LEJOG #4

Serious route planning is now underway. I've recently taken delivery of an Anquet DVD covering the whole of Great Britain, having got a really good deal on it through the Backpackers Club. It was a toss up between Anquet and Memory Map and price was the deciding factor.

Frankly, the help files with Anquet are not that brilliant. It would have been nice to have had a few straightforward worked examples but, with some telephone and email help from a friend, Gayle, and lots of trial and error (including losing a few hours work of positioning locations of camp sites), I think I'm making progress.

I've plotted on the map my first three days walking, covering 5-7 April 2009 from Lands End to Point, near Devoran, south of Truro. I've got alternative first day routes as I've not decided yet whether to head for Penzance or keep north of Penzance as I'd like to visit Chysauster, an ancient Iron Age village. There's no real reason why I need make a decision about this until I start the walk as I'll aim to camp wherever I happen to be at the end of each day.

Backpackers Quantocks weekend

Two nights in west Somerset, left of Taunton, both on sites. Our first night was at Quantock Orchard park at Flaxpool. I arrived in good time to pitch before it got dark. Deciding on an early evening meal, my first task was to clean the hard green stuff out of my pan from my last breadmaking session in October. I really must remember to wash up stuff when I get home from a trip (if not before).

The forecast for the weekend was wet and windy. There was some rain on Friday night. Saturday was a perfect day for walking with not a drop of rain. We walked up on to the Quantock ridge and headed for the coast, turning off the ridge to go down Smith's Combe with views of Hinckley Point power station.

We saw a herd of wild deer on the way and called in for an excellent pint of Exmoor at the Plough Inn at Holford.

Saturday night was according to the forecast and very wet and very windy. I'd decided to use the tarp this weekend and it didn't let me down. Well pegged at each corner and, to cut down the draft coming in from the windward end, an umbrella. The evening was spent listening to last week's Bob Harris Show and reading a printout of an email discussion about my favourite ever cinema production Heimat. The evening went all too quickly and the weather discouraged the three-quarter mile trek to the pub.

Sunday morning was a bit on the chill side but the rain had stopped. We walked up Holford Combe up to the ridge again and headed back to Quantock Orchard, the only daytime rain of the weekend catching us half an hour from the end. Never be discouraged by a weather forecast!

LEJOG #3

A quite momentous decision has been made and acted on. I've been faffing around for ages being unable to decide whether to buy the paper Landranger maps for the route I want to do or go down the digital route. I've already got quite a few of the maps for the southern half of England and Memory Map National Parks edition. On the advice of others, I've gone for the digital option and, on price, have ordered the Anquet DVD for the whole of Great Britain. This was with a hefty 29% discount through the Backpackers Club. It should arrive in the next few days and then I can really start plotting my route. There are pros and cons of the two options of paper and digital but I think I've made the right decision. Once my route is complete I'll post it on line.

Backpackers' Ridgeway weekend

The weather forecast was almost right. Relying on it, I didn't take waterproofs in order to keep my packweight down. Foolhardy or what? My pack this trip was a Golite Breeze and the only concession I made to bad weather was a Golite Wisp windshirt. There were just two passing showers on Saturday morning. My packweight (including a tent weighing just over 4lb) excluding food and water was just over 12lb which was good, but why does food seem so heavy? The Golide Stride shorts were good, despite the ribald comments from one or two others.

There were maybe fifteen or so of us but I wanted to get in a bit of LEJOG training so went off on my own on Saturday after breakfast to head for that night's camp. I was wearing trainers for lightness and did nineteen miles without too much effort. It was easy walking, a few miles along The Ridgeway, passing by others on foot, bike and horseback. At one point I found a welcome water tap, labelled as drinking water. There was a plaque next to it, marking the death some years ago of a boy aged 14. Once I left The Ridgeway there was just no-one.

Although it's not far from home, it's not an area I know that well and the views were great, even of Didcot power station in the distance.

Lambourn was a little disappointing in some ways. It's said to be the second most important place in England for racehorses (after Newmarket) and there were plenty around. However, the centre of the town/village itself was a bit down market. We only found one pub to go to that evening and it was OK but no more than that.

The area generally is full of ancient burial mounds and barrows and, in particular, the Uffington White Horse. This can only really be appreciated from above.

On Sunday, most of us set out together to walk back to where we'd left our cars at Saturday's camp. A good weekend.

Bread on the trail

This is something I tried over the last weekend and it worked really well. I brought with me two plastic bags each with a pre-prepared mix of:

• 3 tbs SR flour
• 1 tbs milk powder (Plus Pints)
• a pinch of salt
• a handful each of raisins, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

I also had a little olive oil and some pear & apple spread.

At camp, using the frying pan of my Mini Trangia, I heated the olive oil. I added a little water to one of the mixes in another pan (I tried using the bag to do the mixing in but it wasn't very easy). Add only a tiny bit at a time so that it doesn't get too gooey. It's easy to add a bit; it's impossible to take it out!

I then moulded it out flat to about four or so inches across and put it in the pan, turning it after 30 seconds or so to take up some oil on the other side. After maybe four or five minutes each side on a medium heat it was done. If it sounds hollow when tapped it should be ready. With the spread on top this made a superb breakfast washed down with fresh coffee (using a coffee bag). Yum. I shall be doing this again.

Shorts

A purchase I made recently was a new pair of hiking shorts. The ones I've gone for are the Golite Stride. http://www.golite.com/Product/ProductByCategory.aspx?mc=2&s=1 They were in a sale for £19.99. I was particularly wanting some that wouldn't chafe the sensitive areas and would dry quickly after rain. I haven't worn them yet and they certainly aren't for wearing around town where I'm known! They are black Lycra (or Spandex) and they are so tight around the thighs and positively leave nothing to the imagination around those sensitive areas. It's as if they've been painted on me. I think I'll reserve them for use in remote parts of the country. But they only weigh four ounces!!

Dr Bronner

I've noticed that US ultralightweight hikers include Dr Bronner's soap http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/PEP.htm on their kit lists. e.g. http://francistapon.com/ and I also saw mention of it on Chris Cowell's blog at http://www.thecowellfamily.com/hikewales/ I investigated it on the internet and, as always, there was a high-ish carriage charge. A bit of lateral thinking sent me hotfoot to my local health store and, lo and behold, they stock it in various "flavours". As most hikers probably do, I bought the peppermint. At £4.95 for a 213ml bottle, it's good value, I think, as it's very concentrated and the label makes fascinating reading - lots of snippets in very small print. The soap can be used for endless things - washing self, clothes, fruit/veg; it is also effective in place of shaving gel or oil (I've even tried a wet shave with cold water and it's great) and can also be used as a toothpaste and deodorant! All in all, it's cut my pack weight by up to ten ounces for, say a trip of a week or two. Brilliant!
Update: My health food store tells me they can supply a one litre bottle for £11.99 which seems remarkably good value and is something I shall get in readiness for my LEJOG next year. It will be decanted into tiny bottles and included in resupply parcles.