Backpacking Kit and Weights – June 2018

By the time of writing this post, I had expected I would be coming to the end of my fourth day backpacking along The Ridgeway National Trail…

I set off on Saturday morning. Slightly later than intended but I was on to the trail soon enough. Within the first three miles, I noticed a pain down the outside of my left leg and, even with stretching, it remained with me for the whole twenty-five miles of day one. I made it to the camp site that evening but was safely and generously ‘extracted’ on Sunday morning.

At 18kg (according to my possibly-unreliable luggage scales), my rucksack was far too heavy and it made little sense for me to press on through the pain. I’ve spent this afternoon weighing everything and taking notes, all of which I’ll share below.

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Black Down on the Mendips – April 2018

Monday 2nd April 2018

As I look through the photos from this walk, I suddenly remember how dismal the majority of our Easter weekend was, this year. Untrue to form.

One day prior to this, I’d enjoyed a long-awaited return to Cranborne Chase for the day, where the weather had help up rather well, by comparison. This time, waterproofs were going to be essential.

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Return of the Beast – March 2018

Sunday 18th March 2018

I find it hard to believe but, the Met Office are warning of freezing temperatures and possible snowfall over the coming Easter weekend… This would mean a third instance of snowfall for the southern half of the UK!

Bearing in mind that we hadn’t seen much more than a few flakes since 2013. During the return visit of the ‘Beast from the East’, I did manage a simple solo walk over to the neighbouring village of Churchill.

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Snow 2018: Wrington to Goblin Combe

Saturday 3rd March 2018

This was only a fortnight ago and yet, here we are, bracing ourselves for ‘Mark II’ of the Beast from the East!

My second walk of the previous experience would again set off from my doorstep in Wrington. Although the roads had been cleared, I wanted to keep things very local.

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