps the reason for the recollections of today's route was because whereas the last few days have involved a lot of low-level fields which look very much like any number of other fields we've walked through over the years, today majored in very fine surroundings.

The LEJOGer who we met yesterday (grahamslongwalk.wordpress.com) was met again about 2.5 miles before Knighton and it seems that we must have spent last night camped about half a kilometre away from each other, as the crow flies (the path at that point takes a circuitous three-sides-of-a-square route around a field).

After a further chatette with him, on we strode to Knighton where the first cafe we saw was chosen as our lunch venue. A good choice we later declared, as the omelettes were huge and well-stuffed, the salad fresh and the pile of chips home-cut.

Just what you need after a big lunch is eight miles of further undulations and the pull out of Knighton is a little steep. What views from the top, though! By then it was so warm and sunny that we got down to our shirtsleeves for the first time since Day 1.

Only one group of three people was seen heading south from Knighton to Kington this morning,  but the section just north of Knighton was more popular, with six people seen in the latter stages of our day, one of whom paused for a chat.

We don't usually consider 18 miles to be a long day, but with the cumulative effect of the number of undulations today (none was individually significant; the biggest was only 450'), it felt longer, so by the time we pulled up our final incline to Quarry House B&B, it was just gone 1630 and we were more than happy to have reached our destination. We were even happier when shown our room; this place is rating highly in our opinions so far.

ODP Day 5: Hay-on-Wye to beyond Kington

Mon 18 April
17.75 miles(ish)
Overcast but dry

Eurgh! That's how I felt at 2.30 this morning when I was woken by a migraine. Quandary: the effective pain killers contain caffeine and would keep me awake for the rest of the night; ordinary paracetamol would take the edge off, but then I wouldn't be able to take the stronger option in time for them to take effect before we got walking. I opted to take nothing and by about 4.30 I dropped off again.
With appropriate pills inside of me before breakfast, a bit of a rethink was had as to schedule and I expressed a preference to add a day into the itinerary, making the next 3 days relatively short. Decision made, off we set, aiming for Kington.

ODP shouldn't be underestimated in terms of uppity downityness, and we'd had a good chunk of up before second breakfast. We'd been torn whether to aim for the church in Newchurch for that break, in the hope of being able to use a plug socket inside, but the promise of a sheltered bench outside if it was locked. About a mile short we declared ourselves too hungry to continue, so plonked ourselves down on a suitable bit of grass, whilst I muttered about how good it would be to find an 'honesty barn/shed' with tea making facilities and an honesty box - like the one on the north end of the Pennine Way.

A mile later what should we find outside the church but a 'tea and biscuits here; help yourself' sign? Well, it would have been rude not to! A short while after we'd served ourselves the chap who provides the makings and the clean mugs arrived, so we chatted as we supped and whilst our phones charged a little. Donations given, we dragged ourselves away for some more undulations, where we met a couple of south-bounders, to whom (amongst other topics) we tried to sell the TGO Challenge.

East of Gladestry we proved once again that "shortcuts make for long delays (Mr Frodo)" as we tried to take a more direct bridleway. Alas, a lack of maintenance and waymarking across fields (not to mention barbed wire and firmly tied gates) made the route too difficult, leading to a backtrack. If that hadn't happened, we probably wouldn't have met the LEJOGer who happened by as we were lunching.

Hergest Ridge (Marilyn) was then bagged (although I have a suspicion that we did actually visit it's summit in 2008 as well, but at least I can be certain this time) before we passed the incongruous stand (or should that be a troop?) of monkey puzzle trees and started our descent into Kington.

By then I was feeling completely well again, and the day was still young, so contrary to the morning's stated intention of cutting short, a couple of hours were killed with tea and a very early evening meal in a cafe, before we continued on.

We did cut slightly short, though, as it had been my intention to visit another Marilyn, Bradnor Hill. Suddenly, however, I felt like we would be too conspicuous trespassing across the (moderately busy) golf course with our big packs and walking poles and thus I decided I'd rather return another time and be a little more stealthy (or perhaps the detour to the club house to ask permission). Looking at the hill from the other side, the intended descent may have been a bit tricky too, with fences in the way and a farmer on a quad bike doing his rounds.

At the point where I'd intended to end the day I went for a scout around and out of the feasible pitches I could find the most discrete was on an old grassy dead-end track in a forest. It's pretty well hidden, but with the down side that we certainly won't be getting the morning sun (I say optimistically hoping that there's going to be some sun).

Monday, 18 April 2016

ODP Day 4: Beyond Pandy to Hay on Wye

Sun 17 April
15 miles
Wall-to-wall sunshine to start, sunny intervals later. Cold.

The day started with an accidental lie-in, with the double bonus that: 1) breakfast was had in a warm tent, with the sun full upon it; and 2) by the time the tent was packed away it was bone dry - a nice change as it had been sopping yesterday morning.

It was approaching 8.30 by the time we strode off, under a cloudless sky, to complete the final ascent up to the Black Mountain ridge, where ice lay over the puddles, but with the sun blazing down it felt warm indeed.

It was a busy place up there first thing. Before the first hour was out we had passed 18 other backpackers (three D of E groups), but after the final group this fine ridge was all ours for quite a while before day walkers started appearing. They'd missed the best of the day as, by then, clouds were forming. Happily, however, the views lasted all day; we'd enjoyed sunshine on our last visit, but with such a haze on that occasion that views were severely curtailed.

Taking the trouble to detour a couple of dozen paces from the path, with about a foot of ascent, the summit of Black Mountain was bagged (a Marilyn), and not long after we paused for lunch, entertained as we did so by watching nearby paragliders. They were a plentiful bunch today. Up there with the numbers of D of Eers.

Unfortunately the warmth of this morning didn't last. As the northerly wind picked up and the sunny spells became more spaced out, it grew noticeably colder and more layers were donned. I maxed out at 4 (all long-sleeved) during our lunch break, although some did later come off as we got towards the valley.

It feels, as the path starts its descent from the ridge, like Hay should be just a few minutes away, at the bottom, but in fact it is still 5 miles distant. The last couple of hundred yards of that distance were walked in the company of a chap who may or may not (depending on fitness) be tackling part of the Cape Wrath Trail next month. Ways were parted as he went off to his accommodation and we went in search of socks, as one of mine laddered on Day 2 and disintegrated into holes yesterday. The sock mission accomplished, a circuitous route was then taken to the Co-op, as I made a very poor job of navigating through the town. At least Mick was saved some steps as I then left him sitting like a vagrant at the roadside with both packs as I nipped a few minutes over the border to England in my quest for groceries.

Back in Wales, we soon abandoned the Path for the day as it's another campsite tonight and this one lies about half a mile (all uphill!) off-route.

(Postscript: must be tired. Not only did we oversleep quite considerably this morning, but we put tea on to rehydrate this evening and lay down to wait for it to do its thing, and promptly both fell asleep. It was a late tea tonight!)

Sunday, 17 April 2016

ODP Day 3: Monmouth to beyond Pandy

Sat 16 April
18 miles (ish)
Early wintery showers then brightening to sunny periods.

It was raining again as we awoke this morning but unlike yesterday we didn't have a short day ahead and thus weren't at leisure to have a lie-in. That was a shame, particularly in view of the quartet of ignorami, resident in two nearby motorhomes on the campsite, who returned from the pub at gone midnight and decided to stand outside our tent to conduct a loud and lengthy final conversation of the night. When one of them took a phone call we could even hear the person on the other end. They didn't take our hints (i.e. loud responses to parts of their conversations), and no convenient heavy shower passed through at that point to force them indoors, so it was a while before they went in to commence moving furniture (or so it sounded). It was gone 2.30 by the time I got to sleep, although on the plus side I did get to listen to quite a big chunk of my current audio book.

It was raining quite heavily by the time I left the tent to go to the toilet block this morning. It was snowing quite heavily by the time I returned and it was with frequent showers of sleet and snow that we spent the first part of the morning. It was quite a sociable morning too as we passed the time of day with one southbound section hiker, two north bound section hikers and one Swiss chap doing the whole route over the course of two months, taking every opportunity to visit towns and tourist attractions on the way. Then there was the lady farmer with whom Mick had one of the best quality conversations about the weather I've heard for ages (when she deigned to reply to his initial comment about the sunshine; at first she just stared at him before going into rant mode about how crap (her word!) the weather's been this year and the impact on her sheep).

The most notable thing about the rest of the way to Pandy, which was largely across enclosed farmland, was how little of it we recognised. One bench in a clearing in the forest, an orchard and White Castle were familiar. Of the other 99% of the way neither of us had any recollection at all.

Within the grounds of White Castle was where we had lunch (and chatted to a couple of cyclists who popped by to say hello as one of them has also backpacked the Path). Nice and warm in the sunshine, it gave my feet and socks the chance to dry out after another muddy, waterlogged morning (we kept our overtrousers on and sported solid mud almost to the knees and spatters right up to hip level).

Our arrival at the Old Pandy Inn, at about 3.15pm, was ill-timed, as it had been our intention to kill some time and eat there before continuing on to camp. All looked promising as a couple were just tucking into freshly served meals as we arrived, but alas, it transpired that the cook had just knocked off for the afternoon and that evening service didn't start until quarter to seven, which was a bit late for our purposes. So we pouted and the Landlord came up trumps, rustling up a huge bowl of chips for us.

A couple of hours later, very well hydrated, we set back out and nearly made it up on to the ridge before deciding that with the cold wind and forecast subzero temperature we might be better in a more sheltered spot. Backtracking by a few minutes we found a pich relatively well hidden down in a dip (which would make it a dreadful choice if rain was forecast). It's not the most level pitch we've ever had, but nor is it the worst.

Friday, 15 April 2016

ODP Day 2: to Monmouth

Fri 15 April
11 miles?
Overcast, low cloud, occasional short-lived drizzle

Our ordinary backpacking routine would have seen us up at 6 this morning and walking around 7.30, but that's not how this morning went. I first awoke at 6.25, looked at the time, listened to the rain, thought "Nah!" and went back to sleep. It was gone a quarter to eight by the time I made moves kettlewards for our breakfast brew. It was twenty to ten by the time we set out.

I don't like late starts, but today it was worthwhile. Aside from not having far to go, the delay gave the rain time to stop such that, even though there were some drizzly spells throughout the day (and it's raining lightly as I type this), waterproofs were not required. That said, I did wear my jacket all day, and Mick wore his overtrousers so between us we had it covered!

Oh the mud, though! The last mile or so of yesterday had been a mudfest and the ground conditions hadn't been helped by the overnight rain. It made the going awfully slow for much of the time.

In view of the mud and the low cloud, the decision to take the high route via St Briavels Common, rather than the riverside route was not (in hindsight) worth the effort. It was a series of byways, in various states of muddiness, bordered by fields and with no views. Even so, when we reached valley level again and had the option of taking to the Wye Valley Way, which would have shortcut our day and kept us below the cloud, we still opted to take the higher route of the ODP. It seemed wrong to be wandering off track so early in the walk.

Many areas of nice natural woodland featured today, with fine carpets of bluebells, wood anenome,  wild garlic and lesser celandine, as well as another blue flower of which I know not the name. This particular section was marred, however, by a very steep descent on wet, rotting leaves covering waterlogged clay. We inched our way down, with occasional yelps as slides were taken.

Entering Bigsweir Wood the signposts and waymarks in the car park are now so obvious that it would take a serious lack of attention accidentally to take the low, easy track, as we did in 2008. Today we took the proper route which, through this loveliest of the day's woodland, was marred only by the mud. Did I mention that the mud was a notable feature and impediment today?

By Redbrook patience with undulations and muddy descents had been exhausted so the route over Kymin was omitted in favour of the riverside walk into Monmouth, where Henry's Cafe served me a pot of tea (made with leaves) holding four generous cups. As we sat there we contemplated: to stick to plan and go for a stealth camp tonight, or to go with the easy option of the campsite. For the second consecutive day, the campsite won and I'm pleased to say that the welcome received was far friendlier than in 2008 (when we were greeted by a shout of something along the lines of "what do you want" from an upstairs window, and (if I remember correctly) later the same day Conrad was refused a pitch even though there was plenty of room by us. Today we were thoughtfully given a patch of grass just outside a lean-to shelter, housing a couple of benches and a drying rack - luxury facilities for the backpacker :-)

The toilet facilities are still rather dated, mind. A particular feature is that the token meter for the ladies' shower is outside the cubicle opposite a window, which was once whitewashed, but is now clear in patches. I probably don't need to explain the implications of that arrangement...

Offa's Dyke Path (ODP) Day 1: Chepstow to SE of Brockweir

Thurs 14 April (noon to 1600)
10 miles (plus walk to station)
Sunny intervals

With a light rain falling as we made our way to the station for our train down to Chepstow this morning, and knowledge of the forecast weather for that bit of the country, a damp start to this walk was expected. So, it was a pleasant surprise to alight at our destination, after a very painless journey, into the sunshine.

After a quick trip to Tesco to avail ourselves of their facilities, we were off - for a bit of repetition. The start of ODP is at Sedbury Cliffs, which lie about a mile and a half south of Chepstow, and it seemed to me that the obvious way of getting there was to walk, before turning around and retracing our steps. We could, of course have taken the easier option of omitting that bit entirely, but as it hadn't featured in our LEJOG, I thought it only right and proper to start the Path at its beginning.

Lunch-with-a-view was had at the boulder which marks the start point and at 1pm we started heading north.

On our LEJOG we'd joined ODP on the north side of Chepstow and so it was from that point today that we had many 'I remember this' and 'I don't remember this' moments. It's funny the things we remembered of a path that we'd only visited once before, eight years ago.

Into the woodland on the approach to the Devil's Pulpit (which overlooks Tintern Abbey) we certainly didn't recognise the route, as the first section has changed and the next bit has been surfaced.

Until last night our plan had been a stealth camp tonight. Then I realised that would require quite a water carry and suddenly a campsite seemed like a good option. As easy as it would have been to nip into the site (we approached from the rear) take some water and leave, we were too honest for that (today, at least; we might perhaps have done that once or twice in the past).

So, we're now comfortably ensconced in a tent for the first time since the end of July last year, and as I type (at 1845) the sound of rain drumming on nylon has just started.

Sunday, 10 April 2016

Planning and (Expensive!) Kit Pruning

Planning

Late last year we decided that our pre-TGO Challenge warm-up trip this year would be a section of the South West Coast Path, and I selected the section between Plymouth and Poole. Father Christmas brought me the Trailblazer guidebook (favoured by me because they list accommodation, campsites, shops and amenities, saving me acres of research) and I put no more thought into the subject until a couple of weeks back when I wheeled out a spreadsheet and a map and started planning.

A few hours later and I had concluded that the logistics were too difficult, and the costs too high, for a 2-week trip, the main issues being the number of ferry crossings, plus one wade, required on that section (meaning bad timing or weather would be awfully inconvenient), combined with the built-up bits where the only feasible accommodation for the distances I was looking at covering would be B&Bs. Then there were the train journeys there and back, neither of which was cheap or direct.

“How do you fancy Offa’s Dyke instead?” I asked Mick and (being the easy-going chap he is) he raised no objection. We did walk from Chepstow to Chirk on our LEJOG, but that was eight years ago, and I’ve long fancied doing the whole thing. The deal was sealed by cheap and easy train journeys and the presence of a few unticked Marilyns along the route. Train tickets to Chepstow have been booked for Thursday 14 April.

Kit Pruning

There’ll be an exciting set of omisions from my regular backpacking kit this year:

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After a fantastically large amount of dithering, when we got home at the beginning of March I finally bit the bullet and booked myself in for laser eye surgery. On 19 March I went under the laser and by the following morning I was very pleasantly shocked to find that I could read the title of Mick’s Warrant, which hangs on the opposite wall of the bedroom.

For the following week or so, Mick had to put up with me reading signs and other distant writings to him, just because I could and at my 1-week follow up appointment my sight was confirmed as being better than 20/20 in both eyes. Thus, after 35 years of glasses, I shall be setting out on this year’s backpacking trips with only my sunglasses as eyewear.

Hopefully it’ll be a few years yet before I need reading glasses and hopefully it will be many, many years before my eyes degrade again in terms of myopia, as it was an expensive way of saving 200g off my pack weight*!

(*Okay, so pack weight considerations didn’t even come into the decision to get lasered. The biggest excitement to date has been going out in the rain (I never could abide getting rain on my glasses) and I certainly won’t miss faffing with contact lenses.) 

The Warm Up for the Warm Up for the Main Event

In an ordinary year, before setting off for our first backpacking trip, we will have done plenty of walking, including a handful of days carrying a loaded pack. Although we walked quite a bit whilst in Spain during January and February, it was mostly of the moseying-around or sightseeing variety and thus not good training. And, because we were away, we didn’t do the loaded pack thing.

With our first backpacking trip (itself a warm-up for subsequent trips) being just a handful of days away (yikes! There’s still dehydrating to do! I hope all the kit is exactly where I left it!), and having not carried a full pack since the end of July last year, it was looking perilously like we were going to spend the first couple of days suffering and cursing ourselves for not preparing better. Thus, a last-minute plan was formed.

Day 1

After a couple of days spent with Ma-in-Law in Halifax, off we headed on Thursday morning just a handful of miles down the road to Soyland Moor for a gentle re-introduction to our backpacks. A circuit of the reservoirs, with the addition of an out-and-back to Stoodley Pike, fitted the bill nicely, with barely any ascent and with good paths for all but one relatively short wet and muddy section.

image

Stoodley Pike

Lunch at Stoodley Pike (even though it was only 11am!)

The outing came out at exactly 11 miles and Anquet alleges that there was 700’ of ascent, which seems an exaggeration to me. It served its purpose too, as I incurred bruises on my collar bones and hips, and finished with pounded feet and stiff knees and lower back.

Day 2

Day 1 ended with an unexpected return to Ma-in-Law’s house when we discovered, as the evening cooled down and we tried to put the heating on, that Colin’s gas system had developed a fault (the very system that had been serviced last month, and which we hadn’t used since). Unfortunately, by the time we discovered the fault we’d already travelled down to the start point for Friday’s walk, but fortunately that was still only 10 miles away from WildAx, the manufacturer and servicer of Colin.

So, Ma-in-Law unexpectedly put up with us for another night, and at 7.30 on Friday morning we pitched up unannounced at WildAx where Danny the Production Manager kindly dropped what he was supposed to be doing to sort out Colin’s gas problem and get us back on the road.

By quarter past ten, Colin had a new gas regulator, we’d eaten a Morrison’s cooked breakfast apiece and we were back parked on Wessenden Moor for a plan which involved following the Pennine Way to Swellands Reservoir, the old route of the Pennine Way from there to Black Hill, to pick up the Pennine Way again to get back to our start point. It looked like this, except that the reality didn’t have a gap in the route (really should have charged the Garmin Gadget at some point either before or during the trip):

image

The outing started nice and gently – indeed, it was all downhill as we headed past the first two reservoirs. Then our gentle re-introduction ended, firstly with the short-but-sharp pull up onto the moor, followed by a very soggy yomp along the old line of the Pennine Way across White Moss.

Well, that was unexpectedly hard work, although not as much so as the section across Wessenden Head Moor!  The last time I went that way was in June 2010, after a very dry spell. It’s not been very dry lately and thus what we encountered was hideous, slow-going bogginess excellent training for Scotland.

By the time I sat at the foot of the trig on Black Hill (which I’m pleased to see is still green) I was feeling the effort, but at least it was all downhill from there … except for the bit of up that turned out to be a little bigger than I’d remembered.

 Black Hill

Even though I was more than ready to be back at Colin with a cup of tea in my hand, I still managed to muster the energy on the descent off Black Hill to run after and catch the bunch of five 30th-birthday helium balloons which drifted past us:

30 Again

Duly punctured I put them in the back of Mick’s pack, adding to the one I’d put in there on Thursday. That beats all previous records for the number of helium balloons (or remains thereof) picked up on a single trip.

We finally arrived back at Colin after an outing that felt a bit longer than its 9.9-mile length (1300’ of up), but happy that all of Thursday’s aches and stiffness had gone, even if my collar bones and hips were more bruised.

Day 3

A number of walk locations had been contemplated for Saturday but the final decision was the easy option: to stay put at Wessenden Moor overnight and to walk from there again, even though it would involve some repetition from Friday’s route.

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Thankfully, by the time we set out, the overnight rain and wind had given way to an increasingly fine day, although the after effect of the heavy rain was evident on the ground.

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Moreover, it was evident when we opted not to follow the Pennine Way back off Wessenden Moor but (in the interests of reducing repetition) to take the longer-but-less-violent-down-and-back-up option. What we hadn’t considered was the stream crossing which would be required in going that way.

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We didn’t quite manage it dry-shod, but it turned out to be easy enough, and soon we were back down in the valley, along with plenty of other people enjoying a sunny Saturday stroll.

With 9.7 miles walked, with 1200’ of ascent, we arrived back at Colin at 1330 rather hungy (with our bread being far past its best, I’d not made sandwiches to take out with us). As tricky as it is to prepare two cooked breakfasts in the tiny omelette pan that we have in Colin, I managed the feat. Then we tootled back off home.

Wednesday, 2 March 2016

SectionHiker’s ‘Love on the Trail’ Series

Today is the third post (out of five this week) in SectionHiker’s ‘Love on the Trail’ series, which is the interview with me and Mick. So, if you want to know more about our on- and off-trail partnership than we’ve ever disclosed before, then head over there for a look by clicking this link.

And, if you’re coming the other way, having followed a link here from sectionhiker.com then I’ll repeat what I said in my last post:

1) Hello!

2) Rather than reading my latest (rather dull) series of posts about some day-walks in Spain, I’d point you in the direction of the links over on the right (on the desktop version of the blog) which link to our various long walks. It seems that I’m overdue adding links for our PCT and GR10 section hikes (July 2012 and July 2015 respectively), which is something I’ll rectify once we’re back in the land of proper internet connections (our internet is currently limited to my phone as we drive back to the UK from Spain, where we’ve just spent a couple of months touring in our motorhome).