Author Topic: Pennine Way for the over 60's  (Read 126772 times)

vinny

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 107
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #45 on: 17:09:25, 08/02/15 »
 I don’t have time for rest days, my wife wouldn't like me being away more than two weekends on the run thats another reason for starting midweek.   

bricam2096

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3579
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #46 on: 17:34:03, 08/02/15 »
I can't be doing with rest days, I just want to keep active and moving. One rest day means a day later finishing and getting home...to my nice comfy sofa and bed  O0
LDWs done - 32 in total including 16 National Trails and 3 C2C

Wainwrights 176
www.brians-walks.co.uk

youradvocate

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2356
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #47 on: 17:43:54, 08/02/15 »
I remember the Horton campsite as well, in fact I remember it very well! Had a great time talking to the owner and drinking a few whiskies. It was after that when I made the vow to always erect my tent BEFORE I start drinking. I have been told that Friday and Saturday nights are the best for a good time, I didn't arrive until Sunday. I was very impressed with the 4-star furniture and the lighting arrangement in his large tent. Great fun.

bricam2096

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3579
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #48 on: 18:45:18, 08/02/15 »
it's a shame the toilets/showers weren't as posh. You can't beat the feeling of going to his toilets and walking into the cubicles and the floors are wet, you hope it's just water. I've ended up walking to the public toilets along the road instead.

Fantastic trying to get a shower when it's busy, you might as well forget it.

Stayed there many times but only as a last resort.
LDWs done - 32 in total including 16 National Trails and 3 C2C

Wainwrights 176
www.brians-walks.co.uk

Stube

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 499
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #49 on: 18:47:54, 08/02/15 »
I walked the PW last year at 64 and camped all the way. I took three weeks including 2 "rest days" playing tourist. These days it really is an easy walk apart from six or so stiff climbs. The by now very extensive slabbing makes way finding easy, and apart from the odd sunken slab, you could just about hope to walk the whole way and keep your feet dry!  ::)
It's a far cry from the mid sixties when I walked a third of it over trackless virgin bog - a true nightmare. >:D
It's a pity you're not at Tan Hill on a Saturday - the place has a real party vibe then with live music. 8)

johhnyp

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 507
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #50 on: 22:40:55, 08/02/15 »
Feel a bit of a fraud now at only 60! :D
I suppose you can only play the bowling that comes at you Stube and I have read a mixture of views about these slabs; will let you know mine afterwards as; hopefully; will some of the other gentlemen doing it earlier than me. I must confess I don't fancy ploughing through bog for the sake of it; never have done.
I had heard Tan Hill was quite lively at weekends but also that Horton and Malham were two night bookings only at weekends in high summer so I sort of worked around that; plus my daughter (with granddaughter in tow) are coming up to Tan Hill for the night to deliver me some clean socks etc..so Thrusday night might be lively enough! 8). As long as they have cider and food!

johhnyp

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 507
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #51 on: 23:26:54, 08/02/15 »
Actually Stube, Your thoughts about the PW put me in mind of the Lyke Wake Walk that I first did in 1968 and it was like a motorway. On my return visit 44 years later I got "off route" as the track ran out; presumably through lack of use..It also felt a damn sight harder to finish!

Stube

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 499
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #52 on: 12:40:09, 09/02/15 »
Johhnyp, I too have mixed feelings about the slabs. The Dark Peak was my backyard growing up and I walked every where with a couple of friends. It was foolhardy to the point of idiocy to walk alone in those days.

Without the slabs there is no way I would have walked it on my own - a twisted ankle and you're stuffed, There still is no mobile phone coverage in the area by any network. The yellow emergency phone at the Snake Road is a satphone! that said, on Kinder midweek and in term time, with 20yd max visibility and horizontal rain (what a welcome back after 40++ years!) I still met more people than any other week on the PW - almost more than the rest of the walk!

Mobile phone cover is patchy all along the PW, and no one network is best. In the dales you need to be on O2, in the Cheviots on Vodaphone.
 
The "mature" slabs are remarkably unobtrusive, below the level of the surrounding heather and snaking across the moors finding the driest route! Newly laid slabs are pale and still surrounded by the peat morass made by thousands of passing boots. Beware the flooded half sized slabs in the half mile north of Hadrian's Wall - one misstep and you're thigh deep in the bog! I was lucky, but I met the consequences!

If you need them, there are outdoor stores in Hawes and Alston. The Pen-y-Ghent cafe in Horton also stocks some useful items - don't forget to sign the book!

Enjoy your walk, and I hope the weather is reasonable. I had a week of heavy rain, one of hot sun, and another of heavy overcast. The sun usually coincided with the biggest climbs! I even went over Cross Fell on the hottest day of the year. Exhausting!

bricam2096

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3579
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #53 on: 20:21:25, 09/02/15 »
Sherpa Van only carries bags now from Malham to the end, which leaves a gap. Plus, they say there is a minimum of 2 bags so I contacted Brigantes and they said it would cost £200 for the whole of the route which on my itinery would be about £13 a day.

Looks like I'll be carrying stuff if I do this in August then  O0
LDWs done - 32 in total including 16 National Trails and 3 C2C

Wainwrights 176
www.brians-walks.co.uk

videoman

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 305
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #54 on: 20:45:29, 09/02/15 »
I'll be carrying mine as well at those prices, as expensive as public transport.

bricam2096

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3579
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #55 on: 22:04:54, 09/02/15 »
I'll be carrying mine as well at those prices, as expensive as public transport.

Agreed. I'm also doing the Hadrians Wall path and a company does it for £5 a day, much more reasonable.
LDWs done - 32 in total including 16 National Trails and 3 C2C

Wainwrights 176
www.brians-walks.co.uk

johhnyp

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 507
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #56 on: 21:50:25, 10/02/15 »
Evening All,
As a lone walker (mostly), the injury issue is one that lurks at the back of my mind although the slabs issue hadn't really occurred to me in that regard ( more like wet rock scrambling further north) but I see what you mean. The Hadrian's Wall point about submerged half slabs is one that has been mentioned in trip reports but thanks for that too Stube; one to watch. Similarly I hadn't thought about outdoor shops as a possible alternative to carrying everything all the way.
Baggage transfer is certainly costly and helps a bit with my philosophical problem with not carrying. Other writers have mentioned the sheer effort and fuel involved in someone carrying my gear all the way. This hadn't really occurred to me; it doesn't seem too environmentally friendly.
I am looking forward to this one now; possibly more than other C2Cs and ODPs in recent years. My worries if any, are the perennial weather one ( hopefully not too many soakings and no successive days with any luck).
For the first time I worry about problems with my feet as a possible block to my finishing. Have never really thought I may not complete a walk before. These bunion shaped boots ( Hanwag?) are looking interesting as at present I am one size too big boots to compensate and this means heels being a bit loose even with insoles. Where there's a will O0

Slogger

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1639
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #57 on: 22:59:46, 10/02/15 »
You could try cutting down an old pair of thick walking socks. Cut the toe  part off, leaving the heel and the rest to take up the room around your heels.

johhnyp

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 507
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #58 on: 23:08:44, 10/02/15 »
Now there's a thought Dave. Am hoping for a stroll tomorrow so will give it a go. That could save a few bob. If it works there's a couple of pints in for you when next we meet on some trail somewhere ;D

Stube

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 499
Re: Pennine Way for the over 60's
« Reply #59 on: 23:58:59, 10/02/15 »
Johhnyp, another way to save on carried weight is to post items up trail using the Post Offices's poste resturante service. If you don't collect they they send the parcels back home.The service is free apart from the initial postage. I used it last year on my trip. The last PO is Bellingham. Others at Alston, Middleton, Hawes & Gargrave.?

 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy