Having the right equipment always helps.
After our Flinders Ranges walk Trevor upgraded his day pack. His new one supports a water bladder allowing him to drink water without having to take off his pack or getting someone to retrieve his water bottle for him. The bladders certainly make keeping hydrated much easier as it is possible to have frequent sips - important in very hot conditions. In addition, the pack remains balanced as the water supply is depleted.
On our long Melbourne Cup Day walk Trevor had issues with his socks. He does tend to sweat a lot which probably doesn't help however his socks kept on bunching up in his boots. He was wearing a liner however I suspect that the outer socks were the main issue. This week he is wearing a pair of my hiking socks to check out how they go in his boots. If they work then at least we will know what sort of socks to get him. Workman socks do not make the cut!
While I was relatively happy with my day pack, it has a number of chambers which allowed me to separate things that are being carried but not expected to be used from what will definitely be attacked during the day, our Melbourne Cup Day walk indicated that I need to reconsider whether to move to a water bladder supporting pack or not. In the end I figured that I would probably be better off with a pack which positioned the weight onto my hips, rather than my shoulders, as well as supporting a water bladder. Katmandu had one of their frequent sales with extra specials on offer for their Summit Club members and I took advantage of this pre Christmas sale to get another day pack with hip belt and water bladder support. I took it out for a trial last night and was happy with how it sat. It will need some more adjustment (there are so many adjustment points that the process takes a bit of trial and error to get it just right) and I also need to hike with it with a full day load. Last night was a relatively light load.
I had grabbed a walking magazine earlier in the week and came across a review of the Katmandu emergency support kit which comes in quite a small container (about the size of a 600ml drink bottle) and consists of 20 odd useful items from a poncho, space blacket, wire saw, whistle, solar powered light, flint ... I picked up two of these at a little under $25 each. Given the range of items it really is both a bargain and a very useful emergency kit.
The magazine covered a number of terrific walks. I think we will need to look at tackling some of these in the coming year along with our great Alpine Walk in January and the Coast to Coast next August/September. Once I get our internet access (read our wretched server) back working properly I'll do a bit more research and see what we can fit in around our other activities.
We still have a whole range of walks to do in Namadgi but these will need to wait until the reptiles (read red belly black snakes) are no longer active.
Thursday 22 November 2012
Thursday 1 November 2012
Preparations: a longish walk
Both the Alpine walk and the Coast to Coast have a number of long days. In order to get used to tackling distances of 30+ kms in a day Trevor and I will do some longish walks around our local area. The first one will be from Watson to Kambah around the base of Mt Ainslie, through Civic, to Woden and then on to Kambah. The Woden to Kambah leg is a familar one as I generally walk it at least once a week and some weeks more often than that.
I'll update this post with the details of the walk once completed.
Watch this space!
Tuesday 6 November ... yes, Melbourne Cup Day ...
Trevor and I headed out to do our first long walk. Unfortunately my bus timetable waw out of date and the bus I expected to come at 7:21am had actually come at 7:14am so we had a 20 minute wait for the next one.
Still, we managed to get to Watson around 9 o'clock and had a late breakfast before heading off.
From the Watson shops we headed for the edge of the suburb and the trails along the back of the houses in the Mt Majura Nature Reserve. While the day was warm, and Trevor was perspiring profusely, it was pleasant walking. From the Mt Majura Nature Reserve we entered the Mt Ainslie one and eventually arrived at the War Memorial where we grabbed a coffee and a toilet break.
We walked down Anzac Parade, past all the memorials, and eventually reached Commonwealth Park. Skirting around the lake edge we climbed up onto Commonwealth Avenue and headed towards Parliament House. Walking around the big house on the hill via State Circle we eventually passed The Lodge before walking down Grey Street in Deakin.
Our lunch stop was at the Deakin shops. A chance to sit down in the cool.
Heading off along Mcgregor Street and then Strickland Street we then walked across the Mint ovals and picked up the path along Yarra Glen heading towards Woden.
We bypassed the Woden Town Centre and continued on to Chifley where we had a short break. Threatening clouds were buidling and it looked like the promised storms were not far off so we pressed on, arriving home shortly after 4pm.
All up we covered about 28km with packs on. I must admit that I was pleased to be home as I was feeling pretty tired. Still, a long walk down and more to come.
Trevor had trouble with his socks. Definitely something to be sorted out before our next foray.
And how did we pull up?
Apart from the sock problem, Trevor had a large blister in the sole of one of his feet. The socks probably contributed to it.
I noticed that my pack was not sitting straight. I kept knocking it with my right arm but not my left. I need to sort this out as it put uneven pressure on my shoulders. I will also consider getting another pack that has a more defined hip belt to shift the weight to the hips and away from the shoulders.
Trevor used a water bladder. This seems a definite advantage as you can drink on the move and there is no need to depack to get to the water. I'll look into getting a pack that allows me to have a water bladder, too.
I was pretty tired on Tuesday night. A pity that I was waiting for entries to come in for the ACT Summer Distance Meet which closed at 10:00pm.
I didn't feel too bad on Wednesday. It was raining in the morning so I didn't walk down to the gym which is my normal Wednesday morning regime. Wednesday's usually have a 6km walk to the gym and a 6km walk home but not this Wednesday.
The other thing that we need to consider is when and where we take breaks during longish walks. Trevor does quite a few hour plus walks across the day with reasonable breaks between each one. I have a similar pattern even if it is a walk to the gym, a PT session and then a walk home.
Normally we don't do our walks in our hiking boots. On Tuesday we did. That may have contributed a bit to the leg tireness. The boots are not quite as flexible as as my normal walking shoes.
When is the next longish walk? An excellent question.
I'll update this post with the details of the walk once completed.
Watch this space!
Tuesday 6 November ... yes, Melbourne Cup Day ...
Trevor and I headed out to do our first long walk. Unfortunately my bus timetable waw out of date and the bus I expected to come at 7:21am had actually come at 7:14am so we had a 20 minute wait for the next one.
Still, we managed to get to Watson around 9 o'clock and had a late breakfast before heading off.
From the Watson shops we headed for the edge of the suburb and the trails along the back of the houses in the Mt Majura Nature Reserve. While the day was warm, and Trevor was perspiring profusely, it was pleasant walking. From the Mt Majura Nature Reserve we entered the Mt Ainslie one and eventually arrived at the War Memorial where we grabbed a coffee and a toilet break.
We walked down Anzac Parade, past all the memorials, and eventually reached Commonwealth Park. Skirting around the lake edge we climbed up onto Commonwealth Avenue and headed towards Parliament House. Walking around the big house on the hill via State Circle we eventually passed The Lodge before walking down Grey Street in Deakin.
Our lunch stop was at the Deakin shops. A chance to sit down in the cool.
Heading off along Mcgregor Street and then Strickland Street we then walked across the Mint ovals and picked up the path along Yarra Glen heading towards Woden.
We bypassed the Woden Town Centre and continued on to Chifley where we had a short break. Threatening clouds were buidling and it looked like the promised storms were not far off so we pressed on, arriving home shortly after 4pm.
All up we covered about 28km with packs on. I must admit that I was pleased to be home as I was feeling pretty tired. Still, a long walk down and more to come.
Trevor had trouble with his socks. Definitely something to be sorted out before our next foray.
And how did we pull up?
Apart from the sock problem, Trevor had a large blister in the sole of one of his feet. The socks probably contributed to it.
I noticed that my pack was not sitting straight. I kept knocking it with my right arm but not my left. I need to sort this out as it put uneven pressure on my shoulders. I will also consider getting another pack that has a more defined hip belt to shift the weight to the hips and away from the shoulders.
Trevor used a water bladder. This seems a definite advantage as you can drink on the move and there is no need to depack to get to the water. I'll look into getting a pack that allows me to have a water bladder, too.
I was pretty tired on Tuesday night. A pity that I was waiting for entries to come in for the ACT Summer Distance Meet which closed at 10:00pm.
I didn't feel too bad on Wednesday. It was raining in the morning so I didn't walk down to the gym which is my normal Wednesday morning regime. Wednesday's usually have a 6km walk to the gym and a 6km walk home but not this Wednesday.
The other thing that we need to consider is when and where we take breaks during longish walks. Trevor does quite a few hour plus walks across the day with reasonable breaks between each one. I have a similar pattern even if it is a walk to the gym, a PT session and then a walk home.
Normally we don't do our walks in our hiking boots. On Tuesday we did. That may have contributed a bit to the leg tireness. The boots are not quite as flexible as as my normal walking shoes.
When is the next longish walk? An excellent question.
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