Please sponsor me: 300 mile walk for Cancer Research

[goldie ex rmp]

what date are you doing the walk mate as i will donate 2 t-shirts to the cause, they will be khaki and will have to have some royal military police thing on it just to upset the booties, all i ask is for some pix of you both wearing them....let me know mate

[AC]

Wholley - Many thanks, the effort is much appreciated.

Goldie - Ta mate, we'll be happy to wear 'em. We're setting off on the 26th July.

[goldie ex rmp]

AC, PM ME CLOSER TO THE DATE, ABOUT 21/2 WEEKS AND I WILL SORT T'S OUT

[AC]

Right, bit of an update.

Training is going well and all is coming together nicely.

Paperwork is through now, so if you've pledged to sponsor me i'll be in touch within the next week regarding all the guff they've put on the sponsorship form!

That's all from me (for now).

Thanks everyone,
Andy

[AC]

Another update: Kit list is all done, bergen all packed and final weight excluding food (but with the full 7 Litres of water i'll be carrying) is 53LBS (24kg). Had a bit of a bimble with it this afternoon and all is shipshape!

Come on guys and girls, keep the sponsorship coming!

All the best,
Andy

[AC]

Hello all,

As much as I hate to say it, we failed to complete the full Pennine Way. In fact, we covered 42 Miles in all - very disappointing. My full assessment of our little jolly is to follow in the next post.

Thanks again for all those who supported this effort, i'm sorry I couldn't complete my end of the bargain, your money is safe for now. Ii'll be having another crack at this walk sometime in the future.

Read on for the full story!

All the best,
Andy

[AC]

Cancer Research Pennine Way Walk Assessment
By Andy Coutanche

On the 18th of July 2004, Rob Larson and I began our attempt at the Pennine Way Walk. The Way runs along the backbone of England, from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. On paper, a simple walk over some of the most beautiful, varied and harsh terrain Britain has to offer. On our third day of walking, we made the unanimous decision to call it a day.

Sunday, 18th of July, 2004
After a leisurely train journey from Liverpool, we arrived at the Old Nags Head, official start of the Way at 15:00. I mentally prepared for what we were about to do by means of a quick pint. Full of confidence and delicious country cider, we grabbed our Bergens and went on our way, opting to follow the old Pennine Way route up Grindsbrook.

The walk started gently, along the contours of grassy, rolling hillsides and we pressed on at a steady pace following the well-worn track. The track soon merged with a ford, and our pace slowed as we had to negotiate our way up and over stone and rock, eventually leading to a full-blown scramble up Grindsbrook. We met over ten other people scrambling on Grindsbrook, but we were the only idiots moving upwards – but I was loving it nonetheless and doing so at good speed. We pressed on and soon found ourselves off the tiny map provided in the guidebook. After an hour of walking, we decided to stop for a brew. Our walk wasn’t supposed to start until the 19th, so we decided we might as well take a nice relaxed day and enjoy the area. However, after “enjoying the area”, Rob stumbled over a pothole and twisted his ankle. After a few minutes, we carried on, ignoring the Old Pennine Way route, and aiming to get back on the new track.

Several hours, ascents and descents later, we were back on the Pennine Way and became a little too trusting of the lovely wide path we were following, as after several miles down it, we came to a building – something I found a little strange as I hadn’t seen any buildings on the map the last time we consulted it. After an Alpen bar and a bit of a chuckle at myself for being too complacent, we made our way back up the stony path and after an estimated two and a half miles, found the track again. It was 21:30 and we hadn’t eaten since the morning. Rob was totally drained and couldn’t think straight, although thin as a rake, Rob ate and drank a great deal due to his high metabolism. We eventually pitched our Bashas and got some Pasta and tea on the go, followed up by some After-Dinner Mints I had packed just to take the piss. We were both kicking ourselves over blindly following the path and having to double back, we swore that it’d not happen again. We had covered between 7 and 10 Miles including doubling back on ourselves, the exact distance is unknown as we went off the map, but we were disappointed to find that we had really only covered 3 Miles of our total distance.

Monday 19th of July, 2004
What a gorgeous day! I disassembled my Basha and lay it on the ground to dry off. After a hearty breakfast of Golden Syrup flavour Oat-so-simple, a mug of sweet tea and a cold wash in my mess tin, we set off.

I had heard and read that the first two days of the walk were the toughest, and on this day we came across some really varied terrain, from crossing dusty, rocky Mountains, to monotonous slogs through a series of Peat bogs. In all my previous experience, I’d not encountered such varied terrain in only a few miles of walking. Rob and I are both similar in the respect that we don’t talk much while walking, and I soon found myself struggling to stay alert as boredom set in after walking for what seemed like an eternity on a slab path across some uninteresting Peat bogs. Walking the Mountains was great fun and I found that time really flew, but on the slabs with nothing to look at but dirt, reeds and the road - which always seemed miles away, it was easy to switch off and stumble on a slab, nearly twisting an ankle. To occupy my mind, I resorted to repeatedly mumbling the sea shanty “What shall we do with a drunken Sailor” – which stupefied me even more as I only knew four lines of it. A few hundred “oo-rah and up she rises” later, we were getting some Rice down our necks and studying the book in preparation for our next leg. Despite going at what felt like a decent speed, we were disappointed in our progress and eager to get going.

After motoring along the track, it merged with another ford, relishing another good scramble we got well and truly stuck in. I became so absorbed in having a good scramble down the ford, I totally missed the path we were meant to take, and although it ran parallel to the ford, we lost a lot of time pointlessly scrambling when we could be going great guns along the top of the bank adjacent. By this point we were frustrated, as the day had taken a lot longer than planned as we totally misjudged how long the 16-mile stretch would take. At this point, it started to rain; our only option was to head for the campsite in nearby Cowden – about half a mile off the track. I was carrying seven litres of water, and Rob carried nine, but we were down to about two litres each and the campsite was our last chance of replenishment before crossing Black Hill. We ended up paying the fees and pitching our Bashas at the Campsite and set about getting cleaned up and prepared for the next day. A demoralising thirteen miles done and dusted.

Tuesday 20th of July, 2004
After an early start, we tenderly made our way back up to the Pennine Way trail, I had a particularly bad pain in my neck owing to sleeping in a strange position. We scrambled up the Black Tor area of the Black Hill, stopping frequently to rehydrate and get more energy down our necks, as we soon felt drained. The Oat-so-simple just didn’t contain enough calories and I felt much better after scoffing three Alpen bars. If we’d have been carrying less weight and had more energy I’d have thoroughly enjoyed the scramble, but having just awoken and having to lug a heavy pack up quite a demanding scramble, I pushed on in a world of my own. We pressed on steadily, the pain in my neck becoming worse and worse, making for frequent stops to adjust my 77-pound Bergen. Finally getting the adjustment just right, we skirted our way along the contours aware that one wrong step could result in a short trip off a large hillside.

Several hours and a Pasta/Rice mixed lunch later and things are getting a lot easier. We blitzed through the Wessenden Head reservoirs, keeping up a steady 5 miles per hour and then went up and over Blakely Clough. It was a fantastic day for walking and our spirits were high in the afternoon. We arrived at the second waypoint at about 18:00 and took some time out to eat and relax before making way on the next leg of the journey.

We continued along the Oldham Way, past a young woman practicing Tai Chi atop a hillside and the aptly titled “Dinner rock” which resembled a table. Finally reaching the A-Road we were going to Basha up near, it once again started to rain, this is where it all went pear-shaped. We decided to quickly find a place to kip and set up before the Heavens really opened up, but there was simply nowhere suitable, the ground was soft, lumpy and marshy and would only worsen with rain – no way were we going to set up there! We carried on for a further fifteen minutes, desperately searching for a suitable place and finding nothing. A couple passed us and wished us luck, mentioning a Pub a couple of miles away, three miles or so – forty-five minutes they said. Rob and I discussed what to do as the couple disappeared into the rain. I checked on the map and yes, the Pub was there, but it was more like five miles than three, I didn’t tell Rob this, and he left the navigation to me, as I was a little sharper than him. I ran after the couple and made sure we had got the right pub, and that they weren’t referring to one that was off the area covered by my map. By this point it was royally pissing it down and I was soaked through. My drop-lined smock kept the wind out, but soon succumbed to the rain. My only waterproof being a Poncho, I decided to leave it off, as I’d just get even wetter through the condensation created on the inside by my body heat. Half an hour down the road, and my Gore-Tex boots had filled with water that had been running down my leg, I looked back at Rob, who looked like a reject from the Rocky Horror Picture Show in his shorts, gaiters and long Gore-Tex jacket. I found myself jealous of his gaiters and sloshed on.

We crossed the M62, after briefly sheltering behind a parked tanker to turn the pages of the guidebook. Pushed ourselves up towards Blackstone Edge, by this point Rob was on autopilot and had drank all his water, I was on my last few mouthfuls. Later, Rob told me of something he had seen on “Ray Mears Extreme Survival” whereby a pilot had crash-landed in the Desert. Out of all supplies and water, the Pilot was on his lowest ebb, and injected himself with all his morphine and walked through the Desert in a daze. Having no morphine to hand, Rob decided that Jelly Babies would have to do instead, and crammed the remainder of the bag into his mouth – the sugar rush did the job and we walked over Blackstone Edge. I looked to my left for a second, admiring the stunning views of the lights of Rochdale. We quickly made our way down Blackstone Edge and onto an old Roman Road. In the low light and wet conditions the Road was uneven and treacherous. I turned my left ankle and the friction produced between the blister dressings, socks and boot ripped my blister open. The last mile was like walking on hot coals and I dealt with it by uttering a five-minute string of expletives. We soon could see the Pub and made our way up to it.

After replenishing our water, sorting our kit and drying out as much as possible, we soon found ourselves back out in the rain at closing time, mind you, I had enough time to get a Whiskey down my neck. Within 15 minutes my feet were soaked and clean dressings sodden as my boots had taken on so much water. I made my way to the rear of the pub, which was sheltered from the majority of the wind and rain, dumped my Bergen down and slumped against the wall in my poncho. I got a half hours sleep at most and spent the night soaked to the skin, freezing cold and contending with cramp. We had covered nineteen miles.

Wednesday 21st of July, 2004
During the restless night I had been thinking about the walk and our physical and equipment conditions. Equipment wise, I was in a bad way. Everything in the main compartment of my Bergen had escaped the wet, but the side pockets had not been so lucky and the rain had been so heavy that the damp had seeped through the supposedly water-resistant lining and dampened the contents – my spare clothes and socks. My hat, shemagh and gloves were thankfully on my person at the time and stayed reasonably dry so I managed to keep some warmth in. With no way to dry my kit out unless the Sun came out, I was pretty much shagged. My boots, socks and feet were soaked through and there was no way I could dry either out. My feet were in a bad state and would only deteriorate if left in their present conditions. I told Rob of my situation and found that he felt the same as his ankle had swollen up following his fall on the first day. After a cup of Coffee, we picked up our Bergens and walked an agonising three miles to the nearest train station. We were both totally gutted at having thrown in the towel, I felt disgraced but knew we had made the right decision – as much as I wanted to complete the walk, I was never prepared to run the risk of seriously damaging myself to complete it. A total of forty-two miles covered in two and a half days walking with a pack that weighed 62 pounds at its lightest and 77 pounds at its heaviest. But what gripped my shit was that we were on the straight and narrow, having completed what everybody had said was the hardest parts of the walk.

Conclusion
Rob and I are still as keen as ever to complete the walk, the Pennines have drawn first-blood, but there is no doubt in my mind that we’ll complete the whole thing. After the walk, we sat down and discussed what went wrong and what we need to improve on. Those of you attempting the walk soon may benefit from reading this.

· Preparation: In all honesty we had grossly underestimated how tough the walk would prove to be. I was expecting to cover 20 Miles a day without a problem, whilst this is possible we had to watch our water and food consumption carefully as there weren’t as many points to replenish water as I had expected. We had also cocked up on packing our kit as we doubled up on several items where we could have saved a lot of weight and therefore reduced food and water consumption. In its original conception, there was going to be three of us on the walk. The loads carried could have been greatly reduced by a third and forth member/s of the team. On hindsight we rushed into this and didn’t plan or train enough for the Way.
· Equipment: I’ve never really seen the point in shelling out for all these Gucci lightweight, high-performance fabrics, and after spending 15 hours in cold, wet clothes and boots I now see why people buy them. Rob and I needed to co-ordinate more in what we were bringing so we didn’t double up on kit. We needed to pack as lightweight as possible, but still cover every possible situation. I screwed up on picking my wet weather kit poorly, and had to call it a day as a result.
· Physical Conditioning: Whilst I had absolutely no problem in terms of fitness, I found that I hadn’t spent enough time out in the Mountains. My feet weren’t cut out for the continuous strain put on them by all the varying conditions and the wet boots totally finished them off and it was a real struggle to keep the dressings clean to avoid infection. Basically I was fighting a losing battle with my feet. The only way to remedy these problems is to simply get more time under my belt in the Mountains.
· Navigation: After getting back into the swing of it, my only problem here was studying the map on the move and trying not to trip over. But I found Rob to be inexperienced and reliant on his GPS (sorry mate!) – something that I believe should be used only as an aid as electronics have a nasty habit of getting broken or running out of batteries. Mind you, this GPS fad is quite contagious and it makes pinpointing your location a hell of a lot easier – so in the first two days I found myself relying on Rob and his GPS a little too much.
· Experience: The main point! We’re both too inexperienced at present to complete the walk solely rough-camping. More Mountain time and a number of shorter walks spanning several days is a necessity before attempting this again. We were also inexperienced in working together and many times acted as two individuals rather than a team – a recipe for disaster.

To conclude this assessment (which is far longer than intended), I’d say that this has by no means been a wasted effort. I have learnt some valuable lessons and made some mistakes that I aim to never make again. Thanks to all those who supported and sponsored us on this walk, for now your money is safe, but we’ll keep you posted and hope you’ll support our next attempt in a year or two. Finally, there’ll be some pictures to follow once they’re developed.

[goldie ex rmp]

Andy,
I'll send you something.
Prob is I live in the US so there may bank charges for turning $US into
Pounds Sterling.I'm not sure of the current exchange rate,but I'm sure I can manage a tenner.
Wholley.

WHOLLEY you could paypal me and i will send yours together with my donation on........thats if you trust a copper? HHMMmmm maybe not