Pennine Way Preparation

.. When you are steadily approaching 70, a 300 mile walk over hilly terrain is not to be taken too lightly; so I have had to do a few things to help me get ready.

First, physical preparation .. I am reasonably fit anyway and do a fair amount of walking. Still I have spent a couple of weeks in the Peak District and in the Calderdale area of Yorkshire in order to find some steep hills, boggy areas and heather moorland and negotiate them as best as I could. Whether that will prove sufficient, we shall see but I am feeling pretty good at the moment.

Second, routes and so forth. I have 1:25,000 OS maps on my phone and I have drawn a route, which is similar to the official Pennine Way trail but not quite identical. It does differ in a few places, as the following blogs will show. Also I have copied the route below. I'm doing this for the third time and I think a little license is allowable. I have also booked a few things .. a night in Edale and a night in Kirk Yetholm, rail passage between the two, and a night in Byrness. I haven't booked anything else, after all I will have a tent :-)

Third, equipment. I have an equipment list from each of my last two trips along the PW, in 2009 and 2014. The first time I was carrying 14Kg. The second time, 11Kg. This time, I am carrying 9.2Kg. I have copied the equipment list below. We are clearly heading in the right direction, although of course I could carry a lot less if I booked up every night's stop and so managed without a tent etc. And less still if I employed a firm to transport the baggage for me! One day it might come to that, I suppose; but not yet.

Future updates will be via my phone and will probably be briefer and less grammatical ..
  

Pennine Way 2019 Equipment                             g Basics Rucksack [Zpacks Arcsoft] 591 Sleeping bag [Zpacks] 818 Sleeping mat [neoair xlite] 480 Thermarest inflation sack 98 cuben small sack 26 Tent [Zpacks Hexamid] 667 total: 2,680 Toiletries Toiletries bag  (inner) 290 & Sundries Toiletries bag (outer) 46 Microfibre towel and cloth 55 Suntan lotion 44 total: 435 Equipment Bits & bobs bag 215 & Documents Sunglasses 69 Steripen Freedom 86 Credit cards  25 Samsung S8+ phone (spare!) 173 25Ah charger + transformer & 2 leads 586 Certificate! 25 Equipment: 1,179 Fleece Rohan zip fleece (Orange) 318 Waterproofs Rohan Elite jacket 322 Ultimate Direction waterproof trousers 122 Trousers Rohan Escapers 295 Base layers Rohan Ultra Silver T (graphite l/s) 112 Rohan Ultra Silver T (royal blue s/s) 72 Rohan ultra silver knicks 42 Rohan Aether boxers 79 Accessories Paramo hat 64 Socks, Rohan Liner socks (x2) 54 Rohan socks (x2) 86 Clothing: 1,566 Base weight: 5,860 Food & Drink 5x water bottles 3.5l total 124 750ml water 750 500ml wine 500 food total: 2,000 Food & drink: 3,374 Carry Total:                    9,234 To Wear Rohan microgrid fleece (navy blue) 369 Brasher Supalite boots 1,440 Rohan GR Explorers 34L 296 Rohan Ultra Silver T (graphite l/s) 112 Rohan Aether boxers 79 Rohan socks + liner socks 75 Trekmates gaiters 187 Step counter 37 Casio altimeter watch 93 Penknife 102 Rohan Ether walking poles (pair) 348 To Wear:    3,138 Grand Total: 12,372g

Pennine Way 2019 - Itinerary

08 September Drive up to Edale 09 September By train from Edale to KY 10 September Start PW 11 September Auchope Hut - Byrness 12 September Byrness - Bellingham 13 September Bellingham - Bardon Mill 14 September Bardon Mill - Alston 15 September Alston - High Cup Nick 16 September High Cup Nick - Middleton-in-Teesdale 17 September Rest morning in Middleton then walk to Blackton Bridge 18 September Blackton Bridge - Keld 19 September Keld - Hawes 20 September Hawes - Horton-in-Ribblesdale 21 September Horton-in-Ribblesdale - Malham 22 September Malham - Lothersdale 23 September Lothersdale - Hebden Bridge 24 September Hebden Bridge rest day 25 September Hebden Bridge - Standedge 26 September Standedge - Crowden 27 September Crowden - Edale via Kinder Scout 28 September Home to Kent

There is an album of photos, here (including those ones!) from my 2014 walk

My beautiful Z-Packs tent

High Cup Nick, one of the highlights of the Pennine Way