It's beginning to get exciting. My wife, Veronica and my daughter, Marion gave me a Garmin Etrex Legend HCx for my birthday. My daughter, Anna gave me a Kindle. I've bought new, spare walking boots, which I have yet to walk-in, and an excellent, light back-pack. At last, I am beginning to plan out in detail the first few days of my great adventure.
For some time, I have been thinking about doing the Land's End to John O'Groats walk. There are all sorts of reasons for me not to be attempting it. It will be too far for my old bones. It will be too expensive. Staying in all those B&Bs will be tedious. Carrying a heavy pack with all my electronics will be exhausting. I can't hope to match the daily progress of so many predecessors, because I'm not fit enough or strong enough. And frankly, I don't want to be away from home for all that time!
Each of these objections is reason enough not to do it, but if I don't do it now, I probably never will. I'm sure the exercise will do me good. I also feel a real need somehow to get closer to the heart of these islands, to gain a sense of belonging in a country where I still feel a visitor. I look forward to meeting new people along the way and especially to sharing legs of the journey with friends and relatives who are so inclined. And so the decision is to go ahead. I may not succeed. I do not intend to kill myself, but I am determined to give it a good go, and to keep a record of my thoughts along the way in this blog.
I have just inserted a couple of widgets into the side-panel beside this post, which may be of interest to those who would like to suffer along the way with me. The first offers you the opportunity to subscribe to these posts by email. I am assured that each time there is a new post to the site you will receive an email with a copy of the post, so that you don't have to keep returning to the blog to see how I am getting along. On the other hand if you don't, you will not have the ability to make use of the second widget which will show you my precise, daily progress through the wizardry of the EveryTrail site, which accepts an upload from my Garmin Etrex and converts it into a precise topographical map of my progress in terms of location, speed and elevation. You can zoom in on the map (which is essentially a Google terrain map) and have a look at the satellite images of the location and follow my progress in amazing detail. Not, of course that you will wish to do so. Even my darling daughter has assured me that there aren't enough hours in her day to allow anything like this amount of scrutiny. But then there may be one or too who would like to watch me suffer, and this is especially for you! To assist you in that task, I will also post photos in Picasa which should appear in the EveryTrail site as a geocached slide-show, indicating the geographic location where each picture was taken, as soon as I can figure out how to do it.
I have been browsing the web for a couple of years, following recent Lejogers, and wondering whether I am up to the challenge. It is from their example that I have gained my inspiration. I am particularly indebted to Mark Moxon (http://www.landsendjohnogroats.info/) and to Steve Clifford (http://lejog2010.wordpress.com/category/walking/) both for inspiration and for the ample technical advice on their website and blog, respectively. They used Andrew McCloy's book, "The Land's End to John O'Groats Walk", extensively in their preparations and I am deeply grateful to him as well, especially for the stern warnings about taking this walk very seriously. Although I have read many other descriptions of the journey, these have been the most comprehensively helpful and I have based many of my decisions on their advice.
On the other hand, I have wanted to add some of my own style to the expedition, not wanting to be accused of being a complete copy-cat and so my journey will take a different route and will be somewhat more leisurely in deference to my physical condition. Steve wrote most movingly about the beauty of the South West Coastal Path, but also of just how strenuous it was. Accordingly I intend to wend my way down the back roads of Cornwall, where I hope to smooth out some of the ups and downs and travel in a slightly straighter line. Once I get to the Welsh-English border, I intend to use the Offa's Dyke national trail, which will take me near to Shrewsbury, home of my in-laws, and thereafter, I will attend to the Pennine Way, despite Mark's warnings about its never-endingness. In Scotland, I haven't yet decided whether to follow Steve down the Great Glen or to follow Mark's suggestion of a more direct route North from Edinburgh, though he didn't take it himself. Plenty of time for that decision (and the battle with the Scottish midges).
But before I leave, I have the urgent business of a holiday in South Africa to attend to! I leave for six weeks in the sun next week. Veronica will join me two weeks later and we will enjoy a delightful break between the mountains and the sea on the southern tip of Africa, gazing out on crystal, clear waters towards Antartica. The holiday will alo provide opportunity for getting a little fitter, though without my pack. I plan strenuous route marches along the mountains of the Southern Cape, and if the internet connections are good enough, even a few EveryTrail records of my progress.
Despite the practicalities of my preparations, it is not my intention to populate this blog with a travelogue of my progress. I think this was far better done by Mark and Steve, and there is no need to repeat it, though I will of course summarise each day's progress, as much for my own record as for any other reason. My intentions are slightly different. I am more interested in mood. I hope to reflect something more subterranian in my musing. It is still quite unclear what that might be, but I have no doubt that it will develop as I progress along the way, both in terms of self-knowledge and knowledge of the people of England, Wales and Scotland.
I hope you keep me focussed on this intention. Please feel very free to respond to any or all of these posts, and I will do my very best to take account of your thoughts. I will welcome your company along the way.
