*** UPDATE***
Due to a change in circumstances (my father broke his leg on good Friday), I’ll no longer be walking the Great Glen Way this week.
I’ll leave the post below in place, as the rucksack was packed and ready to go. This is what I’d have been taking for the walk.
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When this post gets published, I should be setting off on my first day on the Great Glen Way, so hopefully I’ll have remembered to pack everything!
I plan on completing the walk over 4 days with stops at the following locations:
Leiterfearn trailblazer spot (approx 22 miles walking, starting at Corpach)
Just north of Invermoriston – it appears the campsite at Invermoriston has been turned into a Hoseasons lodge and glamping place, which is no use to me, so wild camping it is! (approx 15 miles)
Loch Ness Bay campsite, just before Drumnadrochit (approx 11 miles walking)
That then just leaves me to walk the remaining 19 miles into Inverness on Thursday
With only packing for 4 days, and with the option to pick up food to cook later or grab a bite to eat at a cafe or restaurant, there isn’t a need to pack a huge amount. That means I can take a smaller pack and go a bit lighter. In terms of food, i plan on taking the following:
Food
4x Oatso Simple Big Bowl Porridge, with small bags of additional ingredients (flaxseed, almonds, raisins, pumpkin seeds, etc) and a small tub of squeezey honey.
12x home made energy bars (more on these in a later post) -3 a day
2x Chicken Supernoodles. Just in case I can’t find somewhere to eat, or if I want to buy some other ingredients and bulk it out (the first day will likely involve buying something to take with me for the day) – I’ll probably dehydrate some peas, broccoli and carrots to go in with it, too.
Now, if you’ve got food, you’ll also need something for…
Cooking and Eating
I’ll be having porridge every day, so I’ll definitely need to bring cooking things with me. As always, the plan is to bring as little as possible and make it as light as possible (whilst making it as budget friendly as possible!) I’ll have:
Alpkit MyTiPot 900ml
Alpkit Bruler Meths stove (and a small bottle of meths, approx 300ml)
Alpkit Concertina Wind shield
Alpkit Snapwire Fhoon
Gerber Paraframe knife (in case i buy meat that I need to cut up, etc)
It all combines into a small package, that doesn’t take up much space and a combined weight (not including fuel) of less than 500g. It’s a relatively cheap option, since you can space out the purchases if on a tight budget.
I’ll also have, for water:
A Hydrapak Stash Collapsible Water Bottle
2x Salomon 500ml Soft flasks
I’ll be drinking SiS Go Electrolyte on the trail, of which I’ve got 2 sachets a day (for each of the soft flasks). If I need to top up the water, I’m also bring an Alpkit Hippo filter.
That really just leaves the sleeping arrangements, I guess, so I’d better get on with that.
Sleeping
There is one thing I managed not to sell when I decided that i wasn’t likely to be doing solo backpacking anymore and that was my sleeping bag. I’m so glad I did, though, as it’s a crazy expensive one!
I did, however pay to have it professionally cleaned and have a Hydrophobic coating applied to the down, to make it better than it was when i bought it. This combined with the sleeping mat makes my sleeping system.
It is a:
Mammut Ajungilak Sphere Spring Sleeping Bag (now with hydrophobic coating)
Quechua silk Sleeping bag liner
Alpkit Numo air mattress
All of these combined come to a total weight of 1.1kg, and as you can see, don’t take up a lot of space. With the exception of the sleeping bag, the prices are reasonable, too (the liner was £25 and the air mattress £42).
The one big regret I have after deciding to sell the majority of my backpacking gear was the sale of my Scarp 1. It’s even more frustrating as the person who bought it went on to re-sell it themselves, as they hadn’t used it. I hope it is getting some proper use now, though!
It does mean that I had to buy a new tent, and it had to be something that could be used by 2 people for a night at least (one of which would be 6’4″, which doesn’t help!), and as my financial situation isn’t what it used to be, it’s one that had to be bought on a bit of a budget.
So, I’m walking the Great Glen Way with…
Tent
A Naturehike Cirrus 2 tent
The tent weighs in at a little over 1.8Kg, but goes up to 2.15kg when you add the included footprint. If you consider that this tent (as shown below) is very similar in design to a Terra Nova Voyager, but less than a quarter of the price and lighter weight (note: I’m not claiming it is the same build quality), you’re getting a whole lot of bang for your buck!
I’ll definitely be doing a proper review of it when I get back from the Great Glen Way, so watch this space.
That now just realistically leaves me to cover the clothes and accessories I plan on bringing with me, and the pack I plan on throwing it all into!
Clothing
I plan on doing this walk with minimal changes of clothes. I want to reduce the amount of space taken up in the pack and any unnecessary weight on my back. I’m getting a Megabus back home after the walk, so in the bottom of my pack I’ll have a small drybag with the following in it:
Under Armor O Series Boxer shorts
Compressport Trail V3 socks
Salomon Agile Tee
At least I’ll not be totally stinking on the bus home, as I’ll be able to shower and change into those when I get on the bus – they’re all picked deliberately because they’re lightweight and pack small, so as not to cause any burden on the walk
Which leaves the clothes I plan on taking and using on the trail. I plan on carrying the following:
Salomon Fast Wing Zip top
Salomon Trail Midlayer
2x Under Armor O series Boxer shorts
4x Bridgedale Liner socks
1x Smartwool PHD Light Mini socks
The theory is that I’ll have a different pair of liner socks each day, a spare top and spare boxers in case I get soaked somehow and a pair of boxers to change into on the one evening I’ll actually have the opportunity for a shower. There’s also a lightweight midlayer I can use in the evenings. I’ll also have waterproofs in the form of:
Berghaus GR20 Storm Jacket
Berghaus Paclite Pants
Accessories
That now just leaves us with the other accessories in there, of which there are the usual things of importance, and some slightly more superfluous. We have:
Silva Trail Runner USB Headtorch
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (in Aquapac Medium Whanganui waterproof case)
Anker Powercore 20100 Powerbank
Small first aid kit (compeed, Ibuprofen, Imodium, co-codamol, tick remover, small wound dressing and some plasters)
Alpkit Osmo travel towel
Travel toiletries – deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste and shower gel
Garmin eTrex Touch 35 GPS Unit (and spare AA batteries)
Pack
All of that is useless unless you’ve got something to pack it all into!
As I’ve managed to reduce the bulk of this, and because I don’t need to bring too much food with me, I’ve actually managed to fit it all into a relatively small pack. I have a:
Salomon Peak 40 pack
It’s got a similar design to a running pack or vest, and I bought it deliberately for that reason. i’m hoping that in the long-term, I’ll be using it for fastpacking as well as regular backpacking. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see me jogging a little on the downhill sections on the Great Glen Way. It really is quite comfortable and moved very well with the body. It can get a bit sweaty on the back, though, but that’s pretty normal for me as I run a little hot.
I’m assuming it’ll all work as intended – I’ve used most, if not all of it in the field already, and I’m going regular walks carrying all of it, to ensure the pack is doing the job right. You can rest assured, once I’ve completed the Great Glen Way, I’ll report back on what went well and what didn’t.
Walking in the Wilds of Scotland 