SCOTLAND. SOON ! (:

last week in short:

-did a lot of planning for scotland
-CSV orientation training
-got sleeping bag
-got my maps
-resolved walking boots problem (my parents will send me my ones from austria)
-ordered camping stove and my beloved knife (exactly the same that I used to have for ages before I lost it)
-went out at the gig house and the spin club in wokingham
-watched a rugby game of our boys' team


I'm now really excited about our scotland trip, and especially about my first great trail. I will start in edinburgh, not too far from the castle, more exactely near tollcross. my route runs along two canals, first the union canal and then the forth and clyde canal. as far as I know you normally do that trip the other way round (starting near glasgow) but since we first stay a few days in edinburgh I'll just start there.

the canal starts between fountainbridge and tollcross

the plan is to do about 30-35 kilometers a day which should not be a big problem, so in total I'd need three days, that means two nights in the tent. since the area is quite densely populated I think I need to check out some potential places for wild camping in advance.

equipment I plan to take with me:

-backpack: pieps alpinist pro (1200g, 36l)
-sleeping bag: mountain equpiment starligt IV (1800g, comfort limit -12°C)
-tent: north ridge altitude 2 mountain tent (4400g, hydrostatic head 3000mm)
-boots: salewa condor evo gtx (1800g)
-stove: karrimor X lite titanium stove (48g + 345g gas cartrige)
-ordnance survey explorer maps 342, 349 & 350
-first aid kit
-headlamp
-food, water, saucepan, cutlery (still have to think about these things, what, how much, etc)
-clothes (as little as possible, still have to think about that too) + second pair of shoes for the city trips
-camping mat

knife <3

so in total, without shoes, food, water, clothes, cutlery & crockery I have about 8000g, which I consider not too bad. of course, if you spend 200-400£ more you'll probably have 1000-2000g less, but that's not worth it for me.
all in all, I spent approximately 240£ for tent, sleeping bag, stove, maps and knife, I think that's alright. especially since I plan to use that stuff more often in the future.

I've already done a trial packing, only difficulty I had is the sleeping bag's volume (approx. 23.5l) - so I'll need to find the right technique to stuff everything into my backpack.


stay tuned, I think I'll write one more entry before scotland.

cheers,
matthias