The Pennine Way: Men on a Mission (with a gear list thrown in)

Having bought Tom Stephenson’s guide to the Pennine Way as a teenager I finally set off to backpack it 45 years later in 2019. Well it is important to mull over such ideas. Despite it being so long in the planning I failed miserably. That tale of woe and pathetic-ness was told here.

In 2020 I decided to have another try. Covid and lockdowns got in the way. A further date was planned for June 2021 and put in the diary. Mad ‘n’ Bad Andy Walker offered to walk with me for a few days of the trip which, I knew, would help considerably. I am certain that walking with someone else on longer trips is beneficial for me. Having company stops too much introspection and improves my confidence and determination no end.

Andy’s brain must then have got the better of him and, in an effort not to hurt my feelings by simply making up an excuse not to come, he drove around the lanes of Cambridgeshire for days on end until he eventually found an elderly couple who would assist him. They shunted his car into a ditch at very high speed. A serious shoulder injury meant he could not carry a pack. With some trepidation I realised it would need to be another solo attempt.

I sought information on decent places to wildcamp from ‘Johnboy’ Sanderson. John started backpacking aged about 14 months when his mum pushed him out of the back door wearing a lovely green fleecy romper suit and with a carrier bag full of sandwiches, telling him not to come back until he had walked the 105 mile Cleveland Way. 

Johnboy on his first backpack: The Cleveland Way
(Photo credit @itfeels like film)

                     

After that he walked the Pennine Way four times, once when he was 17, bunking off school to walk from Land’s End to John of Groats, with the Pennine Way as part of his route. Since then he has backpacked and mountaineered all over the world, from Patagonia to some mountains between China and Tajikistan, which I could swear he told me were called the Pam Ayres but which I now find out are called the Pamirs. I believe on an expedition there he tried squatting in a snow hole (ie living in it without consent, not performing his ablutions) dug by a Russian climbing team. Having been kicked out of that when the Russians returned unexpectedly he had to appropriate a tent higher up the mountain from which a recently deceased climber's body had just been removed. Well as he’s climbed to over 7000 metres above seal level I guess Cross Fell is relatively straight forward.

Johnboy today. Well not today. But very recently.

                            

He gave my asked for advice then tentatively said  “I might tag along for a few days. If that’s ok”.  After about three-quarters of a nano-second I bit his hand off. Metaphorically, obviously. I’m not some sort of cannon ball, am I? A few days later he said “I wouldn’t mind doing the whole thing again, actually. Slightly slower this time. Take it all in”. He has previously backpacked the 268 miles in 9 days. “Would that be ok?” I bit his other hand off. I then did the decent thing and suggested that I might slow him down ‘a tad’ and that for him it might be rather frustrating to walk at my pace and perhaps he should reconsider. I actually had my fingers crossed behind my back when I suggested this as I didn’t mean it. Being either a good egg or very silly (of course it's possible to be both) he insisted that he was happy to walk at my pace. He didn’t even murmur when I said that I would be hard-pressed to even think of planning doing it in 17 days, let alone succeeding in achieving this. 14 days is thought of as a fast pace and 21 days is regarded as leisurely but I am in my mid-60s and would be carrying all my backpacking gear, not using a company to ferry my stuff from B and B to B and B as many seem to do these days.

A plan was hatched. Detailed with daily mileages, wild camp spots etc. As much as possible it avoided the guide book suggestions of the usual places for the starts and ends of each day, and which the majority of walkers adopt. We both expected the plan would not survive engagement with reality. Then came a throw-away line from Johnboy. “And of course the original route of the Way, the one I took in the 1980s, was very different out of Edale and off Black Hill...Lots of advantages to these earlier routes...Loads of work done to re-vegetate them...Not had that much rain recently...Those bogs will be nothing like they used to be…”

I set about my preparations. Lots of training walks were intended. Before these even began I developed a hurty foot. Physio made no difference. Then an agonising bad back (again) that lasted four weeks. Still, who needs training walks? Everyone who goes on YouTube knows that the secret to a successful backpack is not training. It’s producing a gear list and buying lots of shiny new stuff. I indulged with a vengeance. I honed my gear list down to the minimum weight possible. Then I gradually started to add all the 'just in case items'. Well you know how it is.

For those who, like me, are sad enough to be interested in these things, I now include the list of every single thing I took. Yes, I know. The base weight is heavy. After the event I reckoned that I could have cut about 660 grams of stuff that I never used. And there were several other things used but not necessary  There were also items not used but which I would carry whatever eg many of the first aid and safety items. Even then the base weight would still have been far more than many would carry.

To be continued....

PENNINE WAY SEPTEMBER 2021
	Pack	Non-Pack	Category weight	Post walk Comments
Item	gr	gr
Pack			1280
Atom Pack Mo + 4 mini carabiners	1105			Brilliant
Nylofume Liner Bags *2	50			Never used before and I was worried about robustness. No need. 1 too many
Pack Cover	125			Not really needed
Atom Pack Roo (Bum/Waist Bag)		100		Brilliant
Shelter			1096
MLD DCF Duomid	525
MLD Solomid XL Mesh Inner	305			Should have taken my heavier but solid cheapo Chinese inner instead
Polycro	24
Peg Bag	11
Pegs etc	225			8 Gold Eastons, 2 Ti hooks, 1 MSR Blizzard, 4 Groundhogs. I do not believe the much lower weight of pegs others claim to take!
Half J cloth	6
Sleeping			1632
Thermarest X Therm (Regular)	451
Sleeping Bag Z Packs 20 degree	660
Exped UL Pillow	60			Brand new . Deflated every night. Since replaced by seller
Sleep Socks - Merino	45			Not needed
Compression leggings	205
Rohan Silver T	89
P Bottle	62			No Ed., I will not pee in the vestibule or go out at night :-)
Z Packs DCF Dry bag	30
Treadlite DCF Packing Cell	30			Also used to hold my tranklements
Cooking			431
MSR Pocket Rocket, canister feet, windshield, lighter	156			Lighter not needed
Fire steel	29
Evernew 0.9 litre titanium pot	115
Evernew 0.4 litre titanium mug	50
Sea to Summit long alloy spoon	11
Classic Swiss Army Knife	23
Mini tin opener	5			Not needed
J Cloth - half	6
Z Packs DCF stuff sac	8
Pot Cosy	28
Hydration			252	All used, with long water carries on several days
Katadyn Befree 1 litre	63
Katadyn Befree  0.6 litre	60
Cnoc 2 litre bladder	85
Smart Water bottle 0.6 litre	30
Purification tablets	5
Oookworks red stuff sac	9
Clothes, Worn			2499
Inov8 Roclite 400 Pro GTX boots		950		Almost new. Superbly comfortable but leaked. Inov8 have replaced.
Trekmate short Goretex gaiters		70
Darn Tough Socks		110
Bridgedale Coolmax liner socks		36
Rab Torque Trousers		375
Under Armour Boxers		72
Rohan Silver Core long sleeve shirt		255
Rohan Latitude Zipneck Fleece		430
Rab Windshirt		130
Outdoor Research Cap		51
Handkerchief		20
Clothes Carried
			2011
Rohan Boxers	90
X Socks *1	62			Not used
Bridgedale Coolmax liner socks *2	72			1 pair not used
PHD Down pullover	235			Supplemented sleeping bag in the early hours
Rohan Silver Core long sleeved shirt	255
Montane Razor Shorts	131			Very comfortable but ridiculous. Eric Morecambe would have been proud to own these
Buff	38
Montane Prism Gloves	67
Tuff Bag overmitts	41			Not worn
Hi Tec Zuuc Camp Shoes	380
Montane  Beanie	55
Rohan Momentum Jacket	285
Berghaus Paclite Overtrousers	250
Sea to Summit blue dry bag	28
Z Packs Medium DCF dry bag	22
First Aid Kit	227		227
DCF Pouch
Tick remover				Not used
Safety Pins				Not used
Sudacreme
Plasters and compeed				Compeed not used
Micropore tape				Not used
Paracetamol				Not used
Ibuprofen
Imodium
Hay fever tablets
Travel sick pills				For bus/taxi journey home
Gaviscon and prescription meds				Used and more purchased
Leukotape				Not used
Lanacane Anti-Chafing Gel				Not used
Repair Kit	80		80
DCF Pouch
Thermarest puncture kit
Velcro strap *1
DCF tape
Bungee cord				Used
Cord
Duck Tape (on walking poles)				Used
Personal Care			730
Osprey Dry bag	20
Zip lock bag	5
Toothbrush and paste	50
Dental Floss	4
Comb	7
Dr Bronner's	68			Far too much
Deodorant	28
Anti-bac wipes, 12	63
Towel - Lightload Mini *4	68			Only two used
Contact lenses*8	16
T Roll	40
Hand Sanitiser Gel	52
Lighter	25
Trowel, Deuce of Spades	17
Ear plugs	4			Not used
Tissues	20
Glasses case	55
Face mask	15
Smidge Head Net	25			Not used but should have been
Smidge 18ml	35
Sun screen	40
Lipsalve and sunblock	13
Thermacare backpain heat pad	60			Not used
Navigation			716
Cicerone guide	237			Hardly used and never needed
Cicerone map book 1:25k	150
Silva compass	40
Galaxy S10 Smartphone / GPS in case	215
Zip Loc bags *2 for Cicerones	12
Ortlieb Map Case	62			Not used
Electronics			427
Anker double charger	85
Anker 10,000 power pack plus leads*2	206
Anker 4,000 power pack	136			Not needed
Accessories			358
Spot Messenger	150
Whistle	15			Not used
Headtorch, Petzl Tikka	83
Thermarest Z Sitmat	60
Watch Suunto Core		64
Black Diamond Trail Pro Poles		530
Camera - Lumix DMC TZ60 + case and spare battery		390
Clothes pegs *2	12
Sea to Summit yellow dry bag (waste bag)	38
Admin			127
C and C Club Card	6
Senior Rail Card	6
Notebook and pen	45
DCF Wallet, credit cards, cash, emergency contact	45
House keys	25
Food, Drink and Fuel			5041
Gas (230 gr cartridge)	380			Used  approx. 450gr of gas (net) over the 17 days
Water	1600			Minimum, and I was often still  dehydrated due to empty streams
Z Packs DCF food bag	51
Food (average 3 days)	3000
Plastic food bags	10
Total Base	9367
Total Carried: base + fuel, food and water	14408