Packing woes

I’ve started packing and I’ve already had to change to a larger bag. This really is a step into the unknown and I can only make a guess on what I’ll need. I know I can wash en-route (well not literally while I’m walking, but you know what I mean!) but I don’t want to be spending my time washing stuff. Is 6 pairs of walking socks a reasonable amount to take??? I’m going to lay the contents out and take a photo – I’ll probably then have to have a cull and ditch the ‘nice to haves’.

We’re taking 2 first aid kits. 1 for on the move and 1 for patching us up when we’ve finished for the day. The larger of the 2 kits weighs in at a massive 2 kilos and I’m sure the contents would be good enough for a tour of duty in Afghanistan!

All exciting stuff but I’m beginning to have some thoughts about what it will be like being away from Sarah and the boys. I’ve not been away from them for more than a couple of days before, so there may be a few tears before bedtime (mine!!)

2 weeks to go

Just two weeks to go, WOW it'll soon be upon us.  I have added a new page which lets you know how to access some of the extras we hope to enhance our blog with as we walk.  I have been trying out a means by which I can "geo-tag" photos we take.  This then allows us to link the pictures via a map so you can see where we took each photo.

This link

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/albumMap?uname=Staffswayinmay&aid=5456168198013569169#map

takes you to the map page on the web album.

A Training Day in the Berwyns

From Coast 2 Coast with Ross and Graham

We haven't done much walking training recently. Our last walk was in March, and we aborted a climb of the Glyders because of a combination of snow/ice and cloud.

With the wonderful weather around at the moment we decided on an ascent of Cadair Berwyn, from Pistyll Rhaeadr. Not only that but a ridge walk before descending into Llandrillo followed by another ascent to Cadair Berwyn before a final descent to the car. The weather was brilliant, you could count the clouds we saw on the fingers of one hand. It was, unfortunately, very hazy and the expectation of seeing the mountain ranges of Snowdon were not realised.

The initial climb was through the Nant y Llyn valley, before reaching Llyn Lluncaws and then climbing on to the ridge past Moel Sych before ascending to Cadair Berwyn. We had already taken two hours to reach this point (about 3 miles) due to yours truly getting his navigation all wrong and taking in the majesty of the waterfall. We ate some lunch, had a brew of coffee and took the photo above.

After that we walked along the ridge northwards over Cadair Bronwen before joining the green lane into Llandrillo. The underfoot conditions varied and we got our first experience of peat bogs (is this what the conditions are like over Nine Standards Rigg?).

A quick drink in the Dudley Arms in the village and back on the trail. This time we took a lane up, climbing out of the valley and back onto a permissive route to Cadair Berwyn. This was serious hard climbing, over boggy ground which sapped the strength from your legs. The climb seemed never ending and regular stops were a must. As we came over each brow of the hill in front of us another one was revealed. We won't experience anything as extreme as this on the Coast to Coast.

We peaked out on Moel Sych and then "suffered" a steep descent to Pistyll Rhaeadr. We had decided to practice using walking sticks from Llandrillo and both agree that they helped a lot. The outside of my left knee started to ache on the descent and only got worse as we walked down the final path from the top of the waterfall to the car park.

We had been out for almost 10 hours, completed 19 miles, climbed 2000 ft at the start and then 2500 ft from Llandrillo. Sitting at home later that night I checked the elevation profiles of the Coast to Coast and realised that we had experienced a walk today that would not need to be repeated.

Map of the Route

5 weeks today we will have completed the first day of the walk.  I have just grossed out watching all 6 episodes of Julia Bradbury's TV programme back to back.  I now can't wait to start.  The map at the head of the page has been updated with our proposed route and details of our overnight stops.  It's also hoped that we can update the map with photos as we complete each day (although from my research mobile phone communication isn't very good so our blogging may be a bit haphazard).

A second page has also been added with some extra details of the schedule.