Coast to Coast Walk (East to West) 2010

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by posie

Careful Kayleigh. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach,Is that what we really want?

I'm saying nothing...

[posie]

Yes Kayleigh, and I foresee that 'I' get the 'through his stomach'.bit, ie.the COOKING, and YOU, you get the 'Way to a man's heart' bit, while I'm doin the Washing Up. ! !

[Jim Ford]

The description of my diet is accurate. I lose my appetite in the hills and lose a bit of weight!

Jim

[posie]

Yes I believe your diet Jim, just that it wouldn't be enough for me.Trouble is , I don't just eat to live, as I should, what I do is comfort eat if I am bored, or anything thats not right really, I EAT.very naughty really,must stop it. But I would have thought that you are using more calories than usual on a walk like that,and that your body would ask for more food.Obviously I'm wrong.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by posie

Yes I believe your diet Jim, just that it wouldn't be enough for me.Trouble is , I don't just eat to live, as I should, what I do is comfort eat if I am bored, or anything thats not right really, I EAT.very naughty really,must stop it. But I would have thought that you are using more calories than usual on a walk like that,and that your body would ask for more food.Obviously I'm wrong.

Well mine does lol

I went to Loch Lomond in July I had a cereal to start, full Scottish breakfast then toast and marmalade...
Well were out all day..
Lunch we got a sandwich and 3 course meal in the evening.
I do have an excuse as I go dizzy feel faint if I don't eat enough.

[posie]

Did ye tak the High Road, or did ye tak the Low road ? If it's your blood sugar levels that need maintaining, a biscuit or similar every hour or so will do the trick, that's no excuse for full English and three courses etc etc. Kayleigh.

[Jim Ford]

Don't be a wimp - just tough it out and start breaking down body fat reserves!

Jim

[posie]

Yes, I know you are right Jim, I personally have got a small excess of 'body fat reserves' that need breaking down, must couple doing that with sticking to sensible eating. Watch this space. Thanks for giving me the incentive Jim.

[foxy mars]

Been trying to get a draft route done for 2010 Coast to Coast, got a few idea's in mind, probably different from May's walk. One idea is get the early morning train from Middlesborough to Whitby via the Esk Valley Line, then walk directly to Glaisdale via the Esk Valley Way, that will save me about 6 miles of walking on the first day. However the 2nd day to Blakey Ridge is only 10 miles, so probably push on to Clay Bank for Beak Hills, that would be 23 miles.

Next will be Ingleby Cross 12 miles or push onto Danby Wiske at 21 miles, although Ingleby Cross would be better, then I can camp at Colburn near Catterick Garrison and that would be 20 miles. Reeth would be a ideal stop at Grinton Lodge YH, a chance to freshen up a bit and then next day, Keld a lovely place to camp out.

After Keld, I have a choice of either Kirkby Stephen or a bit further onto Bent's farm, although Kirkby Stephen might be better after crossing the Nine Standards Rigg which is rather boggy and has a very good campsite and music while on the lav.

The next usual stop is Shap which has a excellent Fish & Chip Shop, then wild camp after Patterdale. I hope to do Striding Edge if weather is good enough to do and then youth hostel in Grasmere or wild camp on Upper Easedale if I can't get in the hostel.

I hope to get to Black Sail Youth Hostel and try get in there, if not. Then wild camp again on the upper reaches of Ennerdale. Next day, if weather is fine and clear, then I will do High Stile and Red Pike via the Scarth Gap Pass.

After the long hard ridge walk, I will then descent down 2000' to Gillerthwaite to push on to Ennerdale Bridge for Low Cock Howe farm.

My final day will be St. Bees and camp there.

The gear is probably go light-weight as possible, that is take the Laser Comp minus inner and take the Karrimor Meridian Low eVent shoes. I've yet to decide on the cooking, but probably take the 6 sided Honey Stove with a meths burner and cook the one pot meals on the MSR Titan Kettle. I've been on a few web blogs to pick up some tips, most important is to get the weight down. I carried too much on the May crossing or did I.

[Kayleigh]

Where do you fit the internet cafes into this to keep us all posted on your journey..

21 miles 23 miles...

it takes me about 2 hours to do 3 miles..

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by foxy mars

I've yet to decide on the cooking, but probably take the 6 sided Honey Stove with a meths burner and cook the one pot meals on the MSR Titan Kettle.

339 grams for the Honey Stove - I thought you wanted to keep your gear as light as possible! You're also taking meths, which is inefficient for its weight.

I've got meths stoves only as museum curiosities, and use my Coleman F1 Lite with Titan Kettle for lightweight camping. The F1 Lite weighs 70 grams.

Jim

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

Where do you fit the internet cafes into this to keep us all posted on your journey..

21 miles 23 miles...

it takes me about 2 hours to do 3 miles..

Not many internet cafe's or access on the C2C, although there are a few hostels along the route that may do this.

3 miles in 2 hours.....the average walking pace is between 2.5 & 3 mph, you do walk very slowly.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by foxy mars

Not many internet cafe's or access on the C2C, although there are a few hostels along the route that may do this.

3 miles in 2 hours.....the average walking pace is between 2.5 & 3 mph, you do walk very slowly.

Or maybe my pedometer was set wrong.

[posie]

Foxy is FAST obviously, Kayleigh, anyway it's not a race. Hello ........POE

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

339 grams for the Honey Stove - I thought you wanted to keep your gear as light as possible! You're also taking meths, which is inefficient for its weight.

I've got meths stoves only as museum curiosities, and use my Coleman F1 Lite with Titan Kettle for lightweight camping. The F1 Lite weighs 70 grams.

Jim

Has I said, to keep gear lightweight as possible. However, the pros and cons are always there. The trouble is with the MSR Pocket Rocket Stove is it's too light, however it is a super burner. On the last crossing of the C2C, the MSR Titan Kettle was a little wobbley on Pocket Rocket once the water and rice were in and in windy conditions, this was a little dicey.

The Pocket Rocket pan supports measured 4.5" across and the base of the Titan Kettle is again 4.5", which is not much to play with, also the base of the Titan is very smooth and tends to slip on the Pocket Rocket.

However, the Colman F1 Lite looks to be a nice stove, but having the Pocket Rocket, Primus Gravity EF, Trangia 27 and the Honey Stove, I don't really need another stove.

Getting back to the Honey Stove, yes, 339gm is it's total weight. But, I'm omitting the grill & base plate, that will knock it down to 250gm. Still a tad heavy against the Pocket Rocket or F1 Lite, but the Honey Stove measures 5.5" across and the Titan Kettle nests snug and safe on the stove, also the Honey Stove is windproof and stores flat and in it's case for stowing in the rucksack. I would of liked to just taken the 4 sides of the Honey Stove, but can't use the simmer plate, which is needed for simmering rice.

The meths is not bad and only takes average of 5 minutes depends on conditions to boil water for a cuppa. The meths is only 500gm in the 500ml Trangia fuel bottle which would last awhile, although I don't know how long 500ml would last, not gone in that field yet. But guessing it should get me to Kirkby Stephen or the Lakes where I get meths, although it might last the whole trip if I had a meal from time to time.

So, probably stick to the Honey Stove for the above reasons.

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by posie

Foxy is FAST obviously, Kayleigh, anyway it's not a race. Hello ........POE

No, it is not race as such. However the last 6 of my C2C crossing's have been in between 11 and 12 days, this time it will be 14 days. although at first, I was planning to do the C2C in 10 days, that would be average of 19-22 miles a day, pushing it a bit.

But saying that, if one was walking a average 2.5 - 3 mph in 9 hours minus lunch stops. You could do 22 miles a day in that time, not forgetting June has longer daylight hours. Anyway, plenty of time to think that one over, need to get the walking miles in if I do.

[posie]

Yes I guess you sort of set yourself a target, and maybe do you compare your times with other's for the same route.Is there a place where results like this are recorded,or at least compared out of interest,or do you just compare with people you know or with your own personal best (mph) or come to that do you not compare at all. Poe.

[foxy mars]

I don't think records for C2C are kept as such, however I think the record stands - that in 1991, the route was run in 39 hours 36 minutes and 52 seconds by Mike Hartley, setting a new record, beating the previous record set in 1985by Mike Cudahy who completed it in 46 hours 49 minutes.

Most walkers like me, hope to beat their personal best, such as the 10 day target I hope to aim for. That is doing average 22 miles a day, maybe I would like to do it for charity in that respect.

Yes, I reckon I could do 22 miles a day for 10 days. I did from Borrowdale to Patterdale and that is only 17 miles with 2 major ascents.

[foxy mars]

Getting back to Honey Stove using the meths burner, it was yesterday I was having New Potatos with Herbs and Butter (microwave bag), Sausage, Spam Fritters and Egg, very nice too. However we have been issued with White Bags for recycling plastics etc, so in the recycling bag it went after been washed out.

However, after posting a thread replying to Jim Ford this morning regarding lightweight gear. That something got me thinking about using 1 pot meals and these meals did work for me on my C2C walk in May, using simple Savory Rice mixed in with Tuna or ready roast Chicken (if obtained from local shops)

But, thinking how long would 500ml meths would last for, that was bugging me most of the morning. But going back to the meal I had last night, I had a great idea that if I kept the microwave bag that the potatos came in. So out with the Honey Stove, Savory Rice and Titan Kettle, with a dash of hot water in the bag along with the rice and some hot water into the kettle, pushed the lid on. Lit the meths and once it got going, I set the simmer plate to about halfway and hey presto after 12-15 minutes, lovely fluffy rice after draining it. Bonus is the water in the kettle is there for tea or coffee and what's more no washing up apart from rinsing the bag for re-use.

The bags are just the ideal size and got a nice base for standing, also you can chuck the Tuna or Chicken in.

[Jim Ford]

The last meths stove I used on the trail was a 'Brasslite'. It was awful and downright dangerous - I almost burnt my new Laserlite down with it! Anyway, it came with an 8oz meths bottle which equates to 227 or so cc. IIRC this amount lasted about 3 days., so your 500cc should last the week.

BTW, it's easy to burn your fingers on the Titan Kettle handles, isn't it!

Good idea about the microwave bag!

Jim

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

The last meths stove I used on the trail was a 'Brasslite'. It was awful and downright dangerous - I almost burnt my new Laserlite down with it! Anyway, it came with an 8oz meths bottle which equates to 227 or so cc. IIRC this amount lasted about 3 days., so your 500cc should last the week.

BTW, it's easy to burn your fingers on the Titan Kettle handles, isn't it!

Good idea about the microwave bag!

Yes, Jim. That was my concern about the Titan Kettle handle, would it be too hot to touch. Infact, no. The handles stay outside the Honey Stove, due the meths flame being inside the Honey Stove

I think the Trangia meths burner is fairly safe to use, but using caution at all times. The trouble with meths, is that you can't see if it's a light or not in bright sunlight.

I do have the Trangia gas converter, that replaces the meths burner, that I may use yet. Because it's more easier to use than meths and simmering is a doddle, saying the gas converter weights in @ 180gm against the meths burner @ 120gm. But like I said that's the pros and cons, I would like to take the Pocket Rocket, but I don't like to have heavy pans on it.

BTW, never heard of Brasslite stove, that bad was it.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by foxy mars

I do have the Trangia gas converter, that replaces the meths burner, that I may use yet.

A month or so ago I bought one of these and converted the burner to fit in the base of a Trangia 'clone' burner:

Portable Stove acc. Gasoline/Gas Multi Stove S-9 x1set on eBay (end time 21-Nov-09 21:37:04 GMT)

With this adaptor, you then have a fuel choice with a Trangia (or clone), of meths with an original burner, petroleum naptha/petrol with the above stove conversion, or two different types of resealable gas cartridge.

(B) screw valve cartridge connect to long push valve x2 on eBay (end time 22-Nov-09 05:22:08 GMT)

It works fine, but I've not used it 'in anger' - it's living in the boot of the car!

BTW, never heard of Brasslite stove, that bad was it.

Here's the Brasslite site:

Brasslite Ultralight Alcohol Backpacking and Camping Stove

Jim

[posie]

Foxy, I like the Idea of the microwave bag.Only thought I had was would the water for the drink be a bit 'stewy' as it had simmered for that length of time, You know, when a kettle is reboiled several times it gets that 'taste'.But then I daresay you will have a 'Dummy Run' with any new ideas before you go..

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by posie

Foxy, I like the Idea of the microwave bag.Only thought I had was would the water for the drink be a bit 'stewy' as it had simmered for that length of time, You know, when a kettle is reboiled several times it gets that 'taste'.But then I daresay you will have a 'Dummy Run' with any new ideas before you go..

Yes, the idea of using the microwave bag for cooking the savory rice came to mind, when I was washing it out for the recycling bin, otherwise the council won't accept it. I thought if the idea of microwaving spuds in 9 minutes, then why try it with the savory rice. I can only try I guess and anything is worth a try. Thinking also, I could kill two birds with one stone here. That is using the water left over for a cup of tea or coffee. However, after trying it out this afternoon, to be honest I never took much notice about the taste in the tea or if it looked stewy.

However, I'm going to try it out again today sometime with the gas converter. I will take note about the water, if it does look stewy or not.

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

Here's the Brasslite site:

Brasslite Ultralight Alcohol Backpacking and Camping Stove

Thanks, Jim. I think I will stick to Trangia meths burner, more gentle.