Trip Preparations for the Black Mountains

I decided a few days ago that I would pack in advance of the night before the trip - unlike before. My packing procedure for Buttermere had some striking similarities to Chaos Theory and having learned my lesson last time, I knew it would take longer than I ever allow.

I gathered the last minute items and began packing things bit by bit. I got to the stage where I now had the core items in (tent, sleeping bag, roll mat etc) and I did a test lift. WHAT! - how can it be so heavy? It felt almost as heavy as it did on that Friday morning in Buttermere, and I had yet to pack food, water, and spare clothes! Luckily, I was so confused by the shear weight at this early stage in the packing that I just had to unpack it, then there it was - A 2.5KG barbell weight I had stuck in the bottom weeks ago trying to simulate different weight conditions! Little twerp!

I picked myself up off the floor from laughter and got on with the job in hand - trying to rescue any semblance of packing professionalism! Needless to say my decision to bring two cans of strong Merrydown Cider is being tabled (in my head) because the extra weight is noticeable. Whats more, I'm a little disappointed that my pack doesn't feel that much lighter than before - at least not as much as I imagined. I guess I'm in denial and I'm fast regretting not shelling out for that Golite Quest pack and Alpkit sleeping bag but it just wasn't an option this time around.

in between my main meal of Beanfeast (I had a little change of plan on my food situation since the last trip, where I pigged out on snickers bars and flapjacksSpag bol flavour). I'm not going into the Beanfeast thing right now but all I can ask is that you reserve judgement until I can argue my case!

On this trip 'm trying:

Snacks - Homeade chocolate chip flapjacks.
Lunch Day 1 - Noodles.
Main Mean Day 1 - Fresh filled pasta shells with sun dried tomatoes and grated Parmesan for the topping.
Breakfast Day 2 - Quick oats, where I've combined two packets to make a larger portion and added milk powder and muscavado sugar to the dry mix, ready for re-hydrating with boiling water. I've tried it at home and its not bad.
Lunch Day 2 - Pot mash (I know, I'm going to regret this decision).
Main Meal Day 2 - Pub grub and a pint!

All of these should be easy to prepare on the hill and in fact all of the hot meals merely require a small amount of hot water for success. Paul and I will be trialing our Orikaso dinner sets on this trip so no doubt I'll have a thing or two to say about those when we get back.

I'm a little nervous about my new Brasher boots on this trip. I've walked around 8 miles in them so far and they have been comfy but very warm - The Goretex lining is seeing to that. I'm hoping my extortionately expensive walking socks will put pay to any blisters but Paul has promised to bring the magic plasters just in case!

As before, I'll be posting (hopefully more regularly than last trip) on the blog from my mobile phone. I'm not bringing my DSLR so it will be the trusty Casio Exilim again for pics and video. I'm aiming for some video this time so maybe I'll have a few clips on the post trip report - who knows? After the trip I shall be reviewing the ALPKIT Gamma head torch, the Orikaso Solo Dinner Set, Brasher Trailmaster GTX boots and the Minibulldesign Blackfly 3 alcohol stove.

Check back tomorrow for some live trip updates.....or choose life and don't!

"To the hills....."

Quiet but active

OK, so its been a while since I posted anything but that's not to say that nothing has happened. I hadn't quite appreciated that people were actually reading this blog and I was very suprised today to see comments from John Hee (thanks for linking to me from your blog John) and Blabberon. This has made me realise that posting might be worth while afterall!

Over the past month I've been re-assessing my equipment, trying to learn from the mistakes of my first wild camping trip to Buttermere in the English Lake District and working out where to go next. My friend Paul and I have read a lot about gear and made a few purchases (some still to be made at time of writing).

I wanted to address the areas where I felt I could make the biggest difference for the least amount of effort and expenditure - all before the next trip. I was set on a lighter rucksack, a lighter/warmer down filled sleeping bag, cutting out the excess water and finally leaving some luxuries behind.

I have been looking around at lightweight packs and thought that the Golite Pinnacle might be the one to buy. This is on hold though now since Geoff from 'V-g me' suggested the framed Golite Litespeed, so I'm going to look into this a bit and this will give me some time to save some quids!

The sleeping bag is also on hold at the moment since ALPKIT are out of stock of the Pipedream and having thought a bit more about this, my conclusion is to wait now until the cold weather makes a return and just use my current bag. So basically I'm only losing a few items I don't really need and some water but I'm saving around 2.5kg. The weight is far more manageable now and I've got a 30 mile hike coming up to test this theory. Since returning from Buttermere, I've been pining to get back out there, as has Paul so we make a good hiking/wild camping duo. I've been looking at routes and locations a little closer to home and I think we have settled on the Black Mountains. I've never given this landscape the pleasure of my company so it will be good to meet each other! I've adapted Geoff and Vivien's three day trip from here http://v-g.me.uk/Trips/T0832/T0832.htm into a 30 mile two day outing and I think it should work. Thanks Geoff for the reassurance! I'll post the route file here once I work out how to do this from Blogger.

One purchase I have made is a new pair of walking boots. My Hitec V-lites are very comfortable and light but aren't suited to long days walking nor rough terrain. I took a chance on a pair of Brasher Trailmaster GTX's and having walked a little in them - they seem comfortable and fit well. Time will tell how they handle wet rocks and wood etc and if they suit my feet and I'll post updates on these as I use them.

I've made a further purchase from Tinny at www.minibulldesign.com in the form of the new blackfly #3 stove. I purchase this as part of my weight saving strategy but I think I'll cover this in another post so I can review the stove too.

So there's an update of what I've been up to and I'll be posting separately regarding the stove when I've got some pictures and perhaps some video. I also want to submit a post on food since I think this is an important aspect of the trip - especially since I love eating!

Check back over the next few days for an update.