Don't forget a ribbon
Woke up this morning and the sun was shining, seems a long time since that happened, so I donned my new boots and set off to tackle Pendle hill from the east a different direction to my normal climb which would see me on a new 9 mile route passed woodland copse's and reservoirs but no matter how beautiful the scenery there was no escaping the 250m climb to the top of the hill, but it was warm and I had time on my hands and it gave me some extra time to road test my new boots and Pacer poles. The boots aren’t the most comfortable I’ve worn but I am sure once I have bedded them in they will do the job just fine, at least they are dry which is more than I can say for my other pair. The poles are proving to be a god send and once you get used to walking with them, it’s a bit like being back on the parade square, you really notice their advantage feeling less tired and out of breath on the steep accents. For those of you who are interested i9n what I think about the Pacer pole I wrote a review for John Smith, yes that really is his name, of Whalley Warm and dry who kindly donated a pair of poles, please see the attached document. Pacer Poles.docx (17,2 kB)
I spent a very enjoyable evening with a kind lass named Rachael who climbed Kili in Sep 2011 and who very generously offered a couple of hours to discuss her experience of the climb she offered me so many little tips that should provide invaluable not least of all using the ribbon you tie around your bags handle, so you can identify it at the airport baggage collection, to tie on you tent so that you can identify which out of the 30 or more tents in the pitch black darkness is yours after you come back from having a wee. She told the story of one man who couldn’t find his tent so started calling out his tent buddies name, who unfortunately was wearing ear plugs and was the only person not to be woken up by the poor chaps desperate calls