Offa's Dyke Walk

[Lizz]

I've been planning to walk Offa's dyke over the last few years if only I could find two weeks to devote to it. Finally I've given in, I'm going to section hike it. So Monday and atuesday this week I'll be walking from Monmouth to Chepstow. Next week I'll walk to Monmouth from maybe Hay over three days. So I'm doing my usual pack list and have got it down to:-

Hyperlite mountain gear rucksack - second hand, made from cuben fibre
hMG shaped tarp Echo 2 also second hand also made from cuben
Borah gear bivi - sale, cuben and Sil nylon
Caldera keg stove - Christmas present or maybe jetboil which is heavier but easy to light and boils water really fast, hmmm tea!
2 or 3 platypus water bottles - can use one at night as a hottie
Go lite quilt
Thermarest sleeping pad
Hi Gear silk sleeping bag liner
Yeti down blanket
Thermarest stuff sac with fleece liner which doubles as a pillow at night
Patagonia puffy with hood - second hand and fantastic when the sun goes down
Berghaus vapourlite wind shirt - bloody expensive but great
Walking poles - cheap sale at Cotswold outdoor
Plastic mug - had since I was a guide and hasn't died yet
Spork - free with magazine
Ear plugs - free from anti noise pollution campaign!
Zpacks toothbrush
Salt of the earth deodorant - great, lasts months and doesn't smell
One spare set of clothes for when it pours down (it is Wales)
Integral designs Sil nylon poncho - I am a convert to walking with a poncho not a goretex
Walking sandals or shoes - depends how bohemian I am feeling
Gaiters - so old I think I had them at Uni - may seem pointless with sandals but keep legs dry
Map and compass - it'd be famous last words if I said I didn't need them!
Petzl elite headlight and spare battery - so light it's fantastic
Hat and silk gloves
First aid kit
Crkt knife
Soap leaves - shaved off a bar with a potato peeler that might never be the same again!
Waterproof matches - you know, just in case
Sea to summit stuff sac - Sil nylon
HMG stuff sac - cuben
Tent pegs - light and very easy to lose they are so bloody small.

So, everything for sleeping well, everything to ensure I drink lots of tea, and what I need to keep happy whilst walking. I think I might, just for kicks also take the spoon I'm half way through carving and a crook knife to twiddle with in the evening. I've also got a travel diary I write when away from home. Nothing too deep and meaningful but helps me recall what I was about!

How will it go? I'll report back later. Next week's walk might be even more interesting as I may have to wild camp one night as otherwise it's a very long way one day!

 

[sandbender]

Good luck with this, it is a lovely walk, albeit quite a wet one from memory.

 

[Harvestman]

Good stuff. I did a section of the Wye valley walk south of Tintern last week. Was very enjoyable.

 

[cranmere]

I did the whole thing many years ago. Chepstow to Monmouth is notorious for the number of stiles and continuous switchback hills but there is some lovely walking especially the stretch high above the river Wye. The one part I found really hard was the stretch immediately north of Monmouth, which is a long ridge walk with no water supply so you need to take enough for the whole day. I did it in very hot weather and it was seriously tough.

I would dump the gaiters, but I like to walk in sandals and shorts and don't mind wet legs.

 

[Lizz]

Yes, I've been warned about the long ridge and taking enough water. This is the long section I might bivi on depending on how the day and the miles are going. I might get up very early and just keep walking... And walking..

 

[cranmere]

It's perfectly doable in one day and once you're up onto the ridge it's relatively level. Gorgeous views too. I had considered dropping off the ridge and bivvying as an option, there are a couple of places that you can do it where you can get to water but it means coming right down and then climbing back up, or else leaving the official route.

 

[Lizz]

It was great. Fabulous views, perfect kit, and I'm now a convert to trekking poles!

 

[cranmere]

Well done. I've used poles for years because my knees started to give trouble. Poles make a huge difference, as much as anything because they give stability so you aren't worried about slipping and jarring joints. I sometimes use a proper wooden staff instead, just because it pleases me.

 

[Lizz]

The only bit of kit I'm debating is the jetboil, I was so tired the first night I couldn't really be bothered to cook and in the morning I just wanted to be off. I wondered about taking something much smaller like an Esbit triangle with a titanium pot. Or possible not cooking at all. I've got three days next week to do some more so I may experiment with some other kit.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

The only bit of kit I'm debating is the jetboil, I was so tired the first night I couldn't really be bothered to cook and in the morning I just wanted to be off. I wondered about taking something much smaller like an Esbit triangle with a titanium pot. Or possible not cooking at all. I've got three days next week to do some more so I may experiment with some other kit.

The morale boost of being able to have a hot mug drink when it's cold and wet is worth the weight of carrying something, even if you don't cook a meal, but just use it for hot drinks. At that point you have to ask yourself about the weight/speed tradeoff.

Do you have any photos of your trips?

J

 

[dewi]

Good luck with the walk Lizz, however you do it. Be sure to take a good book to read as well

 

[Lizz]

I took "the 2oz backpacker" which weighs what it's called, and provided me with some gently humouress commentary on backpacking. I often carry a pocket version of "sailing alone around the world" by Joshua Slocomb. He talks in a very airy way of the safety of sailing alone when you know what you're about - and what happened to him, well we don't know because he disappeared whilst sailing alone... But I enjoy his writing and the tall tails he tells. Or I could take the book Dewi didn't write! or the "book of the bivi" by Ronald Turnbull (spelling?) which is a cracker. I haven't taken a camera with me, I could give that a go. I've got one somewhere. Last time I used it, and wait for the place drop here, was in Samarkand.

 

[Lizz]

Oh, and there was one bit where I'd walked on the road for a bit and then followed the trail off road and half an hour later was back on the road about fifty feet up the road from where I'd just gone off it. I'd gone the wrong way! How addled is that!?

 

[Lizz]

So, this week I planned to walk three days - hay on Wye to Monomouth with a wild camp somewhere along the top of a ridge. Then last week I broke a tooth - so that's my Wednesday this week scotched. Then when I went to the docs to get a tetanus booster (apparently the one I get will cover me for the rest of my life!) the appointment is on Monday the only time the nurse is there for a fortnight, so that's blown Monday. Tuesday, well him indoors has said he is willing to drop me somewhere Monday night so I can at least get a walk in on Tuesday - what a hero!

So this might be an opportunity to walk with some different stuff and try it out. I've also been meaning to give an Esbit stove an outing to see whether I prefer it to the jetboil. I've read up on the complicated weight and burn maths for making a comparison between the efficiency of a jetboil over other kinds of stoves and fuel. (The jetboil kicks in to optimal after 12/13 days out with a larger canister, until then alcohol or esbits with titanium stove and pot win out.) now I love the jetboil - I bought one when it came out, I'm an early adopter with walking tech, and since then there is one with a titanium pot. But even so the damn thing is heavy and although not huge it takes up the same space as a mat or my quilt, and if I need an extra canister or two then sheesh. Whereas the caldera keg I have takes up the same space as the jetboil incliding fuel and the bowl and cup it sits in and is half the weight. The Esbit stove is tiny, sits in a 750ml titanium pot/mug with lid, which also fits enough fuel for almost a week and weight for weight is good alongside the keg.

This is what experimenting is for! So maybe that's what Tuesday will be, I'll cook myself some dinner on a hill using the three stoves and see how they all do under these conditions. Nice one.

 

[treadlightly]

I did that route in reverse a few years ago. Glorious. I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience.