Finishing the Wessex Ridgeway

This is our 3rd attepmt to finish the Wessex Ridgeway.  Previous attempt include a DNF in the Wessex Relay race organised Gillingham Trotters, then last November we tried to do the whole route in 2 very wet and windy days. See this post for details.

Last weekend we started at Beaminster followed the Rdigeway route as far as Wootton Fitzpaine, before heading to Charmouth on the coast and along the coastal path to West Bay.  25 miles and about 5,800 feet ascent.

The perfect training run for Nigel who is doing the Dorset Doodle with me and Simon who is doing the Across Wales with me.  I am sure I have got the short straw there.

It was a great day, perfect weather and a very good route.  However we decided that they have got the name wrong.  Ridgeway conjures up following a rocky narrow route that stays high above the green lowlands.  It should be called "Wessex up one hill, down, look around for the next big hlll and go up that".   Not as snappy as Ridgeway but more accurate.

The best part of the day was early on when we climbed Lewesdon Hill and stood amongst the pine trees over looking the steep sothern slopes.  A beautiful place with great views across Marshwood Vale to the sea.

I forgot to take my camera so instead of a beautiful view from Lewesdon Hill all you get is my blister. That is a blister plaster not the actual blister.

On the kit front I was very pleased with my Montane Bionic T-Shirt, the mixture of polyester and wool makes it very comfortable in a range of temperatures and it wicks very well without feeling clammy.  I will definitely be using this on the longer events coming up.

Flyrocs old and new

Thought I would give a few of my impressions of the new Flyroc 310s now that I have been out in them a few times. The toe bumper and the rand are more substantial on the new version. The sole pattern is exactly the same but it does seem to be made out of a harder rubber compound. This may however be just because of the age of my old pair and with time the new ones may soften up.


On both edges of the ball of the foot there is some extra protection with is helpful for running on rocky ground. The same textured rubber coating is around the heel, which is slightly higher. As far as the weight goes they are supposed to be the same but I have not check as this would entail cleaning the mud off.


Apologies for the photos the front and back of the shoe are in fact in perfect proportion :)

Overall the new version feels like a more substantial shoe but still make a comfortable light off-road running shoe. I have mainly been running in the new ones but my impression is that they will be a better walking shoe than the old version.

Quick kit check

A couple of peices of kit worked really well on the Wessex ridgeway trip.

I was originally intending to take my OMM Running Light sack but it was just too small. Instead I took the OMM Villain recently bought from Baz. It was a bit too big for the job but still worked really well. I stripped most things off it and swapped the Platformat back for a cut down bit of foam mat. Very comfortable all day even when running. One of the best things are the pockets on the hip belt. Why have I never had a sack with these before? Genius.

The other saviour on the day was my Montrail Streak shoes. Before the day I had only been out in them 3 or 4 times, so it was a bit of a gamble trying to do over 30 miles a day with them. They are a great shoe with good cushioning and enough grip for muddy hills and tracks. They are not as agile as my Inov8 Flyrocs nor have as much grip but I think my feet were grateful for the extra cushioning by the end. The uppers are very free flowing is probably the best phrase, on a windy day you can feel the breeze round your toes. So probably not a shoe for mid winter. For a better review have a look here at backpackbrewers site



As I have recently worn out 2 pairs of old wool/nylon socks the next thing to look out for is socks suitable for light backpacking/walking/running.

Asics Gel Enduro 4 - Final look

I have had these shoes since December last year (Asics Gel Enduro 4 - Initial look). I have used them for 5 to 10 mile runs mainly on road with some off road. I may have done about 350 miles in them. For long off road run I normally use my Inov8 flyrocs. The midsole has pretty much had it and the sole is coming unglued. This may be due to the wet conditions but is pretty disappointing for less than a year. The upper is still in very good condition.



Shoes are a very personal choice but from my point of view here are the pros and cons.

Pros
- very good value
- ideal for mix of road and off-road
- durable upper

Cons
- Sole coming unglued
- Tread pattern not deep enough for steep ground
- not enough cushioning for long road runs

What next? Montrail Streaks maybe.

Tent bags

It has become obvious over the years of trying to get tents into bags which are marginally too small that there is a world shortage of tent bag material.


My proposal is that we setup a Tent Bag Cooperative, the name is TBC.

Within this organisation the following rules apply

medium tent owners give their bags to the small tent owners
large tents owners give their bags to medium tent owners
enormous tent owners give their bags to large tent owners

Notes
Definition of enormous, large, medium, small to be defined at a later date.
“enormous tent owners” refers to the tent not the owner

Problems
Enormous tent owners left with no bag.
Left over small bags.

Solution 1
Sell small bags on eBay and use profit to buy enormous bags.
This will only work if tent distribution is biased towards the small end, which I don’t think it is.

Solution 2
Setup a not for profit organisation to manufacture enormous bags
Everyone who enters the scheme has to pay a minimal fee which is used by the organisation
Use the small tent bags as peg bags for large and enormous tents.

Any thoughts?

That has messed things up ...

Both my current backpacks are ancient POD Sacs, both about 20 years old. The Cragsac pictured is showing some signs of wear. It soaks up a bit of water now and the fabric on the lid is starting to come apart.


The xPod is a 70+ litre sac, which is great load carrier but my ancient version is about 2.6kg. This leads to the obvious question what next. I prefer simple, slim packs that don't mind if I kick them about a bit. In the short-list are:

OMM Villain
Crux AK57

And now this appears

New POD Sacs for 2010

There is not much detail, no weights or volumes ... should I wait?

Black Tor

How adventurous should your first backpacking trip be? Take it too easy and you will not feel the sense of being out in the wild, away from civilisation on your own. The other extreme and, apart form the obvious risks to life and limb, you might come away thinking this is not for me.

The plan for Will’s first trip was to have a relatively short walk over some rough ground and then camp out using tarps and bivvy bags with an easy route back to the car. Our route went from Meldon reservoir up Yes Tor, over some open ground to Black Tor where we would camp and back down West Okemeet river to Meldon reservoir.



After following a good track from the reservoir we headed over some rocky ground straight to the top of Yes Tor. The wind was very strong on the top and there was a strange feeling to it, with lots of signs of man, including litter, pipes and mess. After a bit of discussion we agreed that this was not a good place to camp so headed west to over Longstone Hill.

We put the tarp up on Black Tor and had sausages and beans watching bands of grey clouds fighting for space in the sky with sunshine.



The weather was unsettled and I was not confident we would have enough shelter, so we headed down and pitched the tarp near the river. Despite a few heavy showers in the night we stayed dry enough.



After a quick hot chocolate breakfast we headed down the river through some boggy ground.

I can see how the tarp and bivvy is a great way to camp. For 2 people we could have done with a bigger tarp but for one it is perfect. The clue is in the name really – Solo Tarp. The only problem we had was that although we were sheltered near the river it meant that there were a few more midges (and I forgot the repellent).

As Will said at the end “I don’t want to see concrete and roads, I want to see more bracken, rocks and grass”. I can’t argue with that.

Tarp practise

Very soon we are going to make a trip to Dartmoor to sleep under one of the Tors. The tarp I bought from backpackinglight many months ago has sat in the cupboard for too long. It is time it came out into the light. There is lots of information setting up and using tarps available

Tarp DVD
Andy Howell's Going lighter guide
Colin Ibbotson on tarps

so having looked at a few of them, I decided to have a go at setting it up in the garden.

The Solo tarp is designed for one person; I don't think I am being wrong if I say one and a half of us are going. It will be my son's (age 9) first backpacking trip and we will be taking bivvy bags and the tarp and making sure that the forecast for Saturday night is clear. To see if I put him off for life you will have to wait for the next post.

A Frame

Lean to (or it only rains from one direction round 'ere

Low A frame

Black Mountains

We left Dorset early Saturday morning and arrived in Abergavenny at 8:30. I was delighted to see the Grecos Italian cafe was still there, the last time I visited was about 17 years ago. However Grecos was closed so we went on to the market and had a great breakfast roll and tea to set us up for the day.

We drove on to Cwmyoy, and after a bit of tour of this steep hillside village found a spot to park. Setting off up the Cwm Iau we soon reached the slopes of Hatterrall Hill and the chatting stopped. Once on the top we joined the wide path north along the ridge. This part of our walk followed Offa's Dyke path for a long way so the track was well worn and even in February we saw a few people out.

We sat down for lunch looking over into Wales and the other ridges of the Black Mountains. The day was slightly overcast and misty but we could see across to Rhos Dirion. We continued along the ridge with great views into Mercia (if we are talking in Offa terms) over Black Hill.

At Hay Bluff, the end of the ridge, we turned east and dropped to Gospel Pass. After the climb to Twmpa we started to make our way down through some rough boggy ground to Grwyne Fawr. We reached the bothy as it was getting dark and quickly made ourselves comfortable. Well as comfortable as 3 men can be in a large shed, very.

The next morning, starting in the mist, we headed down the valley. As we got past the dam patches of sunlight hit the hills around us. After the car park in the Mynydd Du Forest we climbed back over the ridge into a beautiful sky. The path down to road zigzagged through the woods and took a wrong turn ending up fighting down a disused path to get to the road below Cwmyoy.

In terms of kit I used both of my stoves; the Pocket Rocket and my new White Box stove. It was great to have two stoves in the bothy as there were 3 of us it meant we could make drinks and food at the same time However I think I need to be a bit more careful with the White box as it did not appreciate having a pan with a wet base plonked on top of it. Definitely a success but some practise needed.

That 3 weeks before an event feeling

As usual with only a few weeks to go till the Grizzly I look back at my training and realise I have not done enough. After a long run by myself on Sunday I went out today with the runners from work in the pouring rain.

Well you can only do what you can, last week was a bit of a wash out because of the snow (should that be snow out).

A post on PTC* Blog has convinced me that my next sac is going to be a Villain. I think it would be perfect for our trip to the Black Mountains in a couple of weeks.

Superfly and White Box Stove

New Jacket and stove arrived from backpackinglight this week. Very kind friends from my old job got me a few leaving presents include a virtual voucher (cash) for an outdoor shop. I have decided to use it to replace my very old Lowe Apline jacket with a lightweight Montane SuperFly jacket. The jacket is going to take some getting used to after using a heavier waterproof for so long.

As for the White Box stove, after years of using gas stoves this is a bit of revelation. First impression are that it is amazingly simple and robust design, however the flaring up can be a bit disconcerting.

For my forthcoming trip to the Black Mountains at the end of February I think I am going to take both the Pocket Rocket gas stove and the White Box. This is partly because there are 3 of us staying in a bothy, so it will be nice to be able to brew up and cook; but also because I am a bit unsure at the moment about relying on the White Box.

Asics Gel Enduro 4 - Inital look

I got my new Asics Gel Enduro 4 from Pete Bland Sports and have worn these for a week now. To be fair to them mainly in conditions that would be more suited to my Inov-8s.

Apologies for the poor picture quality, the only time I seem to be at home with time to take photos it is dark.

Overall it has been a very good start

• good cushioning without feeling spongy
• uppers are fairly solid and look as if the will last
• Grip has been reasonable considering the boggy stuff I have been running in lately. Ideal for mixed road and footpaths which is what I bought them for.

However I am struggling to get the fit right over the arch of my foot, because I have a high arch it can get a lot of pressure over the top of the foot.

First experiment was to miss out a hole in the lacing. This was not too successful so as I was out running last night in my Inov-8s I thought why don't I use the lacing system recommended by them. Results to follow...

Alpkit Wee Airic

The new mat arrived very quickly from Alpkit. First impression is very light and easy to fold up and slide down the back of my POD Cragsac. Not quite as study as old 3/4 length Thermarest but smaller and only £17.50 so I am not complaining. Looking forward to real test soon.

Prize arrived from Darren now I need to buy one of those Nalgene hip flasks before we go to Brecon Beacons.

Current kit list

I have been reading a lot about going light weight backpacking in TGO and various blogs.

This is my current list of kit in bracket after some of the items is the light weight alternative I would like to buy.

Backpacking

Solar 2 tent (Laser)
TNF Blue kazoo sleeping bag
Bivvy bag
Pod Expod rucksack 70 litre (OMM - MM45+10RL The Villain MSC or ...)
Pod 40 ltr cragsac 40 litre
MSR pocket rocket stove
MSR titan kettle
Montane Superfly
Montane Terra pants
Asolo Fugitive GTX
White Box Stove

Running

Inov8 flyroc
Asics Gel Enduro 4
OMM RunningLight rucksack
Montane windshirt
Ron Hill Trckster - original may not be the best but I love em.