Friday 8 June 2012

Training Walk 08.06.12

I was expecting today's walk to be a tough one.  Heavy rain was forecast all afternoon and it was going to be the longest walk I've done so far.  As it turned out the heavy rain did not appear, although it did rain on and off all day.

I walked fast, trying to get a good pace going, and as most of it was on tarmac paths I was able to keep the pace up.  I made my fastest time over a mile yet, but it is clear that walking on hard tarmac paths and roads hurts my feet more!

The Church at Normanton

About to cross the dam - it was so windy.
Think the workmen were getting a bit fed up!

Lunch Stop!
The view across the meadow to Egleton
The reservoir is SURROUNDED by sheep
Spotted a helicopter today, but couldn't make out what sort it was.



You may notice there is a picture of Animal from the Muppets above.  He is now my mascot, and will come with me on every walk I do.  I'm going to try to take a picture of him somewhere on each walk. Today I stopped for lunch in a hide at the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre and Animal sat with me.  After lunch, a woman who was birdwatching in the hide offered me her binoculars and showed me how to spot a Goldfinch. 

One thing I found annoying was the signposts dotted along the path around the reservoir - I think that most of them were wrong!  Along the north shore I passed a signpost that said 'Egleton 3 miles', walked for at least another mile or two and then saw another sign which said 'Egleton 3 miles'!  

Check out the route here

Training Walk 08.06.12

I listened to Radio 4 for most of the walk, until my battery ran out!  The ukulele song played when I got home was 'Everything's Not Lost' by Coldplay. 

Monday 4 June 2012

Training Walk in Derbyshire



The BIG Training Walk is now on!  Friday 29th June to Sunday 1st July, myself, my Dad and my friend, Dave Padgen, are all going to Derbyshire to walk nearly 30 miles in two days.  We'll be camping out and doing a 'dry run' for the Coast to Coast in August.

As some of you may know, Dave is an experienced adventurer, climber and has taken part in expeditions around the world, so my little jaunt should be nothing to a man of his calibre!  He has been really supportive and taken me on a practice walk up Mam Tor already.  It will be great to have some company whilst out on the moors and hills of the White and Dark Peaks.

Our walk will follow a new route only recently created called 'White to Dark'.  Starting in Bakewell, we will walk north, from the White Peak, all the way to Hope and Ladybower Reservoir.

The campsite is almost booked, and it'll be a great opportunity for me and Dad to get a sense of what it will actually be like when we go to the Lakes in August.  It'll also be a good chance to get Dad used to all the gear and me used to walking in unfamiliar places and relying on the maps more.

More news to come about the training walk - keep checking back!

Check out Dave's website here Stumbling Adventures

Route information for White to Dark on Country Walking website


Route plan for White to Dark (PDF)

Latest NEWS

Thanks for keeping up to date with the blog everyone.  Latest news is that we have been mentioned in 'The Forest' magazine - click on the link at the bottom of this post to see the story online.

And, look out for future stories about the Coast to Coast in other local news media.

Thanks everyone!

Gary's C2C in The Forest

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