Wednesday 25 April 2012

The Last Practise

This was to be our last practise trip ahead of the TGO Challenge in a couple of weeks time, a last chance to fine tune some kit and get the legs ready for some ascents. We headed for a favourite area of the Lake District which we’ve visited many times before, in various states of fitness. We’d get a good idea as to how fit we now were and it was also a chance to get the camp routine polished and good to go.


Friday 20th April

I’d arranged to pick Mick up at 08:00 but I was sat on the M62 for half an hour which meant I was running late, a quick coffee at his and we were away. We made our usual stop at Maccy D’s drive-thru and topped up the carbs and protein on double sausage and egg McMuffins and hash browns with another large pot of coffee for the road.

I’d gradually busted the zip lock seal on my large aLoksak bag on the past few trips so we called off at Castlebergs on the way through Settle and I treated myself to a nice new orange Haglofs map case, it goes well with the new shoes, honest.

A couple of hours later we were parked up at Haweswater and getting our packs sorted, poles out and stuffing our faces with last minute junk food.


And we’re off, the sun is shining and the we’re feeling good, looking back to the car


Our route up towards Harter Fell via Gatesgarth Pass


A quick rise in elevation really got the legs warmed up



Blea Water to our right as we climb towards High Street


A glimpse down into Kentmere, our planned stop for Saturday night


And the route we’ll be taking to get there tomorrow


Weather closing in from the north, it turned out to be hail which was painful but not soggy


We reached our camp site at Angle Tarn around four hours after we left the car, at this point it was chucking it down.


I quickly got the Trailstar up so we could shelter from the rain, ten seconds later it stopped and the sun was back out


Drying the wet shells 

Some pics around camp







A nice sunset to finish a great day



Saturday 21st April


It was a fairly chilly night and I’d woken a few times to cold shoulders when my doss bag had slipped down, I thought Mick would’ve struggled in his Softie bag and I awoke to hearing effin’ and blindin’ coming from his direction. Let’s just say he’s not too impressed with the Snugpak rating on his bag, fine for most of the year but when the temps are in the low single figures it’s just not enough. All good experience though and it’s useful to know these things before we head off to Scotland for the biggy.
As Mick was awake and not too happy we decided to get up and get warm, a few coffees and some snacks and we were sorted, there’d been some rain overnight but it was a lovely morning, cold but clear. We packed up in good time and were on the trail before 08:00.

Looking back to camp, just behind the knobbly bit, top right of piccy


Our route retraced part of yesterday back up onto High Street and round to the Beacon near Thornthwaite Crag, by the time we reached here the weather had turned and we tried to shelter behind the high wall but the rain was coming straight down in stair rods. The clouds dropped right on top of us and we couldn’t see much further than 50 yards, after we’d had soup and a rest the cloud lifted and we were on our way again.

Finally able to see the first section of our route 


Froswick, Ill Bell and Yoke


Windermere to our south west


The ridge route was fairly steady, the climb up to Ill Bell in the driving hail was hard work though, the path coming within a few feet of a 450m drop to the left, Mick looking cold on top of Ill Bell 


Great views though


After dodging a couple more wintery showers we dropped down off the summit and into the sunshine once again, our next hill, Yoke


Looking down into Kentmere, looking for a suitable camp site in the process


The last section along the valley bottom turned out to be more of a slog than we first thought, the first place we thought about stopping wasn’t great so we pushed on up towards the dam. Turning a corner we came across a perfect pitch, four inches of soft moss on top of well drained slate, that’ll do nicely.
The evening was pretty wet and miserable, we huddled under the Trailstar for most of it, drinking coffee and working our way through the remaining food we had left. 
A bit of a schoolboy error on my part on Thursday when I packed, I’d forgotten to pack my Sealskinz socks so had no means of getting my feet warm and dry unless I stopped in the shelter for the night. After we’d setup camp and had some food I took off the wet shoes and socks and gave my feet some TLC, lots of foot powder applied and then into my HeatHolders then into my doss bag. Ten minutes later my feet were toasty, by the time I had to go out later to water the plants my socks and shoes had more or less dried out, cracking.
After a long day with lots of ascent we called it a night around 21:30, the rain had stopped briefly so Mick went to sort his tent out and retire for the night. 




Sunday 22nd April


It was much warmer on Saturday night, it was a combination of a drop in altitude and also there was plenty of cloud cover, we’d both slept much better getting a good ten hours in. I was up around 08:00 as I had to drop the kids off at the pool, as we didn’t have to rush to be away I left Mick to sleep in while I took some pics around camp.





After we’d both packed up at a leisurely pace we headed off up the trail and bound for the car and home, looking back to camp


Up the hill


We missed our next path so ended up doing a bit of heather bashing/bog jumping, hard work on tired legs, yours truly looking whacked


Our route up, heading for the dip on the right at Nan Bield Pass


Great view back down


Reaching Small Water we stopped for a brew, just an excuse not to go home really



Over the last wee hill and we get a glimpse of the car, happy days





Tuesday 24 April 2012

TGO Challenge 2012 - The Kit



I'll add some information next week but for the mean time this is what I'll be taking on the TGO in a few weeks time.

Some weights are missing which I'll edit later.

This is everything I'll be carrying, total weight including fuel for one week and food for three days is 8.2kg.



Numbered for identification




The Big Three

Often referred to as the Big Three is the pack, the shelter and the sleep system

Numbered for identification



1. ULA CDT pack - 481g
2. Ti & Ally stakes x 10 - 110g
3. Thermarest NeoAir short mate - 260g
4. Polycryo groundsheet - 44g
5. MLD Superlight bivvy - 207g
6. MLD Trailstar shelter - 453g
7. OMM DuoLite mat (for feet and sit mat) - 150g
8. Snugpak Pertex bag liner (silk replacement on order) - 209g
9. PHD Minim 300 sleeping bag - 570g

Total Big Three weight = 2.619kg





Hydration

This is my means of carrying and treating water, plus brew kit and stove

Numbered for identification



10. Source 1L Liquitainer soft bottle (for water in camp) - 28g
11. Drink bottle -
12. Paper cup
13. Jetboil Sol Ti with 100g gas cart inside - 438g
14. Nuun hydration tablets -
15. MSR Hyperflow water filter - 244g
16. Nescafe 3-in-1 x 12 -





Food

Food for three days plus snacks for walking

Numbered for identification



17. Homemade Reflectix pouch cosy -
18. Chilli flavoured peanuts -
19. G.O.R.P for three days (Salted Pretzels, peanut M&Ms, chocolate raisins, banana chips) + bagels and Primula for lunch -
20. Cereal bars x 4 -
21. Mugshots x 3 -
22. Opinel No.8 -
23. Home dehydrated meals x 3 (2 x Shepherds Pie, 1 x Chicken & Mushroom pasta) -




Clothes Carried

I don't carry many spare clothes as these are what bunk up the weight, I keep it to a minimum without risking being cold

Numbered for identification



27. HeatHolder socks for bed -
28. PHD light merino wool socks (for walking) -
29. Icebreaker Everyday merino leggings - 190g
30. Berghaus Powerstretch gloves -
31. Rab beanie -
40. Montane Fireball smock - 235g





Hygiene Pack and Poop pack
Toiletries, towel, thyroid meds and poo tackle, nothing fancy

Numbered for identification



25 (Hygiene)


a. Microfibre towel XS -
b. Sure mini anti-perspirant -
c. Soap (small bar from hotel in NY) -
d. Gehwol refreshing foot balm (decanted into small tub) -
e. Foot powder (decanted into small bottle) -
f. Thyroid meds -
g. Folding toothbrush from Air Canada flight -
h. Mini Colgate toothpaste -
i. Lip balm -



26 (Poop pack)


a. Toliet roll -
b. Hand sanitiser -
c. Mini Bic lighter -
d. Alppoop DIY trowel -



Ditty Bag

These are those things which don't belong elsewhere, handy to have in one place

Numbered for identification



36. Knee brace -
37. Ultrapod -
38. Zebralight H51 - 36g
39. Lithium AA batts x 2 - 28g



Wet Gear

Waterproof smock, trews and mitts

Numbered for identification



41. Berghaus Paclite trousers - 185g
42. Terra Nova Tuff Bag paclite mitts - 75g
43. Rab Demand eVent smock - 283g



First Aid Kit & Map

Self explanatory really, I'll open up the FAK next week and show the contents properly

Numbered for identification



32. Adventure Medical UL 5 first aid kit (with extras) -
33. Osprey pack cover size small -
34. Map & compass
35. Satmap Active 10 -



Clothing Worn

All the clothes I'll be wearing plus footwear, the windshirt and fleece will probably be on and off throughout

Numbered for identification



1. Montane Litespeed windshirt - 186g
2. Montane Fury fleece jacket - 340g
3. Icebreaker 200 LS zip top - 330g
4. Montane Terra pants - 327g
5. Pacer Poles (also used with my shelter so I opted for the heavier but stronger alloy) - 650g
6. Salomon Speedcross 3 running shoes - 626g (pair)
7. Outdoor Research Salamander ankle gaiters -
8. X-Socks Trekking socks -
9. Finisterre merino boxers -
10. Stussy cap (cotton but it's been everywhere with me) -




So that's pretty much it, I've actually just packed for a trip to the Lakes in the morning so we'll see how I get on. The only changes I'll be making are swapping the Pertex bag liner for a silk one and carrying the necessary food until we reach a resupply. I've missed off a couple of bits like my camera, that'll go on my waist strap or into a chest pouch I've ordered.



If anyone's got any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them. I've noticed there's suddenly a lot of views on this post, that'll be all you lucky folk doing the crossing next year then :)