Best laid plans of mice and men .......

[GGTBod]

As some of you may already know I am attending a course with Backwoods Survival School this weekend, my original plan had been to complete the Beachcomber Course and then travel around the area with my inflatable kayak practicing my newly learnt skills and appreciating the local area from the water in good weather and staying put at my current campsite when it's not.

Well about ten days ago i aggravated my back problem whilst cycling, i have been hoping and praying to any god who would listen that things would ease up before now, none of the buggers listened so i have reluctantly had to accept that i can not take my kayak as the extra 15 kilo added to my camp kit and food supplies was just too much for my broken frame to carry, i've beating myself up all day packing and unpacking trying to make it work and eventually came to the realisation tonight that i can either take my camping kit and food to last as long as possible or my kayak, not both.

So then although i'm devastated at this acceptance of reality I am not defeated as i'm just not the quitting type i've just had to change plans.

Now i will be camping and seeing a lot less of the local area as the maximum i can hike each day weighted down is 5-10 miles if i break it up and take my time, my camping kit weighs just over 10 kilo and i have added to this 18 kilo of dried food, from broth mix to beef biltong to muesli and powdered milk to dried pure fruit and nuts and everything in between, all healthy food and no junk at all, hopefully with what i learn to catch and forage with Patrick and crew I can make this food last for a month.

Watch this space, i will try and update whilst i am away but it will be dependant on getting a mobile signal and this will not be something i will be making a priority but if i notice i have one i'll check in.

Train to Arrochar and Tarbet is 9.35am tomorrow, just me my back problem and 30 kilo of kit/supplies, wish me luck at times i reckon i might need a bit as i am sore before even starting (the Tramadol is in the kit), i will not be defeated.

 

[Harvestman]

No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy intact.

Good on you for adapting.

 

[GGTBod]

Shrink keeps telling me I have to accept my limitations, i am not the human forklift truck i used to be and forcing myself to try to be what i was once was is just gonna make things worse.

Slowly learning as always

 

[Man of Tanith]

You'll learn a heck of a lot. Both the course and the rest of the travels.
I bet you're set up take down of camp and packing will be slick by the end of your travels.
LOADS of pics please and have a great time

 

[GGTBod]

I promise loads of pics, i will be taking more to compensate myself for missing out on the kayaking, cheers for positive encouragement gents, i know from my last course with Patrick that it will change my life, his passion for this way of life is inspirational.

 

[Man of Tanith]

You taking ya 2dogs shirt?
if Patrick has the skin kayak please get plenty of pics of that

 

[boatman]

No chance the course people can lend you a kayak?

 

[GGTBod]

No sadly i'm not taking my Twodogs bush shirt it's roasting hot, i'll need prolonged temps below 5c for me to be able to wear it, can't wait for winter to give it some good use.

I was lucky enough to see the skin kayak as it was partially built and filling his dining room in his house, was very impressive, hope he has it with him.

 

[Dreadhead]

sorry to hear that bud, keep strong, adapt and overcome I'm sure you will still have a cracking time and make the most of it! looking forward to the trip report on this

 

[GGTBod]

No chance the course people can lend you a kayak?

I think if i had been able to accept the situation before the night before the course it may have been an option, i was genuinely still deluding myself i was gonna be alright to take my own until about 4 hrs ago

 

[GGTBod]

Cheers Hamish, i have my notepad and pencils and plan to use them, hopefully i'll be able to transfer whatever gobbledegook i write down into some sort of tangible report worth reading

 

[GGTBod]

I just thought part of the course we do a group build of a basha canoe, an idea is taking form.

I was looking at Chislers pictures of when he done the course and it looks like a very stable vessel with an outrigger

 

[Man of Tanith]

I slept in my 2dogs in lieu of sleeping bag the other weekend.
wasnt too hot and snugger than sleeping bag or blanket.

just saying

 

[GGTBod]

It is more about the weight, it is way heavier than my sleeping bag

 

[Countryman]

Sorry to hear this mate. I am in exactly to same position with my back and previous ability. Drives me nuts but you are doing the right thing soldiering on sensibly. I keep doing stupid things that set me back. Clean and jerk with my 15 year old daughter as the bar was by far my most dumb. Couldn't walk for 3 days but it felt good at the time!
I'm just getting back to distance walking now but no big packs for me any more.

Make sure you get treatment. Keep asking!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GGTBod]

Mine happened in July 2010, i've been offered surgery with a 50/50 chance of making it better or worse, i wouldn't let someone change a plug is they offered me those odds of success or failure, i see a shrink and a sports recuperation physio who normally assists military amputees, it has taken 4 years to get this help sadly.

At the worst point i was bedridden for just over 3 months and went up to 18 stone as i was only getting up to answer the door to the takeaway delivery as i couldn't stand for more than a couple of minutes before my legs kept buckling, down to 14 stone now but i keep making it worse as every time i can move i try and make up for not moving and strip the weight i've put on through the period of inactivity, i'm my own worst enemy hence the shrink.

My bergen is just under 30 kilo, sounds a lot but i used to be able to carry well over double that without concern beforehand, i'll also not be carrying it for prolonged periods at that weight as my first camp will be a fixed point for a while, funny thing is my problem was caused by sitting in faulty chairs in offices 8hrs a day 5 days a week rather than any of crazy physical activities i used to partake in

 

[Haggis]

Sorry to hear of your struggle. Back problems, it seems, are simply unacceptable to some of us until one day the truth we've been denying is staring us flatly in the face.

My Good Son once said to me, "What is it with you old guys? When you try to lift something, if i doesn't move, you just pull harder until something gives, the object or your backs. Then when your back is finally hurt, you cripple around for years trying to lift even heavier objects."

 

[Toddy]

Could you courier your kayak up to someone here ? and have it then delivered to you in situ, so to speak ?

I live about two miles from Patrick; he drops by and I put the kettle on; HWMBLT loves to walk, and he gets free bus pass and reduced train ones....Arrochar's a nice day out, iimmc.
Surely we can juggle something to make it work for you ? If nothing else the kayak would mean you didn't have to lug the pack all the time, and it could be posted back down to you the same way it came up.

cheers,
M

 

[GGTBod]

If only i had voiced my issues earlier, i leave the house at 8.50am tomorrow and live alone so there would be no one to do organise this for me, seriously thanks for the offer, i will get better at this stuff one day especially the asking for and accepting help.

The kayak is a great bit of kit for expanding my travel range with kit, it was why/how i originally got back into the hobby, I am still very happy to be going up there and i'll get stuck into the course, learning new skills always gives me a mental lift and being outdoors doubly so, i will just take it easy if and when i decide to move camp, might even find i am content to stay in one area as the scenery will be stunning and i am sure there will be an abundance of shellfish and foragables.

Haggis your good son (do you have an evil one?) is so right but if we don't lift it for ourselves who will? It's like we're thinking that every heavy thing we lift is telling ourselves we've still got it, i seem to suffer more in the action of bending down to pick up light stuff or doing simple things like tying my shoelaces that has me blue in the face, due to the sciatic nerve pressure most of my problems show in my left leg and at times i walk like i am in a Monty Python sketch, stick a pack on my back with a good waist belt and it is like it nips it all in to where it should be and i get the feeling and movement back in my left leg, just gotta pace myself and be careful to not overdo it and i get by

 

[Toddy]

It didn't seem a unsurmountable obstacle, iimmc. Just a shame that the time's too short to organise it now.
Worth remembering though; there are folks all through the country that I'm sure would offer to do likewise
I hope the trip is a great success

I slipped two discs and trapped the sciatic nerve, over twenty years ago now. It did heal.....eventually but the pain and limitations have to be tholed to be understood in their severity.
I hope things settle very well indeed for you.

atb,
M