Hi Claire, this should now be set up to forward you the daily blogs!
Andy
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Monday, 22 March 2010
More alterations to the gear for the walk
First off for my latest gear tweaks is something for Alfie.
having spent a night camping in the back garden in -8 degrees to test our gear.
(spot the ice on the tent!)
my conclusion is my gear is great but Alfie's options for keeping warm were ineffective to say the least, the fleece coat I bought him (pictured near the beginning of the blog) was hopeless and after shivering for the majority of the night he ended up forcing his way into my sleeping bag!, so I have committed a great sacrilege by cutting up camping gear!. :-o
The gear in question was my old snug pack softie sleeping bag, I've decapitated this to create a doggy sleeping bag:-
Trust me the dog is not dead! just very warm and sleepy :). And yes he can get out if he wants!
by removing the old fleece and packing this I only gain 0.1 of a kilo so considering the amount of energy it will help Alfie conserve it's well worth the slight added weight
The second tweak is a new rucksack, a 51litre golite pursuit ,admittedly this is the third pack I've bought for the walk! but at 1.3 kg's it saves me a whole kilo of weight in comparison with my blacks pack. tho not as functional as the blacks pack everything will still fit on or in as well, tho my first two attempts at packing left me with gear still scattered across the floor and me scratching my head!
Alfie seems happy with my choice too!
The countdown to the walk is at 19days 11 hours 37 mins and 1 second as I write this!
I seem to be in the process of saying goodbye to my home town already! every time I drive or walk passed a landmark (no matter how trivial!) I'm thinking "wont see that again till mid summer!" an odd mix of sadness and excitement is building as I sever ties with my usual surroundings, one thing I wont miss is my local footpaths I've walked them all so many times now maps are no longer needed , I'm so looking forward to chasing the horizon!
Bring it on!
ps will be going to the outdoors show this friday gear heaven!
having spent a night camping in the back garden in -8 degrees to test our gear.
my conclusion is my gear is great but Alfie's options for keeping warm were ineffective to say the least, the fleece coat I bought him (pictured near the beginning of the blog) was hopeless and after shivering for the majority of the night he ended up forcing his way into my sleeping bag!, so I have committed a great sacrilege by cutting up camping gear!. :-o
The gear in question was my old snug pack softie sleeping bag, I've decapitated this to create a doggy sleeping bag:-
by removing the old fleece and packing this I only gain 0.1 of a kilo so considering the amount of energy it will help Alfie conserve it's well worth the slight added weight
The second tweak is a new rucksack, a 51litre golite pursuit ,admittedly this is the third pack I've bought for the walk! but at 1.3 kg's it saves me a whole kilo of weight in comparison with my blacks pack. tho not as functional as the blacks pack everything will still fit on or in as well, tho my first two attempts at packing left me with gear still scattered across the floor and me scratching my head!
The countdown to the walk is at 19days 11 hours 37 mins and 1 second as I write this!
I seem to be in the process of saying goodbye to my home town already! every time I drive or walk passed a landmark (no matter how trivial!) I'm thinking "wont see that again till mid summer!" an odd mix of sadness and excitement is building as I sever ties with my usual surroundings, one thing I wont miss is my local footpaths I've walked them all so many times now maps are no longer needed , I'm so looking forward to chasing the horizon!
Bring it on!
ps will be going to the outdoors show this friday gear heaven!
Monday, 8 March 2010
Strangers can be Lovely!
This is a quick post to celebrate my first donation via my paypal button!
The kind person who donated is a lady named Stacie from Washington, I wont give out more of your details Stacie but you know who you are!
What makes this donation so special is I have no idea who Stacie is, other the payment details from paypal!
Hope to get lots more of course! and if and when the walk is complete I shall post a list of all people who donate to the fund.
Thank you so much from Alfie and me :-)
Oh! I can say at this point donations are up to £217.00! considering that other than the paypal button I have only been hassling people for donations for one and half weeks thats great going! thanks to all!
The kind person who donated is a lady named Stacie from Washington, I wont give out more of your details Stacie but you know who you are!
What makes this donation so special is I have no idea who Stacie is, other the payment details from paypal!
Hope to get lots more of course! and if and when the walk is complete I shall post a list of all people who donate to the fund.
Thank you so much from Alfie and me :-)
Oh! I can say at this point donations are up to £217.00! considering that other than the paypal button I have only been hassling people for donations for one and half weeks thats great going! thanks to all!
Sunday, 21 February 2010
A Snowy day
Just a little walk to test our latest gear.
I think the hat may have to go, looks far to silly! also its too floppy, in the wind and rain I need a cap with a stiff brim to shield my glasses.
Alfie seems to be getting on fine with his new coat ! and my new merino gear kept me nice and warm, excellent heat to weight ratio so i'm still keeping the pack at a good low weight, my berghaus boots kept dry inside too.
The days walk was stunning with a good covering of virgin snow .....
and lots of sunshine! the temperature was all over the place varying between 4 and 20 degrees in sheltered spots.
We took to the old railway lines near Kelmarsh and walked through the tunnel there..
this picture is looking up the air shaft in the middle.
All in all a great but gentle wander, snow walks are not too easy, hopefully we wont get snow in april!
The days walk was stunning with a good covering of virgin snow .....
We took to the old railway lines near Kelmarsh and walked through the tunnel there..
All in all a great but gentle wander, snow walks are not too easy, hopefully we wont get snow in april!
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Trying out blogaway
Blogaway is an app for my phone , this may be less data intensive than the browser on my phone so therefore more responsive/reliable in areas with weak phone signals, hopefully a daily blog will be possible throughout the trek.
Testing testing !
Test of email blog update
A quick test of emailed blogs
A lovely view while walking an 18. 5 mile full pack walk in leicestershire, bloomin chilly tho stayed around zero all day. once again alfie walked me into the ground ! Hopefully he'll maintain his energy for the big one !
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
just completed another tweaking session!
Thankfully just the route spread sheet! should be more coherent and informative now.
I may use the spreadsheet to cost the walk as we go along, dont want to run out of funds!
I have also changed Alfies jacket and bought a Ruffware sun shower waterproof jacket, sort of goretexy and also has taped seems so his snugness should be improved, the original jacket is ok but as with most dog jackets it closes with velcro fasteners which are suffering from dirt so not closing too well!
Thankfully just the route spread sheet! should be more coherent and informative now.
I may use the spreadsheet to cost the walk as we go along, dont want to run out of funds!
I have also changed Alfies jacket and bought a Ruffware sun shower waterproof jacket, sort of goretexy and also has taped seems so his snugness should be improved, the original jacket is ok but as with most dog jackets it closes with velcro fasteners which are suffering from dirt so not closing too well!
Saturday, 23 January 2010
The Donations button is now active, so anyone who wants to can! Notice the charge that Paypal levy is per donation of 3.4% of your donation + 20 pence. I tested this out with a £1 donation and 77 pence went to the charity, so with a £10 donation, £9.46 goes to the charity. The larger donation the better! ;-)
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Having spent so long over the past week working on altering the route I can safely say that my mental image of this walk is a bit bewildered!.
I know how far I'm going to walk I know where I'm going to walk I even have a good idea of how long it will take, I just cant help being overawed!.
This is good for respecting what we are are soon to do and good for honing the "Three A's way" machine but I just don't seem to get a good grip on the concept of walking this distance,
its like juggling jelly I know the constituent parts I know its form I can imagine doing it and completing it but one juggle too far and it could end up just being a mess on the floor!(?)
I would be interested if any other Lejog or Joglers past or soon to be know what I mean!
Andy
(Alfie knows what to do, curled up in front of the fire wise dog!)
I know how far I'm going to walk I know where I'm going to walk I even have a good idea of how long it will take, I just cant help being overawed!.
This is good for respecting what we are are soon to do and good for honing the "Three A's way" machine but I just don't seem to get a good grip on the concept of walking this distance,
its like juggling jelly I know the constituent parts I know its form I can imagine doing it and completing it but one juggle too far and it could end up just being a mess on the floor!(?)
I would be interested if any other Lejog or Joglers past or soon to be know what I mean!
Andy
(Alfie knows what to do, curled up in front of the fire wise dog!)
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Its funny, just when I think I have everything in place I have to change things!
so what's changed?
1, I decided to plan my nightly accommodation in advance rather than accept more wild camping,this meant i had to change .......(2)
2, the route! (I just had to fiddle!) still at least my walk is now more organised! :)
3, which also meant i had to redo a lot of the maps and the gps routes! ARRGGHHHHH!
4, Have got the charity link in place at last. :)
5, also changed my picture of the whole walk for a zoomable panable google map image of the walk!.
6, added a cheesie pic of myself to the "where am I?" Latitude widget.
7, Have my trip down to the start organised and accommodation booked for the night before we start. Thanks Mum and Peter.
8, still have to sort out the donations link.........paypal!
9, Kit has changed a bit more I have a new merino base layer top which should prove toastie, and my berghaus waterproof trousers have been replaced with newer but still the same design/ make waterproofs.
I do have to do a lot more walking training (nagging my self here!) and loads of work on the charity side of things.
other than that i think we're ready tho we still have 81 days till the start, seems like yesterday when I had 150 days to go! this time will fly!
so what's changed?
1, I decided to plan my nightly accommodation in advance rather than accept more wild camping,this meant i had to change .......(2)
2, the route! (I just had to fiddle!) still at least my walk is now more organised! :)
3, which also meant i had to redo a lot of the maps and the gps routes! ARRGGHHHHH!
4, Have got the charity link in place at last. :)
5, also changed my picture of the whole walk for a zoomable panable google map image of the walk!.
6, added a cheesie pic of myself to the "where am I?" Latitude widget.
7, Have my trip down to the start organised and accommodation booked for the night before we start. Thanks Mum and Peter.
8, still have to sort out the donations link.........paypal!
9, Kit has changed a bit more I have a new merino base layer top which should prove toastie, and my berghaus waterproof trousers have been replaced with newer but still the same design/ make waterproofs.
I do have to do a lot more walking training (nagging my self here!) and loads of work on the charity side of things.
other than that i think we're ready tho we still have 81 days till the start, seems like yesterday when I had 150 days to go! this time will fly!
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Its been a busy time, that's my excuse!
the blog has been thoroughly ignored for too long so its about time I posted an update!
training had been going great all through december till the inevitable christmas slackening of routine and of course belts!,so now into the new year its time to shake of the dust and get started again!.
Today Alfie and i had a nice gentle reintroduction to walking, with a quick 8.4 mile walk which according to the gps took us 2.29 hours with full pack, dont think i'd have enjoyed another 20 miler today even tho the cold crisp weather has been superb!
if I can get myself fit enough to maintain that pace all day i'll be able to travel up to 30 miles per day if the need arises and if the energy is available. :)
kit wise ive been making a few alterations and increased my pack weight to over 11 kilos, the coleman rucksack that i was planning on using was already showing signs of wear and tear after about 70miles of traing walks, so that has been replaced with a 55 litre rucksack from Blacks (£29!!! great price) which is so far an excellent piece of kit.
clothing now includes some sturdy montane (TM) trousers and micro fleece jacket which will do away with the need for a fleece jumper and a jacket, and for those cold wet days I now have sealskin water proof gloves, my platypus has been replaced with an MSR Hydromedary hydration system which should be more sturdy.
The Charitable side of our walk has shifted lightly, originally I wanted to raise funds for the autistic kids at Alderwood LLA , but having consulted Alderwood any funds we raise would have greater benefit if donated to Alderwoods prefererd charity Hart House, who look after kids with learning difficulties in Gambia, if we raise £700 it will enable Hart House to run for an entire month! guess money goes further in Gambia!
please follow the link in the right hand column for more details.
the blog has been thoroughly ignored for too long so its about time I posted an update!
training had been going great all through december till the inevitable christmas slackening of routine and of course belts!,so now into the new year its time to shake of the dust and get started again!.
Today Alfie and i had a nice gentle reintroduction to walking, with a quick 8.4 mile walk which according to the gps took us 2.29 hours with full pack, dont think i'd have enjoyed another 20 miler today even tho the cold crisp weather has been superb!
if I can get myself fit enough to maintain that pace all day i'll be able to travel up to 30 miles per day if the need arises and if the energy is available. :)
kit wise ive been making a few alterations and increased my pack weight to over 11 kilos, the coleman rucksack that i was planning on using was already showing signs of wear and tear after about 70miles of traing walks, so that has been replaced with a 55 litre rucksack from Blacks (£29!!! great price) which is so far an excellent piece of kit.
clothing now includes some sturdy montane (TM) trousers and micro fleece jacket which will do away with the need for a fleece jumper and a jacket, and for those cold wet days I now have sealskin water proof gloves, my platypus has been replaced with an MSR Hydromedary hydration system which should be more sturdy.
The Charitable side of our walk has shifted lightly, originally I wanted to raise funds for the autistic kids at Alderwood LLA , but having consulted Alderwood any funds we raise would have greater benefit if donated to Alderwoods prefererd charity Hart House, who look after kids with learning difficulties in Gambia, if we raise £700 it will enable Hart House to run for an entire month! guess money goes further in Gambia!
please follow the link in the right hand column for more details.
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