What have I been up to?

It's been a busy year! I would have been sensible starting writing all this a bit earlier really as I've got a load of catching up to do! There's been lots of gear researching and buying, planning logistics, working and frantic saving. I've settled on a start date towards the end of March; leaving a little later means I should miss the worst of the weather and be able to do a bigger daily mileage and reduce the total time of the trip so i'll be able to afford it easier! Everything's on track; financially I'll be fine, I've got the majority of my gear sorted and am very happy with it. The last thing on my list that needs sorting is my visa; it'll be expensive, and a bit of a pain getting all of my documents together and going to the US embassy in London for the interview but  I plan on getting it done and dusted this side of Christmas.

Training...

I haven't been doing any specific fitness training as such although I run a bit, climb a lot, and have managed to get out on day or over-night trips on the coast path a couple of times. Overall I'm pretty happy with my general fitness; if anything forces me off the trail it won't be that. I've managed a couple of 'big' trips this year with my work colleague and good friend Joe:

In February I was up in Glen Coe on a winter skills course run by my employer. It was great fun and we got to do a few good summits in crappy weather! The week after I head over to the Cairngorms for a weeks camping and four day trek. We managed to climb 1245m high Cairngorm on the first day despite the 80mph winds, before retreating down-valley and spending the next few days wandering the forests and lochs. It was my first experience of hiking in the winter environment; it was cold, damp, and hard work walking through deep snow with a pack that weighed 20kg. It also felt surprisingly comfortable! Within a couple of days my body got used to bearing the weight and my feet remained completely blister free. My choice of gear was spot on; I never got too cold or hungry and I used everything in my pack and ate all the food I took. Overall, an incredible experience in a beautiful part of the world!


A few weeks ago I got back from a trip to Iceland to hike the Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls (good luck pronouncing that!) trails from Landmannalaugar to Skógar. It was eventful to say the least. We were hit by constant rain and high winds in Iceland's worst summer for 30 years. Parts of the plateau were shut off for a few days so we ultimately had to end our trip just short of Thórsmörk. It was kind of frustrating to travel so far to not complete what we had set out to do, nonetheless it was an awesome experience. I've never been in an environment so spectacular on such a large scale. Iceland has it all; stunning peaks, vast snow clad plateaus, alien volcanic spires and geothermal land forms, wide glacial valleys and black ash deserts... the list is endless. If you're going to do one trail in your life this should definitely be on the short-list!

For anyone who's interested a brief account of the trip can be found here: http://community.cotswoldoutdoor.com/stores/truro/blogs/2013/6/19/laugavegur-trail-iceland/


But that's it for adventures this year. I've now got to focus on getting the last of my saving done and get the last of my gear together so i'm all ready for the big one next year. Eight more pay-days to go! Wooo!