MISTER BLISTER, SISTER

DAVID AND ME BEFORE THE BLISTERS

Whilst time has been at a premium, I have managed to keep my fitness up be getting out walking with friends; 15 miles is my usual target for a day out in the flatlands of Hampshire.

This weekend, however, my son David and I undertook an especially long challenge walk. The aim was to do 100 miles in one go so we wrapped our feet with plenty of cloth tape to prevent blisters. Or so we thought! Unfortunately the tape was of poor quality and the adhesive seemed to be water soluble - a distinct disadvantage given the wet weather. By about 25 miles the tape was no longer stuck where it was meant to be and had slithered down to the ends of our rather permeable footwear, so blisters were starting to develop (indeed, the tape was causing them). After 40 miles, the blisters had burst which made it seem like we were walking on glass. After a couple more hours painfully slithering about through chalky mud on the South Downs in the dark, we finally admitted that it wasn't fun anymore so at midnight we decided to call it a day (no pun intended).

Besides, since my blisters had burst, I did not want them to become infected. That would have really caused problems with so little time to go before my departure for Spain.

So, 45 miles in 16 hours! Well short of our target but far from a shameful performance either. Since both David and I have previously walked (or in David’s case, run) over 60 miles without blisters, it just shows how important good quality foot tape is. However, I doubt we will try this again.

The encouraging thing was that although I did experience a few buttock/hip/thigh/knee twinges along the way (see INTRO & MAP), nothing arose to slow my pace and there was no post-walk pain from this area or my back (unless the foot pain masked it). Anyway, I seem to be fit to go.

There is probably little else worth doing to toughen up for the HRP. I usually find that the first few days of walking a long distance trail are quite hard work, especially with a heavy rucksack, but after then my fitness improves and the daily regime becomes easier. At least by carrying a tent I am able to stop whenever I feel I have done enough for the day.

BOOTS & ROUTES

ICE AXE, TRAIL CRAMPONS, SOME SLINGS AND CARABINERS

 Plans for walking the HRP are more or less complete now. The trek will start from Hendaye on the 17th of June and, hopefully, I should be in Banyuls-sur-Mer by the end of July. It has been necessary to extend the duration limit on my holiday insurance and also raise the altitude limit to 3,500 metres.

Most of the necessary kit I already have, but I needed something for walking on snowy slopes so have bought myself some Hillsound Trail Crampons and a Grivel Haute Route ice axe. I also acquired some carabiners and a couple of Dyneema slings which might provide security on exposed sections of the walk or enable me to improvise a harness should I team up with others to do some glacier walking (climbing to the summit of Aneto, for instance). A few items of clothing are well past their best so these are being replaced along with my 5-year old Chlorine Sterilising Tablets, since I expect to be taking most of my water from streams.

Another item I have acquired is a pair of Sunglasses 'overglasses'. Basically they are roomy sunglasses that can fit over my regular glasses. I need my regular glasses on to read maps, but sunglasses are essential for sunny days, especially when walking on snow. Constantly swapping between different glasses is a real pain so I hope this will be a more convenient solution.

Whilst I have all the necessary Rando Editions maps for my trek, these weigh over a kilogramme. Fortunately friend Paul Bryant has a colour laser printer/copier which he has permitted me to use to copy the relevant sections from the maps, the resulting A4 sheets being much easier to handle on the hills and about a third of the weight.