Don’t miss this turning on the right (below) at NGR NJ 06982 28725 – I did – it is the path down to the disused railway track that makes up the path as it passes Cromdale. If you walk over the bridge over the old line you have gone to far. Watch out for the bridge sign on the right – the path markers are not very prominent,
Lunch, tuna with BBQ sauce and tea with some cashew nuts and banana chips. I found a convenient, and comfortable pile of logs, in a sunny clearing.
I was charged by a deer (above) – which leapt the fence on the right to avoid me.
I got caught in a shower during the afternoon but it had stopped by the time I reached the campsite at Cragganmore and I got the tent up in the dry – and got a chance to dry out my rain jacket. The site is free and has a toilet, a stand pipe for water, a bin and a couple of picnic tables which made unpacking (and packing) the rucksack very easy, as well as having somewhere to cook and eat in comfort.
One other thing the site had was midges – lots and lots of midges.
Having got my tent up, I was just sorting out the brewkit for a mug of tea when I was joined at the site by another lone backpacker, Emily. So whilst she put her tent up I made us both some tea. We then spent a very enjoyable couple of hours chatting, and sharing bits of our evening meal – her contribution was chilli flavoured olives and some milk sachets from the B&B she stayed in last night, mine was fruit and spice oat cakes and introducing Emily to whiskey in her tea! (She also let me use her midge spray – she borrowed my compeed stick.)
I have another trip planned for a couple of weeks time in Scotland. I plan to walk from Grantown-on-Spey to Charlestown-of-Aberlour with an overnight stop at Cragganmore, following the Speyside Way. The family are staying in Aviemore at the Scandinavian Village for a week in August so I will desert them, get a bus to Grantown and then get picked up the following day. My son and I will be camping for the week before and week after the family week – so I will only need to take the backpack with me to enable me to overnight as I will have the other equipment with me.
When I started looking for a campsite somewhere between the two towns I discovered there was a free site at Cragganmore – just to be sure we are going to take a drive out to check what the site is like before I commit to stay there.
Food
Today we were stocking up on some camp supplies and so I also have stocked up on some backpacking supplies.
Following the trip the other weekend I needed to add to the food I am taking
“No fridge” salami snacks
Crackers – eight portion packs of Italian Crackers (I will probably carry four packs)
Nutella portion pack – a bit expensive but convenient and can be used with a pack of crackers.
Extra bag of cashew nuts
Backpacking Food
Tomorrow I am going to pick up some dried banana flakes, from the market in the Lincoln, for trail snacks.
Fuel
I will be carrying two 100ml bottles of meths, one bottle will cover the evening meal and breakfast, the other will be for hot drinks during the day – I’m on holiday so I expect to stop several times. I will also pack two solid fuel tablets for spare fuel.
Coleman Bedrock 2 tent
Pole
Ti pegs I did not use any of the bags the tent components came in. The inner tent and fly were refolded and packed in the main pack compartment at the top. Pegs went in the pop stud packet they were sold in and went into the pocket with the spare clothes. The pole went into the middle of the sleeping mat roll.
30l Karrimor Hotlite pack circa 1986
2x Karrimor 3l extension pockets
LowePro small lens case (brew kit)
LowePro bottle case – Inc 600ml Sigg bottle and drinking cap
2l Camelbak
Self inflating sleeping mat – black sack to pack it in and 2x small bungee cords
Karrimor lightweight sleeping bag – in stuff sack
Fleece sleeping bag liner
Both these items are packed in a drysack
In a 5l litre drysack
Light fleece jumper (very warm)
Fleece hat, head over and gloves (for extra warmth)
Spare underware and walking socks All this clothing goes inside the head over to make a pillow This bag was compressed into one of the extension pockets
Lightweight raincoat
Kitchen/brewkit
Ti mug and aluminium lid
Ti stove – inside the burner three solid fuel tablets and the copper mug stand
Plastic beaker with lid
Lighter
Small brewkit in neoprene case contains
* 5x tea bags in ziplock bag
* 15ml bottle of dried milk
* 2x sugar
* Lighter
50ml bottle of meths
Small LMF spork
2in1 coffee sachet
2x cereal bars
Poly bag for rubbish The above is packed in the lens case and was secured to the pack
Half sized aluminium wind shield
Hardboard stove stand
Both of these items were packed in the second extension pocket
110ml meths
Folding knife and spoon
Wide plastic mug
Heavy duty plastic sheet – packed under the bungess hold the mat onto the pack (these bungess were a good place to dry things under, whilst walking, on the second day)
The following items were all packed in a 2l drysack and carried in the other extension pocket
Petzl headlight
Small FAK including hotel sewing kit and toilet paper
Pocket pack of tissues
Miniature wash kit
* hotel soap
* 15ml toothpaste gel
* folding tooth brush
* comb
* small mirror
* 50cm square hi-absorbent towel
* Hotel sachet shower gel
* hi-absorbent cloth 20cm square All packed in the case the towel came in
2x plastic clothes pegs
Hi-absorbent cloth for drying up
5ml washing up liquid in hotel bottle
1/4 washing up sponge
Small repair kit
* 1m gaffer tape wound onto a stoppered tube
* inside the tube two needles, thread and 1m of thin string
Two large and four small cable ties
1.5m paracord
LMF Scout firesteel and striker
Sun screen stick
Compeed stick (not used!)
Emergency plastic poncho – heavy showers were forecast and I had no pack cover
1oz single malt whiskey
Food
Two zip lock bags packed in the main sack
One containing the food and drinks for the first evening – and a 50g pack of REGO
The second contained the breakfast, drinks and trail snacks for day two
Total weight of pack including water and food was about 24lbs or 11kgs
In my pockets
iPhone with extended battery back fitted (allows for a complete charge and 25%)
I used the iPhone as
* a phone, email and text
* as a eBook reader
* with Memory Map for navigation
* to watch a movie on
Aquapak – for the iPhone – see note below
iPod Nano and headphones in a neoprene pouch – I used this rather than my iPhone to listen to whilst walking
LowePro PDA belt case (used as a wallet and kept in an inside zipper pocket) containing
* Money
* Debit card
* Frensel magnifier
* Camping and Caravan Club membership card
* Paper and pencil stub
* Emergency iPhone charger
* Swiss card
* Two plasters for quick access
Sun hat
Lip balm
Sun glasses
Tissues
Trail snacks
On a length of paracord
* Camper Swiss Army knife
* Leatherman original P4 Squirt
* lifeboat whistle
Wearing
Northface hiking boots
Three way Craghoppers
Lightweight long sleeved shirt
Walking socks
Underwear
Rohan vest
My kit - packing up on Sunday morning
Note Unfortunately the Aquapak I bought two years ago to use my phone camera in, has deteriorated so I can no longer see either the screen or use the camera through it – I am back to using my original Aquapak (over five years old) which does not have a transparent back, so to take photo I have to take it out of the case, that means no photos in bad weather. To be green Aquapak removed some plasticisers from their cases making the softer – I will never buy another. So I am on the lookout this summer for a new weather proof case for my iPhone – one in which I can use the camera.
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.
Lunch time stop and brew upLincoln Fields
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.
Evening meal outside my tent
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.
I am writing this post while waiting under the Kirkstead Bridge to be picked up. Why under the bridge, well although it started off sunny earlier today there has been hail and now it is pouring down! But I did get a 20k walking in – I think I will start a mileage tally of the practice walks for the WHW.
There are two words to describe today’s walk – DOG’S MESS. now I am sure there are many responsible dog owners who clean up after their pets, however there are many who do not. I took shelter under the bridge and sat on the concrete ledge to finish my coffee, to discover my boots were in several piles of unmentionable and these were not the first piles of the day. There were many not even at the sides of the track but in the middle. And to add a final twist to the behaviour of some pet owners, some people are clearing up after their animals and then hanging the full baggies in the trees along the path side! Someone explain that!
The photo below show the high level of the water in the Witham – making use of the flood protection overflow banks.
Walked from Washingborough to Woodhall Spa today as the real start of the practice to tackle the West Highland Way in October. It has been a while since I have walked seriously for a length of time – there is always something else to do – and it really showed when I was keeping up a good pace! So more practice needed.
It was a wet and windy day and it got very dark from time to time. I took my gas mask case with a flask of hot water, a brew kit and stove. Two stops for coffee from the flask and I heated water for a cup-a-soup during the hardest rain of the day. There is a lot of public art along the path and many “interesting” seats so I found a good place to sit for the brew up with a little shelter from the wind.
The Water Rail Way is a good walk and I would recommend it anyone – it is not tough but it has some good scenery and sights, including information boards to add historic and natural history notes to the walk.
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