coffee – Page 29 – Clive's Blog

Hiking Food

30 December 2011 / Outdoor Gear, Walking / Aviemore, coffee, hiking food, outdoor gear, Scotland

Whilst Christmas shopping in Aldi, I picked up a few things for my walking trip to Aviemore in mid-January.

The microwave rice (just heat it in a pot with a couple of spoons of water – you do not need a microwave) looked more interesting than the last varieties I bought and the same for the flavours of the instant noodles.

The Racer bar is like a Snickers bar but with more peanuts and a better size for snacking on when walking.

I also bought some coffee creamer powder and made up a creamer/freeze-dried coffee mix in a small nalgene bottle (2 spoons of creamer to 1 spoon of coffee) as the only pre-mixed sachets I could find in the shop were the sweetened variety.

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West Highland Way – The Train Back to Glasgow

15 October 2011 / Photography, Travel, Walking / coffee, Fort William, Glasgow, hiking, iPhone, iPhone camera apps, iPhone photography, Scotland, tea, walking, West Highland Way

Due to the Nevis Range being in the way the way back to Glasgow, by train, from Fort William requires us to go north to Spean Bridge and Tulloch first – a big detour. Hopefully the rain will clear from the windows so we can see the views.

in the station

More wet blurry photos to come!

the stations are quite high on this line

lunch – venison pie and tea

the West Highland Way from the moving train – near Tyndrum

We are now in a coffee bar, in Glasgow. Richard is hallucinating that the waitress looks like “Penny”. Time to go home.

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West Highland Way Day 4 – Inversnaid to Crainlarich

12 October 2011 / Photography, Travel, Walking / coffee, Golite Jam 2, hiking, iPhone, iPhone camera apps, iPhone photography, Scotland, walking, West Highland Way

It is now about 3.30pm and we are about four miles away from Crainlarich on the old military road – and the path is such that I can write this whilst walking.

The first five miles of the day were some of the most difficult we will have to walk this week. A narrow fractured, undulating path, where you had to watch where you walked. It took us over three hours to cover five miles. It was similar terrain for the end of yesterday and that too slowed down our progress. This afternoon once we reached the military road our pace picked up.

We had some great views this morning over the loch and even found somewhere to get coffee, Beinglas Farm.

Another thing we saw (and smelt) were goats along the side of the loch, and you really could smell them before you saw them!

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West Highland Way Day 2 – Drymen to Sallochy Bay (and back by taxi)

9 October 2011 / Photography, Travel, Walking / coffee, Golite Jam 2, hiking, iPhone, iPhone camera apps, iPhone photography, Scotland, tea, walking, West Highland Way

Small change of plan today, we have shortened today’s walk (to save on the taxi fare!) but what it really means is that day three will be a ten mile day rather than seven.

The accommodation here in Drymen is very good, we have a three bedroom apartment, all the bedrooms and living room have flat screen TVs, the kitchen is well supplied with tea,coffee, milk and the makings for breakfast. There is central heating, and two shower rooms. Richard has done really well to find this place. It has allowed us to sort ourselves out following the first days shake down walk. (Parrot count so far zero – see our Coast to Coast blog.)

We booked our taxi back last night with a local taxi company here in Drymen.

Before starting we watched Jensen Button win the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Pottery pub where we had dinner last night – the photo was shot just before setting off today – blogging in the rain again, at least for the first part of the day – that’s my positive attitude showing through.

The path was a stream.

Lunch – no raincoat and a great view.

I even wore my sunglasses!

We are now waiting for the taxi – middle of nowhere and a strong 3G signal – so I’ll publish this now.

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Walking to Woodhall Spa – Day Two

11 September 2011 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Photography, Travel, Walking / Camping and Caravan Club, coffee, Golite Jam 2, iPhone photography, lightweight camping, lightweight walking, outdoor gear, walking, Woodhall Spa

The weather was good when I was packing up – which was lucky as packing the new Golite Jam 2, did not go as easily as it did when I packed it at home. I had put the tent in the large outside pocket but this was a mistake as that pocket has to be packed before the main bag. Both pockets share the same volume – packing the main pocket reduces the size of the outside pocket. This means the tent needs to be packed first – when actually, when packing up, it is the last thing to go in the bag. This morning, I simply piled my gear up on a small tarp I had with me, took the tent down and then packed, but it was dry and sunny. So I need a new packing plan.

I ended up meeting both Richards in Bardney – one had had walked there from Lincoln city centre the other drove – and we went for coffee. So that was the end of the walking, we got a lift home.

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Overnight Walk to Woodhall Spa

9 September 2011 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Travel, Walking / coffee, Golite Jam 2, outdoor gear, tea, walking

With the West Highland Way walk only weeks away now I am going to walk to Woodhall Spa this weekend for training. When we do the WHW we will be carrying daypacks and having our main luggage transported between the places we are staying at – the extra weight I will be carrying to Woodhall Spa will help with the training.

It will also be the first outing for the new GoLite Jam2, so I am busy packing it this evening.

The food will be the usual mix of “non-specialist” lightweight food simply bought from the supermarket, to keep the costs down!

Weekend walk 10/9/2011

Saturday

On the trail　

Tinned mackrel, crackers, white coffee

Evening meal

Noodles with tomato soup and salami
Instant custard
Granola bars x2
Tea

Indian tea (with milk) and biscuits

Hot chocolate

Sunday

Tea – whilst still in the sleeping bag looking at the sunrise (I hope) or listening to rain!

Breakfast

Granola bars x2
Oat cakes and jam
White coffee

Lunch

Salami and crackers
White coffee

Trail food

Cereal bars x2
Salted cashew nuts

Both days 750ml water with 2x soluble electrolyte tablets

Saturday arriving at campsite SiS ReGo drink

Extras

3x tea bags and 15ml dried milk
1x white coffee
1x black coffee
2x peach tea (use hot or cold)
2x sugar packets
2x pepper packets
1x salt packet
1x tomato ketchup sachet

2x moist towels
Tissues

Weight excluding mackrel lunch (which will be eaten within an hour of starting) 900g.

For this trip I am not going to take the fleece liner for my lightweight sleeping, to add warmth, I am going to try experimenting with wearing my winter long underwear and some wool socks. This combination packs smaller and weighs less – and hopefully will keep me warm.

After recent experiences with fuel usage in the meths stove when the weather was windy, I am going to carry 250ml of meths.

Equipment

GoLite Jam2
Karrimor 1100 sleeping bag
Silk liner
Complete long underwear (cold weather / sleeping)
Air mat carried inside the pack
3x dry sacks
Belt lens case for brewkit – ease of access on the trail
1m x 1m lightweight tarp – sit mat when walking – used in tent porch

Coleman Bedrock 2 Tent
12 Ti pegs
4 steel
black bin liner – to pack the tent in if wet on the second day

Cooking
Ti stove inc copper mug support
2 fuel tablets – emergency fuel
100 ml meths
100 ml meths
50 ml meths
Half Al wind shield
Stove Board/stand
Ti mug and lid
Beaker with lid
Small brewkit in neoprene case – 5 teabags 15mls dried milk 2 brown sugar
2x lighters
Hi absorbent cloth – drying up
Pot sponge 1/2
5ml washing up liquid
Small LMF spork
Folding spoon/knife
Wide mug
cutting board – plastic 5cms x 12cms

Spare Clothes
Hi tech jumper
Walking socks
Underwear
Hat, headover and gloves
(stuffing the above in the headover makes a good pillow)

Wash Kit
Small Lifeventure travel towel
Hotel soap
Travel toothbrush
20ml liquid toothpaste – the bottle was a giveaway sample from Theramed
Comb
Mirror – from a Christmas cracker
20cm square high absorbent cloth

Tools
Camper SAK
Leatherman P4 Squirt
whistle
LMF fire steel
Compass

Petzl Tikka Headlamp
iTorch – led wind up (from Morrissons)
FAK
Safety pins, gaffer tape, needle and thread, cable ties, paracord
Two clothes pegs

2l Camelbak
750ml SIS bottle in belt case
1l Platypus Roll up bottle – for use in camp

Nano iPod and headphones in neoprene case

iPhone with extended battery jacket fitted
Booster battery for iPod/iPhone
Watatait Case

Headphones for iphone
Swisscard
Money £10
Pencil and notepaper
Personal Medicine
Sunglasses
Cricket Hat
Compeed stick
Lip balm
Sun stick – factor 50

Wearing
Lightweight long sleeved polartec shirt
3way Crag Hoppers
Northface Boots
Walking socks
Underwear

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Glen Glass and the Cromarty Firth

25 August 2011 / Photography, Travel, Walking / coffee, Cromarty Firth, Glen Glass, Invergordon, iPhone photography

There was a heavy and prolonged thunder storm, last night in Dingwall – following what had been a fine day. The rain was so loud beating in the tent that we had trouble hearing the thunder over it.

I awoke, this morning, (JSC was still asleep) to a damp but bright campsite and had a very good coffee made with my “coffee maker”, sitting outside the tent, watching the rabbits on the field. Eat your heart St*rb*cks this is the only way to appreciate fresh made coffee.

Once JSC got up we decided that we would go walking.

The photos below are from Glen Glass, a little north of Dingwall – as you can see blue sky and sunshine.

Click on this Pano image below for a larger version

What you cannot see in the photos are the midges – so JSC went back to the car, leaving me to take my photos and try out a bit of gear I bought yesterday – a lightweight midge head net! Not something I had considered before, however the air at the campsite at Cragganmore, last week, was “midge soup”. The other backpacker I met there had a midge head net which she found useful. That got me thinking that many of the wild camping places I plan to visit in the future will probably also be plagued midges.

The one below (modelled for you by JSC) is the Micro Head Net, from Highlander, it packs small,weighs little, (I will weight it when I get home) and cost £4 from Tiso.

We left the forest and headed for the coast – with a stop at the picnic site at Invergordon. The Cromarty Firth was used by the navy in the past as it is a deep safe anchorage. Today the oil industry uses it for the same reasons.

Click on this Pano image below for a larger version

Another photo using Pano – if you have an iPhone get it – it is easy to use and, as you can see, great results.

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