Kudos to Trekmates, and good luck to Claire

Great kudos to Trekmates! Yesterday I stumbled across a fantastic offer on their website: their Amphibian Gore-Tex Shell Socks (only available in small) reduced from £29.99 to £9.99 per pair. They’ve been discontinued, apparently, but since I’m not very fond of Sealskinz (they’re bulky, they seem to spring leaks quickly and I find it virtually impossible to dry them in the tent) I decided to give the Amphibians a try.

I ordered two pairs yesterday afternoon at about 1.45pm, and they arrived this morning with the postman! When I asked, on ringing yesterday afternoon to check that the socks were in stock, how long they were likely to take to arrive, I was told that they’d probably come this morning if the dispatch man was as quick as he usually is, so it sounds as though this level of service may be typical for them. I’ve not bought from Trekmates before, but I’d be very happy to do so again.

Incidentally, Trekmates describe ‘small’ as being sizes 6-7. I have size 7 feet in most walking shoes, and I found the socks slightly large, so anyone out there with size 8s who may be wondering whether or not to give them a go may just be in luck. I plan to use them with my trail shoes on wet days.

Tonight’s the final of Professional Masterchef, so fingers crossed all round for Claire, please. She’s been hugely impressive throughout on every front, and it brings me real joy to see her do so well despite the disadvantages she faces as (i) a woman (ii) a scouser and (iii) a portly sort of person. If there’s any justice in the world then she’ll be lifting the cup tonight 🙂

For the person who emailed requesting the stew recipe… apologies!

Apologies to the person who emailed me about a month ago asking for the recipe for the dehydrated scrummy stew I consumed with so much pleasure on the Challenge this year. I’ve scoured my inbox but have been unable to locate the email in question, but I do remember that it arrived.

I’d love to be able to take the credit for what was one of the yummiest dehydrated meals I’ve ever eaten, but the credit must go to Andy Howell, whose recipe it was. You can read all about it on his page here.

It’s worth mentioning in passing that (a week ago, at least) Tesco had a 2 packets for £5 offer on their organic minced beef, which brought it down to the same price as their standard mince (from less happy cows). I used the organic mince last year, and I’m about to make another batch. Yum!

Alan’s hand (not for the faint of hearted…)

Readers of Martin Banfield’s blog, Postcard from Timperley, will have seen that Ye Olde Slowman suffered a rather misery-inducing injury to his hand earlier today, attempting to climb over a barbed wire fence in the Borders.

A was almost over the fence when his foot, which was balanced on a piece of wire, slipped away below him, as a result of which he felt himself falling backwards. Instinctively he grabbed for the wire with his left hand, to stop himself from falling, but grabbing barbed wire with a hand when travelling backwards at speed isn’t a Terribly Good Idea (The Capitals Are Important Here, as I’m sure Alan would say), and the next thing we knew old Alan was lying on the ground with blood pouring from his left hand, and attempting to extract his first aid kit from his rucksack with the other one. Eep!

The slick rescuing machine that is the Borders (Peebles to Moffat) Assault Patrol slid seamlessly into action, though, and while some people bandaged the hand, and attempted to make the wounded warrior comfortable and warm, others quickly brewed a mug of something hot, sweet and restorative, whilst still others shot off down the hill to retrieve a car with which to convey the fallen Slowman back to civilisation. Yet another managed to gather up the panicky little dog and fasten her down, to prevent her from chasing the runner into Moffat.

Anyway, at the conclusion of the rescue operation Andy Walker and I drove Alan to Carlisle hospital, where they set about putting him back together again. He has a pretty nasty injury to one of the fingers of his left hand (photos below: don’t scroll down if you have any kind of iffy tummy…), but as I write he’s tucked up warm, comfy and sleeping, I hope, in bed there on Beech Ward. The injury wasn’t the sort of thing that could be stitched up in Casualty, and so tomorrow morning the orthopaedic surgeons are going to clean it all out, and check for tendon and/or nerve damage, under general anaesthetic.

Alan was very brave indeed throughout the whole miserable incident: at least a thousand times braver than I’d have been, in the circumstances. He managed to walk off the hill, and at the hospital he braved the insertion of one of those plastic thingies into the back of his hand (he doesn’t like needles), and a tetanus injection, and (worst of all) the removal of the bandage that we applied on the hill. I actually feel a little faint just thinking about it! Andy and I had to hold hands on the other side of the room just listening to the conversation from the direction of the sink 😦 A showed amazing fortitude, though. I was Extremely Impressed, and proud of him.

Ultimately, I have to wonder what purpose the barbed wire was actually meant to serve on top of the fence. Was it just there to make things difficult for walkers? If so, it really served its purpose today. I’ll be carrying wire cutters in future, and I cringe, now, to think of the times I’ve clambered over barbed wire fences in the past. I knew they were dangerous, of course, but it was all just a bit theoretical until I saw the state of Alan’s hand this afternoon. Thank goodness it was ‘just’ his hand; it could very easily have been even more serious.

We took some piccies in the hospital, and Alan said he didn’t mind me posting them here. Scroll down if you’d like to see them. (The last one’s a gory one, but it’s certainly a lesson to me about the kind of damage barbed wire can do in the blink of an eye.) The hospital staff were absolutely brilliant, btw: efficient, friendly, considerate and courteous. Many thanks indeed to them, as well as to all the Peebles to Moffaters who helped out earlier today ♥ ♥ ♥

Alan’s hand will probably be okay, but we won’t actually know until after his operation tomorrow morning whether he’s done serious damage or not. Any good wishes/positive thoughts you can send in his direction will be extremely welcome.

Waiting for the orthopod registrar

Eeep!

Post tetanus injection

About to go up to the ward

Here's what a momentary slip on barbed wire can do 😦

Walking in a hot place — suggestions?

The sunshine has inspired me to get out to a lovely hot place and walk, again. My first thoughts were of the GR20, but (i) I’ve already done it quite recently, and (ii) the new booking system is too much of a faff for me to contemplate, if it’s being enforced.

Any suggestions? I could always go back to the Pyrenees and do another 14 days along the Haute Route, but I’m wondering what else might be around. My preference is for camping outside Refuges, and doing some eating inside them (it’s great fun, trying out the fledgling French).

All suggestions welcome 🙂

Save the George & Dragon in Garrigill!

The wonderful pub in Garrigill -- closed!

Catching up with blogs this morning, I’ve just read on Mike Knipe‘s that the wonderful George & Dragon pub in Garrigill is currently closed. (I’ve stolen the piccy from Mike’s site: I hope he doesn’t mind.) Apparently locals are getting together to try to work out whether they can afford to save it.

Everybody who’s done the Pennine Way will know this wonderful place. It wasn’t open the first time I was there, as I was there at the wrong time of day, but when I did most of the PW again in March 2008 it was open, and it was one of the most comfy and hospitable pubs I’ve ever had the great pleasure to fall scruffily into, after a long day on the hills. No makeovers had taken place, and I settled happily into a seat and fell into conversation with some blokes I’d seen earlier in the day as I was crawling, on hands and knees, up Cross Fell in gale force winds, through thick snow. I had to leave an hour later to find somewhere to camp, but the memory of that golden hour shines bright in the trove of piggly backpacking treasured memories.

There’s a petition here that can be signed. I don’t know whether the pub can be saved, but surely it’s worth a signature in the hope that something can be done.

Final Challenge Stuff Still To Be Done…

Although I’ll be getting up and jumping in the shower to get ready for the off this time the day after tomorrow there’s still quite a lot to be done here, as I’ve been doing the usual combination of juggling act and disorganisation.

Lemme see, now…

1. I rang Paramo y/day to check that they’d posted back my Cascadas to me, as promised, but they haven’t 😦 They say they’ve gone to the laundry, and they’re going to try to get them back first thing this morning and post them out to me Special Delivery.

2. My second dehydrated meal–Andy’s amazing Thai Green Curry Porridge–is dehydrating downstairs. Last night in bed I was woken by a couple of loud clanking noises, and couldn’t work out what it was. This morning I’m not entirely sure that the dehydrator isn’t a bit broken. Although it’s making all the right noises, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of hot air coming out and the curry hasn’t changed much in consistency overnight. I hope it’ll work, not because I’ll starve without it (I can always fall back on Beanfeast & Smash) but because I put such a lot of effort into making it, and it sounds really yummy!

3. I should be receiving (i) Innov8 Recolites, (ii) 2 maps and (iii) a camera case in the post today from Amazon. Fingers crossed!

4. However, today I’m driving little Piglet down to Birmingham, where she’ll be spending her holidays in great style with her two Cairn pals Bink and Bluster. I will miss her. I’m pretty sure she won’t miss me. I hope I won’t miss the delivery of my Recolites and maps.

5. I’m taking Quo printouts as well as the full OS maps as they’re easier to manipulate. I printed about half of the route off several weeks ago, and need to finish it.

6. I want to put some waypoints on my GPS (Garmin Geko 201) just in case, but realised a week ago that the lead I’ve got won’t work with this PC, because this PC doesn’t have a serial port. I sent off for a USB lead, which has arrived, but I’ve not had a chance to see whether it works yet. Fingers crossed.

7. I need to choose and download some books from http://www.audible.co.uk, and put them on my MP3 player. I also need to add some music.

8. I need to pack and send off my two boxes.

9. I need to dry the tent! Oops…

10. I really need to sort out the guy lines on the tent because the little tightener thingies are all in the wrong places. Have been meaning to do this since I got the tent about 8 months ago.

11. I need to find, buy and manipulate a piece of foam into a microphone cover for my cunning podcasty device, and then make some sort of cotton cover for it. Have been meaning to do this for almost 12 months, since I bought it. But don’t tell Bob…

12. I need to sort out and wash my clothes.

13. I need to pack my rucksack.

14. Oh, and I need to choose a book for the tent.

15. Finally, I hope, I still need a few batteries.

16. And I need a warm hat. Eep! Those forecasts are scary!!

17. Aaagh! I still need to wash and re-proof my Cioch Glamaig jacket, and my Cascadas if they arrive in time.

18. Need to dig out my train tickets and proof of bookings at Rucksacks and The Park.

19. Still need to find a place to stay in Taynuilt.

So! Still quite a lot to do, bearing in mind that I’ll be in Birmingham most of the day. It’s doable, though, I think.

Photo printing help?

Drat. About to dash up to Kendal to get my Terrocs. Would normally be fun but there’s too much going on here ATM so it’s just a faff. Has to be done, though.

In the meantime, can any of you PC geniuses help with what feels like a really stupid question? I’m trying to print out some photos to frame and put on my father’s wall. However, the printer/Paint Shop Pro (can’t work out which) insists on leaving a margin of about 2mm on the left of the page and one of over a cm on the right. I can center it horizontally but nothing I’ve tried (and I’ve tried everything I can think of, over a period of about 4 hours split over two occasions) makes any difference. No matter what paper size I tell the printer I’m using, and no matter how wide I tell it the picture is, that margin is always there.

This is driving me mad. My father’s moving to a new care home tomorrow and I want to print out old pictures and have them waiting for him on the walls. I don’t want them to look a mess, though.

If you can help then I’ll be eternally grateful. My printer is an HP Deskjet of some sort, my graphics programme is Paint Shop Pro and I’m aiming for A4 sized paper. I don’t want to have to start trying to cut off a strip on the right of each picture. I’m sure there must be a simple way!

BFN ♥

A Terrible Thing Happened At Amazon…

Lumix TZ7

Ooops!

I mentioned having had a sudden desire for a new camera (John: this is *still* your fault), and I’ve been unable to shake it off. I’ve been looking at some Fujifilm Finepix bridge cameras (heh… see all the terminology I’m learning, eh? ‘Bridge’ camera, indeed!), but even though I’m no real photographer I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I didn’t want to buy a camera that www.dpreview.com has slated for image quality when I already have such a nice Canon compact (the Powershot A95).

Yesterday evening, though, I stumbled across some reviews of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7, and a few hours later a sort of finger twitch moment occurred as I studied the Amazon page, and somehow I pressed the ‘One Click’ button for ‘Next Day Delivery’… Oops!

The TZ7 (TZ as in ‘travel zoom’, apparently) has an ultra-lovely Leica lens. It’s 25mm at the wide end, and goes to 300mm (in 35mm equivalent, as I now know they say). It doesn’t offer much manual control, so wouldn’t suit a lot of all y’all camera experts out there, and unfortunately it doesn’t have a viewfinder, but it has a range of pre-set ‘scene modes’ which are said to work extremely well, and I think they’ll be just great for me on backpacking trips. After reading hundreds of reviews of all sorts of small cameras I realised that they don’t tend to be very good in low light, due to their small sensors (I think), but this one seems to do better than most. It also does HD video.

Here‘s a gallery on http://www.flickr.com which shows what it’s possible to do with this little camera. If I ever get anything even half as lovely as some of those then I’ll be a very happy little piglet indeed.

The only problem that really stood out as I read about it concerns the battery. I prefer cameras that take ordinary batteries that I can buy in shops along the way, which is why I bought a Canon Powershot in the first place. I know that it’s possible to get by with a rechargable battery, though, if carrying a spare (or 2), and the charger. Unfortunately, reports seem to indicate that battery life on this camera is pretty dire. Panasonic claim that it’ll take 300 pictures, but many people seem to have had only a third to a half of that, particularly if recording any video. What made this more than just a major faff that could be circumvented by the carrying of several spare batteries was that Panasonic introduced some sort of chip into the battery, thus preventing the use of 3rd party copies (they simply wouldn’t work), and since the Panasonic batteries were originally about £60 each (!) that was a bit of a killer. However, it appears that it is now possible to get working OEM batteries for £10 each (or less), and so I’ve bought a 2-pack from Ebay.

It was the amazing image quality in such a small camera–Leica lens, see–that made me really, really, REALLY want to have one, but what tipped me over the edge was the great reduction currently running on Amazon. Apparently Panasonic are doing away with this camera any time soon, and replacing it with the TZ10. They’re currently selling the TZ7 for £199.99. They say that’s a reduction from £352.85, and whilst I know it’s possible to get it for less than that £350+ figure elsewhere the £199.99 does seem to be a genuine bargain.

Incidentally, the other one that really tempted me was the Lumix DMC-LX3. That’s even *wider* at 24mm, but it doesn’t have the super-zoom and only goes to 60mm. Having said that, the sensor is large, the picture quality is apparently fractionally better and the battery life is not a problem. It’s more expensive–currently £315.70 on Amazon–but by the time I was reading about it I really had the bug, and that might not have stood in the way of my desire to Have Lovely New Toys Right NOW had I felt that I could live without the zoom. Ultimately I didn’t feel I could, though, and so I went for the TZ7. Phew!

The wee monster is supposed to be arriving tomorrow morning, so I’ll tell you what I think when I’ve eased it out of the box and introduced it to Piglet and Puss-Puss. Meanwhile, I’m excited…

GAS Attack – Update

Kahtoola MICROspikes

My GAS attack of a week or so ago has resolved into a number of exciting purchases. Whoohoo!

Yesterday I ordered the Micro Spikes and the Inov8 Debris Gaiters, and also a couple of pairs of Bridgedale Coolmax liner socks.

Today I’ve ordered 3 sheets of a product called Paraflexx, which I saw recommended by Andy Howell over on his blog in one of his enormously helpful and interesting posts about dehydrating. Paraflexx is a microporous sheet used for dehydrating “wet, moist or gooey” food which would otherwise drip through the holes in the dehydrator tray. I’ve used baking parchment and the cunning collapsible plates sold by Bob and Rose in the past to try to get round the drip problem, but TBH I’ve not found either of them to be an ideal solution. This Paraflexx is made for the job, and Andy says it works well, so I’m crossing my crubeens and planning some fruit and tomato leathers (thanks again, Andy!) to go with the scrummy meat and root vegetable stew currently simmering away on the stove downstairs.

Now all I *definitely* need is a pair of Terrocs, but it’s looking as though I’m going to have to drive up to Kendal in order to be able to try them on, as I don’t know what size I need. The women’s Terroc 308 version may actually turn out to be too narrow for me–I have fairly wide lower crubeens–in which case I’ll go with the classic Terroc 330s.

Hmmm… I’ve just remembered that I’ve not got the merino wool liner gloves yet, either. I can’t easily order them online because I often find that ‘small’ gloves are too large for me. Hopefully I can get some when I go up to the Lakes to buy the shoes.

Kudos to The Outdoor Warehouse in Windermere, btw. I ordered the Micro Spikes and Debris Gaiters from them early yesterday afternoon, and they arrived with the postman this morning. Impressive!

Aagh… Major pre-Challenge GAS attack…

Well with the Challenge almost upon us I’ve been laid low by an exceptionally virulent strain of Gear Acquisition Syndrome (or GAS).

A few days ago–and having read horrible, unrepeatable things about parasites in water–I decided that maybe I ought to update my existing water filtration plan. From non-existent, that is, to…well, something, at least. I did buy one of the original Travel Taps from Bob and Rose a couple of years ago, but because back then I was using a Platty with drinking tube I didn’t want to carry two systems and so didn’t actually use it. It’s still sitting in a cupboard somewhere.

I’m not using the Platty with drinking tube at the moment, though, mainly because since Piglet arrived I’ve rarely had space for a water-filled Platty in my pack, and so the idea of using the filter bottle seemed more feasible. I remembered reading that the original had been improved, and after a chat with Bob I decided to invest in a new one. At the same time there were a couple of other things I needed, and so therefore I’ve already invested in the following.

1. Travel Tap.
2. Primus Windshield.
3. Canister Feet.
4. Gehwol Refreshing Balm.
5. Gehwol Axle Grease. (In fact it goes by a different name, but I can’t find it on Bob’s site and so this one will have to do for now.)

The windshield was Phil’s fault. He showed me his Primus and promised that it would fit snuggly into my Kettley thing. It looked so lovely and neat–and so much smaller than my home-made windshield–that I couldn’t resist it, and so now it’s sitting on the kitchen table, awaiting deployment into the rucksack.

It does fit into the Kettley thing when wrapped around a 250 canister, but only just. The little rivets on the side scrape tramlines into the sides of the Kettley thing (thereby dislodging wee slivers of aluminium which will probably bring on my incipient dementia at a huge rate of knots…uh-oh…), and I’m going to have to tuck a piece of string or similar underneath the canister on packing up each morning, in order to be sure that I’ll be able to get it out in the evening. Still, it will work, I think, and so I’ve saved a bit of space (albeit added a little weight, on balance).

The Gehwol creams were Bob’s idea. I’ve used the Gehwol Axle Grease in the past and it’s pretty fantastic stuff, but I hadn’t got round to replacing the tube. Last Autumn I had a problem in the Dales, though, when I developed a case of trench foot after only a day of walking in consistently wet conditions in my Inov8s. Fortunately it was the last day, because the following day my foot was so sore that I could barely stand on it. That made me worry about whether I’m now so decrepit that I need less water-permeable footwear for the Challenge, but the Soloman mids I’ve been trying out have aggravated my chronic achilles tendonitis. Aaaagh! In the circumstances I propose to return to Inov8s and plaster my feeties with enough Gehwol to scare the trench foot away. Crubeens crossed, please, and watch this space.

That’s not the end of it, though. Over the course of the last few days I’ve compiled a little list of other things I’d like to get. Not so much because I actually need them, as that I’d simply like to have them.

6. Inov8 Terroc 308s. I’ve been using Roclite 315s for backpacking for several years now, but I feel like a change. My existing Roclites are looking very worn underneath, and I propose to reserve them for walking Piglet in the woods. I liked the Terrocs that I used to own (the originals: I think they’re now called Terroc 330s), but I must have left them somewhere because I’ve not seen them for at least 4 years. A phonecall to Inov8 yesterday, to take advice on the relative merits of Roclites and Terrocs in the ‘arch support’ department, suggested that the Terrocs are better equipped to pamper my ageing feet, and since that’s what I was hoping to hear I decided to buy a pair.

Sadly, it’s not possible for me find anywhere closer than Kendal where I can try on both the 6.5 and the 7. Okay: I could have gone to Sweatshop in Chorley, but they’ve only got them in the prissy light blue, and I don’t think I could live with myself in that colour of shoe. Give me the Stone/Sage over the pastel any day.

7. Inov8 Recolite 190s. In the course of looking up the Terrocs I spotted these very lightweight sandal-y things from Inov8. I love my Crocs but they’re too clunky and uncompressible to squeeze into my Exos, and I prefer, if possible, not to hang things off the back. These Recolites are about half the weight (i.e. 190g), though, and–as far as I can tell from much online drooling, and the cross-examination of various online retailers–they’re much more squishable than Crocs. When I drive up to Kendal to try the Terrocs tomorrow I’m going to try these as well. I’m sure they’re a really good investment. Definitely. Heh…

8. Inov8 Debris Gaiter. I’ve been meaning to get either these, or something like them, for a couple of years now, but haven’t yet got round to it. The plan is to keep all those nasty little bits of bracken, and pine needles, and similarly sharp bits of the landscape, out of my shoes and on the ground where they belong. If anyone knows of a much better system then please let me know–I realise there are several out there at the moment–but these seem to be considerably less expensive than some (about £10), and I’m assuming that since they’re made by Inov8 they’ll fit well onto my Terrocs.

9. Smartwool Liner Gloves. I generally use Buffalo mits, and carry a v. warm pair of padded gloves for foul conditions. Much as I love my Buffalos, though, there’s no getting round the fact that they’re a bit depressing when sodden wet. I’ve got waterproof over-mits, but I don’t always feel like fishing around for them in my pack if it begins to rain heavily. The padded gloves are blissfully comfy when I first put them on, but they’re not spacious enough for a liner and the fingers tend to try to turn inside out when I take them off, if my hands were wet in the first place. So, I’m thinking of using Smartwool liners as a basic glove (they’re quite thick, as liners go), and supplementing them with something else. I’m not yet sure what. Ideas welcome. Gloves are a bit of a pain for me, since (i) I tend to get very cold, painful hands quite quickly, and so need to be sure that I can keep them warm, and (ii) mes crubeens are quite small, and many ‘small’ gloves are too large for them. That may be the case with the Smartwools, but I’m hoping not.

10. Kahtoola Microspikes. I’d definitely like a pair of these, and reckon that they could turn out to be very useful in the Cairngorms if the snow persists into May. I must get round to ordering some this weekend.

11. Satmap Active 10 GPS. There’s no excuse for this: I simply love gadgets, and would absolutely love to have one. They’re so extremely expensive, though, that I almost certainly will be going without, for this year at least. I did try using my phone as a GPS in the Lakes last October but for me it didn’t seem to work very well. There’s the major battery issue, and I don’t like having to use a touch-screen device inside a plastic bag, and I was worried about dropping it etc etc. Basically it was such a faff that I don’t even intend to take that phone on the Challenge–I’m taking an old, straightforward light one instead, and if I need a GPS I’ll have my trust Garmin Geko to fall back upon. Still… the Satmap GPSs are truly lovely…

12. Fujifilm Finepix S1600. This one is John Jocys’s fault! He showed me his S1500, and I really liked the shape and feel of it. They seem to fall into the category of ‘bridge’ cameras, which are something in between the DSLRs and the compacts. There’s actually quite a range of them: S1500, S1600, S1800, S2000HD and S2500HD to name but a few, and they seem to to up in price from just under £100 to about £300 or so. I don’t need a new camera–I’ve got a Canon DSLR and 3 (!!!) compacts (though one is currently out on loan, and I keep trying to give one of the others to my sister). I’d like one, though, because (as mentioned above) I love gadgets, and each time I see a sexy new camera I imagine that by some sort of osmotic process the ability to take really good pictures will somehow instill itself in me by the simple act of purchasing it. Doh…

So! This is the kit I’ve been contemplating over the course of the last few days. I think I’ll definitely get the microspikes and the debris gaiters, and just see how I get on with the rest. Prolly the Terrocs too.

Any comments/suggestions/whatever from anyone re: any of these things, or re: anything else I’ve forgotten to consider buying, will be most welcome, as always 🙂