Boy adventure gathers momentum

The destination had been chosen easily. But!! What gear we should take with us, was clearly a much larger point of consideration! We were like two excited teenage girls going to the prom! We knew we were going and who with.. But??? What shoes to take? What to wear? How many changes of clothes etc. If you were accidentally listening in to our conversations you may have been forgiven for getting the muddy end of the walking stick. Our long discussions starting with phrases such as “ How big is yours now?” “Mine is certainly bigger than that!”, “Do you think we can make them smaller somehow?” “We will surely not manage to run with one that big!”

These discussions over rucksacks and gear went on and on until a very sensible interjection by our mutual friend Dai. It was at the point where David and myself had decided to ditch sleeping bags and sleeping mats from our overburdened gear. It was a kind of ‘are you sure you want to do that?’, sort of comment’. Dai’s simple suggestion was a trial run up on the South Downs near to where we live. Carrying the exact gear we intended to take with us. We would then be able to easily ascertain the right level of equipment. Our intention was to go as light as possible, enabling us to do some running along the route but encompassing all the necessary stuff and to keep a modicum of safety gear.

A miserable night on the South Downs was soon endured! Apart from a very well placed stash of red wine, cheese and pate by our friend, we ruined a great run up on the hills by then sleeping out in our minimal kit. It poured with rain and we all got damp and avoided hypothermia only by a narrow margin. Adjustments to the kit after this uncomfortable experience were……. Nil! Our relentless enthusiasm and excitement for the trip was great and our focus on keeping things light was important. Our decision was that we would just have to find huts to stay in. Using our Bivi bags would be left purely for emergency back-up.