Hadrian's Wall in 3 days

£6 for the nightbus from London to Carlisle, £10 for the nightbus from Newcastle back to London 3 days later? Thanks to Megabus, an adventure was born!

Hadrian's Wall is around 120km long, and for those who don't remember their Roman history, was build at the northern limit of the Roman army, to aid in the protection of Britain from the pesky Scots.

Fast forward to today, and bugger all of the wall is actually left, mainly due to the fact that the Romans abandoned it 1500years ago, and the nicely shaped stones used in its construction made a free and handy building source for local villages and farms (and General Wade's later military road). However, there is enough of it left to get a feel of it, and the countryside along the route is certainly beautiful!

Now, in order to do the hike in 3 days, i had to cut out 20km (Carlisle to the Sea, on the fast western end of the wall) as, well, i ain't superman, and its a section that also involves either backtracking, or getting public transport afterwards, making it somewhat inconvenient.

Rather than write a stage by stage review, which i often find rather dull, here is the trip, summed up in stats (feel free to email if you have questions on the route)

102 km walked
2 dead badgers seen
1 dead sheep seen
4 other 'full' hikers passed
2 nights (cold) sleep
3 days (long) walking 
14 hours walked first day
11 hours 2nd
10 hours 3rd
35 hours walked in total
1 chase from a bull (didn't like my red waterproof pack cover
1 American family met
0 non-white people seen along the route
0 campsites stayed at (shhh, don't tell anyone, as wild-camping is illegal)

In all honesty, doing this hike in 3 days, with a full back (tent, sleeping bag, stove and food for 3 days) is rather hard work, my poor feet! (Although i didn't do any preparation). 4 days, to hike the whole 120km is probably a better work load, allowing 30km a day. And thanks to Creative Nature as always, for their lovely Super Seed bars, which made a very tasty addition to my pack.

Rather than bore you with more words, here are some photos!

Sunrise over River Deen (about 3 hours after leaving Carlisle at 3am)

(Wool trapped on barbwire fence)

 (Not clear what this related to- no monument near by, and the sign certainly wasn't in the 'care' of anyone!)

 (View of the wall, looking north)

 (Stormy morning)

(10 points if you recognise what film this is from)

 (A well preserved gate section

 (The wall is more interesting than me)

 (This is for sale- no idea on the price

 (Leaving the 'wilderness' behind and back to society)

 (The dead sheep)

 (Must be the most 'classical' housing estate in the country

 (Classic northern English industrial terracing)

 (Agile graffiti artists)

 (A Banksey piece in Newcastle)

17th March Guildford Aquathon

I really dont like competitive swimming, and i dislike training for it even more! So it was with reluctance that i entered the aquathon- 2/3rds of a triathlon - yesterday. 800m swimming in the new and shiny Guildford pool, and then a 5km run.

I was hoping for a time of 35minutes, given that it takes me so long to swim, but the weather was against us! The run turned out to be mostly offroad, yet I, along with everyone else on the Kings Triathlon squad had brought road shoes i.e not nearly enough grip.

Ensured I actually took 40mins to do it, but that meant i was 24th fastest guy (well done to Rob for a 6th place finish!) and i didn't drown in the pool!

Thanks to Creative Nature for the Maca root before the race- seems to be working!

Hyde Park relays

Last weekend, on a cold and damp Sunday, London's Imperial College organised the 65th Hyde Park relays - 6 laps of a 5.1km course around the Serpentine lake.

As we like punishment, early starts and cold weather, KCL triathlon managed to field a team, and do rather well! We came 23 out of 97 teams! And beat Imperial's Triathlon club by a resounding 15 seconds. We even managed to beat one of the 3 teams that KCL running club fielded, by 10mins!

 In order of appearance:
19 41 <- Pete Ford
21 59 <-Alex Hale
19 51 <-Maxwell Hallam
21 54< Dominic Lewis
20 2 <- Doug Brown
18 48 <- Callum Smith
122 15 <- Total time

A very good time, and well done guys. Looking rather dashing in our tri-suits and team sweaters, and thanks to Creative Nature for providing the very tasty Super-seed bars.

 (Doug looking faster than he was)

 (Me, looking as tired as i felt)

 

(All of us looking rather silly, and cold.

Battersea Park Santa Run

Only about a month late for this one, sorry.

KCL Triathlon entered the charity Santa Run 6.5km run in Battersea Park in November, mainly as an excuse to dress up really i think. It was rather creepy in fact to be surrounded by 2000 or so people all dressed in the same outfit. It also made it almost impossible to spot anyone you knew from behind as well, so i kept having to turn around to see who i had overtaken, in case they were someone from KCL.

The charity in question was rather obscure - 'Disability snow sports' and not my first choice, but i am sure they will benefit from the money raised.

BUCS Duathlon 2012

Last Sunday saw Kings Triathlon club taking part in the British Universities Duathlon, down near Bath. This was probably the 2nd biggest sporting event I have taken part in (behind the Alakol regional teachers 5km run while in Kazakhstan of course).

430 students from all over the country turned up at the Castle Combe race track for a 2mile run, 10 mile bike, then another 2 mile run to finish. Last years winning time of 43mins was the target to beat, and i was hoping to finish under 55mins. The rain that had been flooding the area all week held off, and there was even a bit of sunshine to top things off!

The race was possibly the hardest thing i have ever done! Truly exhausting, but finished in 53mins19seconds so am pleased with what i got! #164 position, so still plenty of room for improvement though. Well done to Rob from our team who came in #27!

Thanks to Creative Nature for the pre-race maca, and post race bars and hemp protein. The KCL Tri team was very appreciative!

Running

So, it might not seem like I have been doing much, given the single lonely post on here, but I have, I promise!

University has been going well, lots and lots of reading and essays to do, but Kings College is a great place to study and I am pleased I chose it!

The commute from Esher however, is about 30km each way, which I am currently doing on a singlespeed road bike- yes, 1 gear! With all the effort involved (around 300km a week) I thought I may as well join the triathlon team and actually do something competitive with all of this fitness.

Cue running training on Mondays, swimming on Wednesdays and even more cycling on Sundays - a very tired Pete each week.

That being said, I entered my first ever 10km race yesterday, and came 43rd out of 202, with a time of 41mins45seconds! I was aiming to get in under 50mins, especially given the fact it was poring with rain and cold, so very pleased with the time! And the new Creative Nature Super Seed Bar was a very welcome treat after the race. My poor quads are still feeling the effects of running the furthest distance I have ever done!

Coming up there is the BUCS - British Universities - Duathlon on the 25th of November in Bath, which is a bike ride and run combined, and the Santa run on the 1st December, where everyone dresses as Santa and runs 6km I think. Should be a fun few weeks!

(Thanks Louis for the photo- this was just at the finish line, not sure why the marshal is in the middle of the path)

Trip to Scotland

Now that i am back in the UK for the foreseeable future, and that fact is rather daunting, i will endeavour to have as many adventures as possible! And for your lucky selves, write about them on here.

First big trip i have done since returning from India was a 3 week jaunt up to London. The trip had two distinct halves, with the first part seeing me visit the North West Coast, and mix hiking with a bit of sightseeing with a visiting friend. After 2 weeks of that, i spent a week doing some more challenging hiking in the Cairngorms with dad.

As well as the usual photos, random anecdotes and bad spelling, i will also be doing some kit reviews, as i have found them helpful myself when buying products, and had a couple of new products along for the first time.

I guess ill get them out of the way now then!

First up is the tent that was bought for the trip. I have a fantastic 1 man tent, which of course, for this trip wouldn't suffice, so a new one needed to be bought. Trying to avoid spending so much money was key, and led me to the Karrimor X Lite x2t. Not only was it £70 at the time, but seemed to be a great little tent- under 2.5kg and big enough for two people to sleep in. And it was! Its certainly cosy with 2 people, but is perfectly usable, and there were no real issues with condensation. It also managed to survive the 60 mph winds that Scotland decided would be fun. Not much else to say really, it works!

 

(a tent with a view. Point of Sleat on Skye)

 

(Can you see it? Stealth tent if you fancy to do some wild camping outside of Scotland)

Next up is the backpack that dad used, the Karrimor X Lite 45 plus 10. Another bargain from the Sportsdirect.com sale, not somewhere i would normally go for hiking experiment, but for these prices, one cant go wrong! Its an amazingly light bag, comfortable and sturdy, and somewhat water resistant, as it uses waterproof zips. Not the prettiest of bags, it did the job just fine.

 

(My Osprey on the left, wit the Karrimor on the right...both completely full)

 

Last up, was some of the food i took along for the trip. Doing my best to keep weight down, while keeping calories high, i tried a few new ideas for camping food. Breakfast consisted of porridge, with dried milk, cocoa and macca root powder mix, as well as a handful of a home made trail mix, heavy on the goji berries to prevent scurvy! but also with mixed fruit and nuts and some Cocoa nibs, as i have had chocolate melt before, and this avoids that. A luxury breakfast indeed! Lunch was a granola bar, and dinner was cous-cous with a packet of a soup. It turned out not to be enough calories, but was enough to keep us going, and the Creative Nature products made breakfast a treat.

 

(the view from Ben Macdui)

Right, all that is over.. let the trip commence!

Pauna and i took the sleeper train up from London to Fort William, a rather civilised way of doing it, and a heck of a lot more comfortable than my trip back home on the Megabus (but also 3 times as expensive). First port of call was Glen Nevis, and of course its prime attraction Ben Nevis, which is the tallest mountain in the UK. As is often the case in Scotland however, the weather wasn't great, which was a shame as the area is beautiful! The climb is nothing too difficult, with a well maintained trail, and no real way to get lost, but as we couldn't see anything from half way up, it wasn't the best days climbing.

 

(a stormy look up Glen Nevis)

 

(a cold Pauna)

 

(the view)

We next headed over to Skye, via the trainline made famous by the Harry Potter films, this one infact. Once on Skye, it was time to finally break out the tent and let the adventure really start! Walking down to the Point of Sleat really highlighted the peace and quiet of rural Scotland, and we found a lovely sandy beach on which to camp for the night. 

(Look at that water!)

A (very) refreshing skinny dip in the sea later, and it was time to experience the infamous midges for which Skye has such a reputation, and the annoying little biting flies certainly lived up to the hype- horrible little things.

 

(at the end of the trail, the local farmer making a bit of cash on the side!)

 The idea for the next few days was to get to Elgol, and hike across the Island, in the shadow of the Cullen mountains, and therefore getting a taste for the place without doing anything toooo challenging. Plans changed quite early on though, as rural Scotland is still a very devout Christian area, and public transport doesn't run on Sundays! Its quaint things like this that help to add to the charm of the place, until you actually need to use a service that is taken for granted in the rest of the UK. The Cullens are amazingly beautiful though, steeply rising in the centre of Skye to form a serrated barrier. 

 

 

(dont want to climb that today!)

 

(mountain hut- an amazing location!)

 

(yep, if you like getting your feet wet)

Thankfully we didn't have to climb any, as the weather was rather grey and stormy, which only made them seem even more imposing and scary. River crossings (shoes off affairs), rock climbing and the only lift we managed to get hitch-hiking the entire time followed over the next 2 days, as part of some fantastic walking, seeing us get back to the main road, eventually ending up in Uig, and thence to the Outer Hebrides, an area of the UK i never thought i would ever get to visit! There was so much of Skye i didn't see, and will have to go back for, including actually climbing some of the munroes, but Harris and Lewis beckoned, with the promise of the best beaches in the UK, some ancient history and hopefully some better weather.

(window in a very old church in north Lewis)

 The weather was actually worse, with some incredibly strong winds making walking (and camping) really rather dangerous, and infact after the first night, we had to check into a guest-house. The weather also made the beaches - which do have amazing golden sand - not particularly inviting, but nice to know they exist, once global warming has made Scotland more comfortable! 

(a pile of peat waiting for winter to come along)

 

(an unfortunate whale at Port of Nis)

3 days of driving around seeing Harris Tweed shops, ancient standing stones and forts, dead whales, almost no wildlife or trees and plenty of peat was enough to get a good impression of the Islands, and once again, more time will be needed to fully explore them. 

 

(Callinish standing stones- much older than Stonehenge) 

 

(some of the many abandoned farm houses)

 

(designer Harris Tweed)

 

(stones again)

  

(a splash of colour in the bleakness) 

 

(lonely farm house on Lewis)

 

(so much golden sand!)

I was itching for some more hiking (sorry Pauna), so after getting back to the mainland, and down to Inverness, we headed off to start The Great Glen Way, a 5 day, 80mile walk from Inverness to Fort William. While being pretty flat, and following easy trails, it was a nice walk along the whole length of Loch Ness, although Pauna's feet didn't really enjoy it.

 

( Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness)

 

(a white water kayak competition)

 

(arrrrhhhh, not the lambs! Too dangerous!)

All of this provided a good warm up for what was to come, namely the Cairngorms, and having to made sure my dad made it around ok - Pauna was a much easier hiking companion to travel with! First day was a relatively easy climb up Cairngorm itself, and while it didn't rain, the wind was just incredable. It was almost impossible to stand on the top. 

 

(the path to the top of Cairngorm)

 

(Dad sheltering from the wind)

 

(The wind!)

 The main attraction, and the hardest thing i did all day came the following day though. The Lairig Ghru, is a high mountain pass, linking the northern areas of Cairngorm National Park with the south, and it is supposed to be very beautiful. We managed to do it in some just shockingly bad weather, and saw very little, but the Corrour bothy (mountain hut) was a VERY welcome sight at the end of the day. It meant we could get inside and start to dry off, and not have to worry about putting up the tent in the wind and rain. 

And from that point on, the weather was amazing, it was almost as if the gods felt sorry for the drenching they gave us! Sunny days, minimal wind, and no more rain for the rest of the trip!

 

(having a fun day hiking)

 

(next morning though, lovely day!)

 

(Devil's peak- didn't get to climb it due to the weather)

 

(rather dramatic- the Corrour bothy looking tiny)

 

(beautiful place)

Dad was really struggling, so i left him for the day, as i climbed a few of the tallest mountains in the UK, in an afternoon! The beauty of not having to carry a full pack! So Ben Macdui, Carn a Mhaim and Derry Cairngorm were all conquered while dad rested for the afternoon down by Derry Lodge, a now unused former royal hunting lodge.

After all the excitement of mountains, the next two days of pretty flat walking was a bit of an anti-climax, especially as i had to carry dad's bag for one of the days, as well as my own, due to his feet hurting, but the scenery was still very beautiful, and the weather continued to be nice!

 

(more abandoned houses)

 

 (some nice waterfalls though)

 A well earnt bed-and-breakfast in Blair Atholl and my first haggis meal (overrated but not bad) saw the trip wind down, and an afternoon in Perth before a 10 hour night bus back to London capped off an exhausting but eye-opening trip for me around Scotland. I will most certainly be back, i have rather a lot more of it to see! However i think next time it will be by myself, or at least with experienced walkers. Thanks Pauna and dad for putting up with me, and the camping food, and i hope you enjoyed it.