West Highland Way – On Our Way
We got off to a good start this morning, rain and hold ups around Manchester, but there was a good sunrise.
We have stopped in Lancaster for walking fuel.
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West Highland Way – All packed
All packed & ready (for anything) | richardgoeswalking.
So tomorrow I am off to Scotland, and the West Highland Way, with my optimistic walking companion Richard. See his blog entry above.
I have everything packed, but it looks a very small pile of kit – although I have included two backpacks! I had packed my Karrimor 25l day pack, but I have changed my mind and I now have decided to use my Golite Jam 2, it compresses quite well and will give me the extra comfort and space for the day we have to carry our overnight kit (there is one B&B where it will cost too much to ship our large case there).
Another thing I needed to sort before leaving – my iPhone has gone wrong again. See this post – I have tried the “putting the earphone plug in and out” and the “restore my iPhone completely” options but still no phone audio. I was really impressed by one of the Apple Support suggestions – “turn the volume up!”. So I am off to Scotland with a phone that only half works, I will be using the blue tooth earphone and hope the charge on the iPhone lasts all day!
You can follow our adventure, day by day, by following the links below to the daily blog entries and photos…
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West Highland Way – Practice Walk
I went out today to get some more practice miles done before the West Highland Way and explored some different paths around Heighington and out to the River Witham and the Sincil Drain.
We ended up walking out to the bridge at Fiskerton using a path that ran along the top of the embankment, by the Sincil Drain. One bit of advice, the path is faint and very overgrown in places with thistles and nettles so wear long trousers (photo above), and don’t walk it when it is wet.
The screenshot above is from my iPhone 4 using Memory Map.
At the Fiskerton Bridge we stopped for some tea and so a wasp could sting Richard! We then returned following the Water Rail Way back to Washingborough and then up to Heighington.
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Peach Tea
Whilst shopping in Lidl we came across this instant fruit tea.
I am always looking for things to add to the brew kit and peach tea sounded good. Back at the campsite we tried it and both of us liked it, Jeremy especially like the idea that it could be added to cold water.
The instructions said use five tea spoons (20g) we used two heaped mini sporks in a mug and that was fine.
I packed about six mugs worth in this 100ml nalgene bottle (I’ll weigh it when I get home).
Weekend Trip to Woodhall Spa
I am intending next year to start backpacking again, so as part of my training for the West Highland Way I decided to walk from Fiskerton Bridge to the Camping and Caravan Club site at Woodhall Spa, overnight there and then return the next day. It would be a good test for the gear and for me.
I am planning to get a new lightweight backpack for next year (something by GoLite) but for this trip I used a Karrimor pack I bought about 25 years ago. When I got it I made some adaptations to the bag, I added patches to take extension pockets, added anchor points to the lid, padded the bottom of the pack and added a 50mm unpadded hip belt. With the extension pocket the volume of the pack was about 36l, a little less than I think I need but it would do.
I carefully packed the gear, choosing only what I needed, but was detirmined to be as comfortable as possible so when people look at my packing I am sure they will say “why”.
One thing my old pack does not have compared to modern packs is fittings for a water bladder, so I simply had to slide my CamelBak between the bag and the tent, and then feed the tube out under the lid. I used a velcro cable tidy to secure the drinking tube to the shoulder strap.
I secured my sleep mat to the top of the pack using minature bungee cords I got from B&Q. I had a LowePro water bottle holder fitted to the belt. As you can see for the photo the bag was well stuffed and I ended up fitting a camera lens bag to the back of the pack, which has been adapted to hold my small brew kit, including stove, fuel and trail snacks – this was something I would need at lunchtime – however I did add extra security to this by securing it with cord to the pack.
To save weight and to ruduce the size of this small brew kit I have cut down an aluminium wind shield I bought – at the moment it has five plates but I am considering removing one when using it with the mug. The windshield was essential as on the riverside it was reasonably windy and the meths burner without it would have been useless. (The copper stand – see earlier post – worked well.)
I had made up two bags of food for the trip one for the evening and the second for breakfast the next day primarily consisiting of commercial dehydrated food and snacks, but it did include a can tuna – I will post a menu list later. One of the reasons for menu packs was to carefully see how filling the food was and to measure the amount of fuel I will need on future trips.
I used solid fuel to make my tea at lunchtime – this was a mistake as it makes both the stove and mug dirty, which means before repacking them they needed cleaning, on the second day I used meths, much cleaner so packing up was easier. I’d still carry a couple of tablets as spare/standby fuel.
The small hardboard board under the cooker is essential to protect the grass which was dry and to give the cooker and mug some more stability, although after this trip I have cut another piece the same size as the panels on the windshield to make it easier to pack. A sheet of black heavy duty plastic doulbes as somewhere to cook, saving puting utensils on the ground and as a sitmat during day on wet rocks and benches. The roll up bottle means less trips to the water tap when in camp and adds little weight or bulk to the pack.
I added KFC BBQ sauce to the tuna – but I should have packed a pepper and salt sachet as it could have done with some seasoning as well.
to be continued…
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Camping Supplies
We went to Tesco at the weekend for the family shop but I also picked up some stores for the forth coming camping season.
Our favourite spice for camping is smoked sweet paprika – and it was get three for £1.20, a real bargain.
With pancake day coming up there was Betty Crocker Pancake Mix, just add water to the mix in the bottle and shake. It will be easy to make at camp, so the plan is to have bacon, pancakes and honey for breakfast at Easter.
We often use bread sauce as a starch with ham and tinned carrots or our favourite jarred petit pois and baby carrots. It is a useful way to use up milk and a very compact ingredient to have in the camp kitchen box so I bought two packets.
My son and I like to cook when camping, various meals from fresh ingredients, lots of chopping, adding of herbs and spices, and stirring, but sometimes we need quick and convenient, if the weather turns bad, we get back late or we just want quick! There are a good range of wet pack meals available from camping shops but they can be expensive. On a recommendation from the UKBushcraft forum we tried a Chicken Korma in a bag with a pack of micro wave rice all cooked in a sauce pan. If we had added some bread, extra vegetables or a dessert it would be a hood meal for two. We were very pleased with the taste and quality of the sauce and quantity of tender chicken. So next week when I good shopping I will buy some of this curry for the Easter trip.
I’ll post some photos of the curry and other supplies after next weeks shop (I have already thrown the Korma pack away).
Journey’s End
And then it was all over. 192 miles in 12 days and despite all that nature put in our way, which included Fylingdales moor and the in destinct path which we never found (even when the gps said we had!) we made it. The photo was taken on the shoreline just before completing my task to mystify geologists.
For those who haven’t do a long distance walk before or even if you plan to do the c2c. My advice as a novice walker is simple. Preparation is everything, walk to your known limits and have a back up plan. Don’t rely on using a mobile phone because neither t-mobile or orange faired well in the lakes It was 4 degrees on Hellvelyn with 30mph wind and people we in tee shirts! Even worse we saw people on boggy moors in trainers, so expect the worst and prepare for it. I also found that whild the hare may be quicker a tortoise will always get there. For food I can not fault crab and oatcakes followed by an vegetable oxo cube in hot water and a couple of granola bars. 125 grammes and good for 23 miles. Don’t expect to loose much weight 2kgs is all I managed. Would I do it again, yes. What would I change, my ruck sack. Do use regatta, mine broke with 84 miles to go. Thanks must go to both Clive & Richard their company, advice, as well as the light hearted banter made the trip all the more memorable.
It’s taken nearly a month for me to write this last entry and not for the first time have I struggled to put down my thoughts. What I think I’m trying to say is this. It’s good, every once in a while to challenge yourself with something new, something which is different, something that makes you feel you’re alive, something that surprises other, but above all. Do it!