An overview of what I’m carrying around Scotland

Written by on

A number of people have looked at me as if I’m crazy when I’ve mentioned this trip. They then slowly back away when I mention that I’m going on my own, I’m taking a tarp rather than a tent, I have trail runners rather than big gore-tex boots and that I only have three changes of underwear. I suppose if I’m going to be spending three weeks in the wilderness with limited showering opportunities then I should get used to people slowly backing away from me.

My rucksack weighs 16 kg including two and a half litres of water plus food and fuel for 5-6 days. That’s a little over 21% of my bodyweight; it should be 22.5% of my bodyweight, but I’ve gotten fat. I’m probably carrying a few too many luxuries, but it’s a long trip so I’ll excuse myself. Now, don’t get me wrong, 3 pairs of merino wool underwear isn’t ideal, but any more than 2 is a luxury and besides if I was only going to be taking 3 pairs of underwear they would come in the merino wool variety. If you don’t own any, you’re missing out. The point is that I don’t want to carry much stuff. I enjoy walking, I enjoy camping, and I can even find enjoyment in getting rained upon. I don’t particularly enjoy the carrying of heavy things. This is even more true when carrying heavy things that I either won’t use or don’t need.

I’m walking out into the wilderness and, as much as I like reading and listening to music, it seems a tad perverse to then carry technology into the hills to allow me to do things that I could quite happily do equally well in a park in Cambridge. At any rate, I’d kill the battery on my iPod within a day and I’d quite possibly end up stationary for a couple of days while slowly being absorbed by my Kindle. There are weight considerations too of course; I’d rather have a dry pair of socks than an iPod.

Half of that 16 kg I’m carrying consists of food, fuel and water. I’m not going to starve. Even if I run out of food between resupply points, I have an adequate layer of fat* and the midges will probably provide some dense protein clouds. I seem to recall that not only are woodlice are edible, but they also taste a little bit like prawns. Stinging nettles are edible and seem to be the vegetarian equivalent of a mouthful of bees. Bees are probably edible, but they’re important to the environment so I shan’t go bee hunting and further decimate their dwindling population.

Anyway, here’s a rough breakdown of some of the things that can be found in my rucksack:

  • Food
  • Meths
  • Water
  • GoLite Tumalo waterproof jacket
  • Rab Off Limits waterproof trousers
  • Rab Aeon t-shirt
  • Rab Microfleece
  • RAB Microlite down-filled vest
  • Sea To Summit mosquito head net
  • Extremities Windy Dry gloves
  • Baseball cap
  • Rab Polartec beanie
  • Rab MeCo 120 base layer
  • 2 pairs of Smartwool hiking socks
  • 2 pairs of Bridgedale liner socks
  • 2 pairs of Merino wool boxers
  • Montane Featherlight smock
  • Sleeping bag
  • Bivi bag
  • Thermarest NeoAir sleeping mat
  • ID Silwing tarp & titanium pegs (and supported by two Fizan Compact trekking poles)
  • White Box alcohol stove
  • Gram Counter Firesteel
  • Generic blue lighter
  • Blue plastic bowl
  • Evernew titanium kettle-cup
  • LMF Spork
  • 2L Platypus bottle
  • Silva compass
  • Ortlieb waterproof map case
  • Buck Hartsook Ultralite knife
  • Travel Tap bottle with water filter
  • First Aid + Puritabs + Repair Kit
  • Care Plus Skin Saver SPF 30 suntan lotion
  • Petzl E-lite headtorch
  • Sea To Summit soap
  • Biodegradeable toilet roll
  • Toothbrush and toothpaste
  • MSR Ultralight Packtowel
  • Rite in the Rain journal and pen
  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT3 digital camera (with SD Card and spare battery)
  • iPhone 4 (Phone / GPS / Blog)
  • Mains to USB charger + charging leads
  • Power Monkey Explorer – Battery to recharge iPhone in an emergency.

That’s quite a list, and I couldn’t think of what else to leave behind, so it’s the list that I’m stuck with.

 

* A pound of fat supposedly equates to approximately 3,500 calories – so I’m carrying a good 30,000 to 40,000 calories with me, just in case.

Introducing my new walking buddy (and why I’m raising money for UNICEF)

Written by on

 

Only one more day until departure and I’ve managed to acquire an emergency walking buddy. Meet the UNICEF Teddy. He (She?) doesn’t have a name yet – I’m open to suggestions.

UNICEF Teddy

I’m taking one less pair of socks to accommodate the teddy.

I’m already going to be carrying 16 kg of camping gear, food and water with me. The weight of the teddy is negligible in comparison. It probably won’t help much with putting up the tent or cooking the dinner, and conversation may be a little one-sided, but it’s better than nowt. I suppose if I get too stuck somewhere and need a fire I could always use him as kindling.

Obviously I wouldn’t be taking the UNICEF Teddy with me if I wasn’t raising awareness (and money!) for UNICEF. But why have I chosen this cause?

UNICEF work to protect and promote the rights of all children in more than 190 countries worldwide. This makes their global reach far beyond that of any other children’s charity.

UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary contributions. They receive no funding from the UN budget. By being reliant on donations they have to be efficient with how they spend their money – 76p in every pound raised goes directly to their work with children. Of the rest, 22p goes towards further fundraising efforts and 2p towards administration.

Yesterday I was asked what the minimum sponsorship amount was. There really is no minimum, as cliché as it sounds, every little helps. You can maximise what you give by checking the Gift Aid option on the donation page. A couple of beers (or one in some places in Cambridge!) can come to a fiver, you could get a takeaway meal for a tenner. That same money can be used to give tangible, life changing help to a child – Just £3 can make sure that a child gets the vitamins and nutrients they need once they start solid food; £4 can provide a quality football for children to play, exercise, and have fun (because children everywhere should be able to have the sort of childhood I took for granted); £11.50 could provide Polio vaccines to protect 100 children; £21 can provide 5,000 water purification tablets for use when families cannot access fresh, clean water. £23.50 can provide all of the midwifery equipment necessary for the safe delivery of one baby… I really can’t tell you exactly where your money will go to – I trust UNICEF to use it as well as possible and to use it where it’s most needed right now, so please consider having one less beer this week and supporting myself and UNICEF – even if it is just a couple of quid, it’s going to a good cause.

As for the teddy – I’m currently taking name suggestions from Facebook or Twitter (or the comments section below if you have an idea for a name), I had considered calling it Albert, but there have already been better suggestions than that. I’ll try and take an online suggestion, but I may leave the naming of the teddy until I’m on the trail.

Fear, Loneliness and Perspective

Written by on

My list of things to get done seems to be going in the wrong direction.

I’ve booked a sleeper train up to Glasgow on Friday night, so everything has to be ready by then. I have to make lists of potential B&Bs, campsites and other places to escape to in an emergency. I have to seam seal my tarp, print my maps and pack my gear. On the plus side, the blog is up and running, my route is set, and I think I physically possess most of the gear that I need.

In some ways I’m almost ready, and I’m excited to be setting off. In other ways I’m a little bit concerned that I won’t be ready for my departure, and the lack of preparation will result in failure for the trip.

The West Highland Way eases me into the trip. I’ve walked that walk before; there will be plenty of people around to help me if I get myself into too much trouble. There are a few tough bits that may present issues, particularly if the weather is bad – for example the Aonach Eagach and the Ring of Steall.

My main concern early on is that my knee or ankle will give out early on in the trip. Aside from the long-standing knee issues (which will probably be painful but fine) I recently wandered around the Lake District and seem to have done something to my ankle while playing silly buggers. Being somewhat hypermobile has its advantages. I seem to be able to land on my ankle while running down a hill in a way that looks like it should be resulting in agonizing pain and possibly serious damage. The disadvantage is that I end up with those awkward enduring issues related to hypermobility – joint pain, tendinitis, knee pain, back pain… most of which I’m starting with. I’m hoping that any of these sorts of issues remain manageable throughout the trip. I’d rather fail in some heroic manner than splutter to a finish limping into Fort William – preferably the kind of failure that involves rescuing some damsel in distress.

Gear wise – I have a few concerns about the tarp, because it’s new and I’ve not taken it out in anger yet. The rest of the gear I know well, it’s just that slight unknown about my home for three weeks that makes me a little uneasy. Other than that, the first hundred and fifty miles should be relatively straightforward… providing I don’t fall off a ridge or do anything stupid.

The Cape Wrath Trail is tough; even if I’m physically fit completing it is not guaranteed. It’s a bit difficult to know what to expect here and once again a fear of the uncertain comes into play. There’s only so much you can gain from reading other people’s trip reports and I can only imagine it to be something a little closer to the crazy wee trip around Wales that I did with Heley. Two hundred miles of that will be both physically and mentally exhausting.

Time is an issue, I’m worried that along this stretch I am being overly optimistic with the distance I can cover, and will have to cancel the last couple of days of my trip in order to make it back home to work.

The other issue is that of loneliness. I hadn’t originally planned to spend these three weeks alone, but I’m a little short on notice to find someone willing to walk this way with me. I’ll hopefully find a few people to chat to during my travels. This is particularly likely along the West Highland Way, but is unlikely to be the case when following the Cape Wrath Trail, which already promises to be a long, hard, lonely slog through remote wilderness.

This will be my first time camping under a tarp on my own for this length of time. Now, I might not be the most sociable person ever to bounce along the trails of Scotland, but I do like a bit of company from time to time, so if any of you do happen to be wandering around these particular hills while I’m away, then do try and get in contact. I shall be making semi-regular tea stops and anyone who wants to would be welcome to walk with me for a while.

So that’s all my insecurities about this trip dealt with. Here, written down for you to laugh at. From now on I shall endeavour to wander along unbeatable. If it does surface, my fear of failure will drive me on – as will the hope that there will be at least a couple of donations to UNICEF as a result of my efforts – but looking at the trip as a whole, and the experience gained from the 2011 trip, I know that this is going to be tough. If I am not careful I could end up in a spot of bother, but how could I call it an adventure without all those disasters-in-waiting? On the other hand, I’ve walked 20-30 mile days before and there will be some beautiful views. This will be a grand adventure.