Author Topic: LDW advice for excited camping novice please!  (Read 3006 times)

Doddy

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Re: LDW advice for excited camping novice please!
« Reply #15 on: 11:55:37, 10/04/17 »

Not that on the PW or any LDW personal security is any less safe than anywhere else but don't be too free with information about where or what you are doing. People will ask where you are staying/going; telling half a pub you are staying in the next fell is not wise, say you in a B n B/Hostel even if you are not.

Dyffryn Ardudwy

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Re: LDW advice for excited camping novice please!
« Reply #16 on: 13:37:23, 10/04/17 »
Its  a big adventure attempting your first LDWP, especially one as long and challenging as the 267 mile long Pennine Way, but a friend some years ago, took all the pressure off themselves, by hiring the services of a company who did all the accommodation bookings, food, and transportation of baggage throughout the walk.

Wild camping, cooking your food on a stove, and all its associated thrills, has one big advantage if your fortnight's weather remains dry and favourable, it's an adventure holiday you will never forget, but as we all know, the British climate is so unpredictable, and the central spine of the Pennines, attracts some ferocious conditions, and September is rather late in the year, though weather can be very settled that time of year, but daylight hours are that much shorter.

Granted, having a small privately run company take all the associated pressures of things going wrong, is not to everyones taste, but you will still be doing the physical walking, but your accommodation, food, and carrying of baggage will be handled by someone else, which is a huge incentive to book their services.


The owner of the company arranges to collect the walker at a designated point, with warm clothing, warm food, and plenty of encouragement for the weary traveller, but that takes away the adventure of doing it solo, and may destroy the whole experience for some walkers.

Knowing what to take, and leave behind, can only be learnt from past experience, and the carrying of a very heavy sack on your back for mile after mile, over desolate countryside is a challenge in itself.


Many people here, will have completed various LDWP numerous times, and know what to take and leave behind, but as this is your first attempt of the Pennine Way, you may not have considered the services of a company who do all the background work for you.


Which ever way you plan to do the walk, good luck.

If you have set your heart on doing everything yourself, then i am full of admiration and respect, but having the journey of a lifetime fully mapped and taken care off, by an experienced person, may guarantee success on such a long challenge walk, and its not as costly as you would imagine.
« Last Edit: 13:37:05, 11/04/17 by Dyffryn Ardudwy »

Murphy

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Re: LDW advice for excited camping novice please!
« Reply #17 on: 16:50:43, 10/04/17 »
DA - 217miles?

Dyffryn Ardudwy

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Re: LDW advice for excited camping novice please!
« Reply #18 on: 13:18:00, 11/04/17 »
Should have read 267miles, my mistake

Katie

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Re: LDW advice for excited camping novice please!
« Reply #19 on: 13:35:27, 11/04/17 »
Thanks for so many thoughtful replies. I will think on all the suggestions

Slogger

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Re: LDW advice for excited camping novice please!
« Reply #20 on: 16:18:28, 12/04/17 »
Just one more thing. Ive known excited novice backpackers, set off in high spirits, only to be very shortly reduced to wondering what the hell they are doing. You've got to remember camping involves a bit of work and the better your camp management from choosing a good 'flat' spot (not in a hollow where a pool could develop) to a speedy  pitching of the tent and getting things including yourself inside in a good order, nice and dry even when its raining, the better your experience will be.
Getting your bum inside the tent door whilst at the same time removing your waterproof over trousers, having already removed your wet waterproof jacket in preparation for removing your boots, before bringing your feet inside. Leaving the wet rucksack outside or preferably inside the porch, and don't forget your drybag rucksack liner will be wet on it's outside too, so empty your kit out of it, don't take that inside the tent either, leave it in your sack.
In short, everything you need inside the tent including yourself, nice and dry in the quickest possible time, and getting the tent door closed without any wetness entering the tent, is the thing to aim for.
You may faff about a bit and get things in the wrong order at first, it's a learning curve, but learning by your mistakes is the best way.

tonyk

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Re: LDW advice for excited camping novice please!
« Reply #21 on: 19:26:14, 12/04/17 »
  Leaving the wet rucksack outside or preferably inside the porch, and don't forget your drybag rucksack liner will be wet on it's outside too, so empty your kit out of it, don't take that inside the tent either, leave it in your sack.


 Reason I now use a rucksack cover rather than a rucksack liner.Not too sure why it took me more than twenty years to work that one out but I have found the rucksack cover is far more practical and saves the problems of having a wet rucksack inside the tent.

 

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