TGO Challenge

All's been quiet on the blogging front for a while. Anyway, we now have a route more or less planned and I've plotted it on Anquet digital mapping. We shall start at Dornie on the west coast and finish at Luna Bay on the east. It's not a particularly high level route but looks an interesting one. Plenty of wild, remote country. There will be some wild camping and a few sites and a couple of stretches where there is no discernable path, which should be fun. Once we have fine-tuned the route, it will be sent in to the organisers for vetting. More on this soon.

Backpackers Chilterns weekend

Winter beckons and so Backpackers Club members gather. This one wasn't too far from home so no excuse. We trickled one by one on to the campsite at Radnage, near Stokenchurch, just off the M40 on a wet Friday afternoon/evening. Off to the nearby pub, The Crown, for a meal a pint or three of an excellent local brew, Loddon Hoppit, brewed by the Loddon Brewery. Saturday's weather was a real contrast to that of the day before - clear blue skies and some sunshine. In separate groups, we headed south, under or over the M40, and into some really lovely countryside. I've lived not far from the Chilterns for most of my life and never really explored the area. It's quite hilly and plenty of traditional woodland. The end of season colours were stunning.

The area is well known for its Red Kites and they were very much in evidence all the time wheeling around and making their distinctive call. The camp on Saturday night was in woodland in part of a nature reserve and was really quite special, marred only by the November 5th noise of a firework display from somewhere nearby, maybe Nettlebed. Sunday was a good day as well, returning by a different route to Radnage.

A new bit of kit

Every lightweight hiker needs one of these poo trowels and it's very easy to make. I got the idea from a fellow backpacker who, in turn, had got the idea from Andy Howell's blog. It only took ten minutes to make and it only weighs one ounce - three ounces less than what it replaces. May get to use it this weekend!

TGO Challenge 2010

My team has been selected! We now have to prepare a route and submit it for vetting by some time in February 2010. Great news. I shall now be a regular visitor to the Challenge website. It's all very exciting.

TGO Challenge 2010

Well, here's some excitement. I've been invited to join a team to take part in the 31st TGO Challenge next year in the last two weeks of May. I'm about to complete the application form. Of course, we may not be selected as entry is limited to 300. The other team members are Frank and Gill. They are going to be planning the route to start with although I hope I can contribute something. Planning the gear to take will also need much care. The weather can be atrocious in the Scottish Highlands although, as I found earlier this year, it can also be superb! Will we take food for the whole two weeks with us or will we resupply along the way? There'll be more postings on this topic as time goes on.

Backpackers Dartmoor weekend

Two consecutive weekends backpacking! Now that is really something (for me). The meeting point was Ivybridge station. The park and ride car park was overrun with travellers' caravans so I wouldn't have wanted to leave a car there. Just two of us (me and Martin) started the planned jaunt from there. The idea was to spend three nights wild camping and finish at Okehampton on Bank Holiday Monday.

The weather started fair and we were on to the moor within fifteen minutes or so. It started to get a bit showery and it was quite windy. At our first night's halt, we met up with John who had arrived and pitched a couple of hours earlier. We were at SX667670 where there is a good stream for water.

Saturday's weather was fair and sunny most of the time, as forecast. Our route took us over Ryders Hill to Hexworthy where we stopped for a pint at the Forest Inn. Then on to Dartmeet where, in the car park, we came upon what had been a dramatic scene. A fire engine was still there. It seems that a car had caught fire whilst parked, spread to the one next to it and destroyed it completely. The vehicle on the other side was also badly damaged down one side.


We walked on alongside the East Dart River and on to Belever where we pitched by the same river further north. On the way down, I'd come across a dead cow amongst the ferns and gorse. A farmer came by later and I offered to go back up the hillside with him to try and find it. I did so eventually but only by going up above the gorse level and locating our entry point and endeavouring to come down the same way. Having worn shorts all day, my legs were covered with red specks where the gorse had scraped them. At Belever, four more Club members joined us (Howard, Ray, Louise and Nigel).

Next morning, Sunday, was wet and stayed that way much of the day. We went through Postbridge (where there is an excellent village shop) and then took a very cross-country route northwards and stopped for lunch to the east of Fernwood Forest. We then headed east on a virtually non-existent path to Little Varracombe. By now it was quite misty and very wet underfoot (and me wearing just trail shoes). We went over Hangingstone Hill and sheltered for a while behind a concrete shed built by the military who train around here. It was very windy!


On from here, yomping through some very wet and boggy bits. In the fog, we lost Martin and John, who went on to camp at Small Brook. The rest of us camped by East Okement River at SX607934 - good water and plenty of room. During the evening, Howard's orange survival bag flashed past me into the river. He then had a challenging time retrieving it with me, camera at the ready, to catch the moment when he might fall in the river. Unfortunately, he didn't.



We then went our separate ways on Monday morning.

A Cotswold weekend

With a good weather forecast and no-one else at home, I thought I'd go off for a couple of days. I left work at lunchtime and, with a light pack, headed from home into the southern tip of Warwickshire, joining the Donnington Way at Little Compton. This is a 62 mile trail linking the pubs belonging to the Donnington brewery. I won't have time for all of it (or to call at all the fifteen pubs) but I'll have a decent walk, probably returning home on Sunday evening. From Little Compton, the route passed through Barton-on-the-Heath and then west towards and alongside the Fire Service College at Moreton-in-Marsh. At Moreton, I called in at the Black Bear for an excellent pint of Donningtons BB. From there, I prepared an evening meal in a field and then continued towards Blockley. Near Batsford, I startled a herd of about 150 deer. Light was fading so I looked for somewhere to spend the night in Park Plantation. This was on Monarch's Way. I was surprised to find a couple already pitched here. It really is easy to wild camp in the south of Éngland if you leave it late. Knowing it was unlikely to rain, I packed no tent or tarp, just a sleeping bag and bivy bag. I rolled these out close to the edge of the wood and was asleep pretty quickly. I slept reasonably well; to save weight, I'd brought a closed cell foam mat but the Thermarest would have been more comfortable.

Blockley early morning

Setting off at 6.10am, I continued along Monarch’s Way through Blockley, the main part of which is Cotswold at its beautiful best, money, and lots of it, evident from the size and quality of the old cottages and houses, all lovingly maintained. The route then went through Broad Campden and then Chipping Campden. From here I went up to Dover’s Hill on the Cotswold Way with far reaching views from the escarpment, the northernmost edge of the Cotswolds. I brewed some coffee here whilst enjoying the vista.

I continued along The Mile Drive on the Cotswold Way down to the café at Broadway Tower, meeting again my friend Kim, who I’d last seen on my LEJOG when she kindly allowed me to camp there. Fortified with a pot of tea and a generous slice of chocolate fudge cake, I made my way down through Snowshill (which featured in the film Bridget Jones’ Diary)

and then down through the hamlet of Taddington, then Cutsdean, Ford and Temple Guiting. Harvesting was going on everywhere. At Kineton, I took a path south-west and joined the Wardens’ Way into Guiting Power, through Naunton where, just south a bit, I followed the Windrush Way almost into Bourton-on-the-Water. Light was fading so I found myself a soft spot of grassy ground beside a hedge and spent a peaceful night.

Up at 5.45am, I was on my way shortly after and it was surprising how many people were about in Bourton, even at that time. From here, field paths and quiet lanes took me the three miles or so to Sherbourne where I headed eastwards through water meadows to the village of Windrush. Crossing the River Dikler here, I followed footpaths and bridleways northwards through Great Rissington, Little Rissington and then Wyck Rissington where I joined the Oxfordshire Way. Passing through Gawcombe and then Bledington and Kingham, I was home at 5pm having walked a total of 57 miles.

This was my first outing using just a bivy bag, an Alpkit Hunka, an excellent piece of kit which until now I've only used to make sure my down bag remains dry under the tarp. Having no tarp this time meant that I was able to move off much more quickly in the mornings, as it often has to be dried either from rain or condensation. Also, the walking day was structured differently. I tended to be away earlier, I would stop in the evening between 6-7pm and prepare a meal and I would then walk another couple of hours until it started to get dark and then find somewhere unobtrusive to spend the night. However, with a bivy, even though it's red, it's not nearly as conspicuous as a tent or tarp. Definitely an experience to be repeated and could add an extra to a tarping trip as, particularly when rain isn't expected, I wouldn't necessarily need to put the tarp up.