Red Yeti's Blog

29 May, 2008

For this year’s Big Walk, we’ve decided to go to Iceland. We’re going to take a wander along the Landmannalaugar To Thorsmork trail (Thorsmork is actually spelt Þórsmörk – but I’m going with the Anglicised spelling that seems to be quite commonly used). We’re also going to push past Thorsmork to Skógar on the coast to extend the trip by a couple of easy days, camping high, between two huge glaciers. Four others are joining us this time, two of them also joined us on the Haute Route last summer.

It’s reckoned to be one of the best trails in the world for spectacular scenery. I came across a site describing a trip there a couple of years ago (Edit 25/04/2009: The site is gone but the Wayback Machine has it). By the time I’d read it I knew it was on the list of Big Walks.

The route is quite small with little overall height gain. But the constant up and down of the trail apparently means that’s rather deceptive. Besides, we’re in no rush. We want to spend time on the journey itself and enjoying camping out in a wild landscape wherever nature reserve regulations allow (meaning that we’ll be staying in the Landmannalaugar and Hrafntinnusker huts).

We’ve not been able to get very much information on the trail so far. The best we’ve found is the Lonely Planet Iceland guide. In fact when we originally planned it we thought there was only a hut at each end. So we’re taking tents despite the fact that it is possible to stay in huts all along the main route (albeit a couple are rather small). It’s just something we wanted to do, plus there’s no reliable hut between Thorsmork and Skógar. Though pitching on the hard volcanic landscape looks to be a problem that’s going to take a little working out.

You’re advised to book in to the huts well in advance since it’s such a popular route. It’s easy to do via phone and email since the huts are all run by the Icelandic Touring Association.

Last year I was posting about something that I’ve done before; hut to hut in the Alps. And although I’m certainly no Kev Reynolds I’ve done enough to know how to do it very comfortably.

But although I’ve done a reasonable amount of wild camping, I’ve never travelled in Iceland before. There sounds to be a lot of broken ground, traversed by many watercourses, some quite large, and one large enough that we may need to wait for a vehicle to hitch across in.

It’s going to be very interesting getting the weight of the packs down as low as we feel comfortable with. We’ll be splitting the pack weight the usual way; 3:2. Three fifths to me and two fifths to LB, our relative body weights.

Because there’s no food available from most of the huts and also because LB and I have a couple of dietary foibles we’ll be carrying a lot of food (LB is allergic to potatoes and I’ve recently worked out that it’s tomatoes, peppers and chillies that have been affecting my sinuses for the last few years. I’m at once very happy, and very, very sad about that). We also need to look into what we can and can’t bring into the country.

We’re initially going to be doing a side trip to Geysir, the place that all geysers are named after. There’s a camp site there that’s quite reasonably priced. Especially when you realise the price even includes use of the hot-tubs and natural geothermal pools!

As usual, we already have next year’s Big Walk destination picked out. For 2009 we are hoping to find enough time to do the GR5 from Lake Geneva to Nice. It’s all Paddy Dillon and Bob Cartwright’s fault. Around five weeks of walking sounds like our kind of honeymoon. The kind where you don’t really spend any of the money on a wedding.

23 Jun, 2008

Well no, usually in the mountains as it happens.

Going to the toilet outside “properly” (as my dad used to call it) is either one of the highlights or one of the worst parts of a trip. If circumstances and your body allow, you can enjoy a quiet moment, able to do nothing more than stare at some amazing scenery and really feel connected to nature. On the other hand, waking up in at tent with the runs in the middle of a storm is “character building” at best.

There is a lot of advice on this subject out there on the web from how to avoid having to carry toilet paper, to how to avoid getting ill after doing it. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland has a very good page that’s well worth reading. So I’m not going to spend time repeating too many details.

In essence, find a spot that’s as far from a watercourse as you can but a minimum of 30 metres (100 feet) and dig a hole. Make sure it’s between 10 and 15 cms deep (4-6″). Deep enough to stay put. Shallow enough to have enough air to rot quickly. Then either burn or pack-out your paper.

Of course, only burn as long as there is NO risk of fire, so basically only if the ground and the vegetation is wet. Remember that peat is burnt as a fuel and even though it might be cold and overcast, the wind-blown grass may be tinder dry. Overall, unless you’re certain everything is wet, do not burn.

Replace the soil, re-plant the plug of vegetation you removed and wash your hands!

There are also some special techniques for particular areas, from smearing on to a rock in some desert areas to bagging it and removing it in many mountain areas including, the winter Cairngorms.

But, as ever, I want to concentrate on the gear.

The “gear” for going to the toilet in the mountains can be very simple. The easiest thing to use is a garden spade, as found outside any good Bothy. Especially if you’re in a hurry.

However there are some lighter options.

For anyone that wants something nearly as efficient as a spade, the u-dig-it trowel is apparently very good. But Bob and Rose have managed to source something far lighter and apparently also very easy to use. I notice the amazing Roger Caffin has decided it’s still too heavy and cut it down further.

I found a very light and dual-use alternative mentioned on a forum some time ago (I can’t recall where). It’s an MSR Blizzard Stake, used for holding down tents in snow.

With a handle made from duck tape. Hence the dual-use, the handle is also my roll of duck tape. I glued a tiny bit of cork in the gap to stop mud working its way up.

The stake weighs in at only 25 grams. Enough gaffer to get a reasonably comfortable handle only puts another 25 grams on it. It’s not the most elegant looking thing and the above mentioned trowels are almost certainly easier to use but it’s worked well for a couple of years now.

Then of course there’s the paper. It’s best to sort this out so that it’s completely grab-able before you need it since you’ll have enough to do with trying to stay upright and stop everything blowing around. I’d even go to the extent of pulling it off the roll and folding it, ready torn to length, into a resealable bag. That way you can avoid the whole roll getting wet in a downpour.

On shorter trips, I like “travel tissues”, the sort that come in fives in little plastic bags. Also when looking for a suitable spot – grab a stone to stop everything blowing away. Chasing toilet paper with your trousers around your ankles might be fine for a bad sitcom but in real life it could result in a highly inconvenient sprain.

As the phrase goes; “Now, wash your hands”

Again, some forward thinking regarding getting a bottle or Platypus set-up just right before hand so you can do it one-handed (you’ll know which hand!). Or better still, have your friend briefed and waiting for your return with a water bottle primed.

But using plain water won’t do the job properly by any means.

Some people carry alcohol based gel (better for the environment than something based on some other sanitiser) and in lab tests, alcohol based gels do a better job of killing pathogens than soap and water. But in actual use, soap and water is far more effective. At least according to research mentioned in an excellent article in TGO June 08 by the always fascinating Eddy Meechan. In it he also outlined the use of a water-pistol and a surgical glove as a way to avoid using toilet paper altogether – as I said – fascinating!

A bar of soap might appear to be lighter, but it’s hard to stop it turning to mush, it’s prone to becoming full of bacteria and you often don’t need that much. So a concentrated liquid soap is the way to go.

It will probably come as no surprise that I now use Dr Bronner’s. It’s very concentrated and environmentally friendly in production and use. The bizarre rantings on the label gave me pause for thought but it seems that Bronner was just a very eccentric guy with an incredible knack for making soap. You can find it on-line but a visit to the local health-food shop will probably turn up a bottle. Like most, I prefer the peppermint.

So a mini bottle of that for weekends and a larger one for longer trips and you’re done!

03 Jul, 2008

If you live in England, Wales or Scotland, take a weekend walking in the Peak District. Whilst you’re there pop in to Outside in Hathersage and get Mike Pickwell (head of their footwear dept.) to fit you with a pair of Inov8 Terrocs.

They are the most amazingly comfortable, functional footwear. Always assuming they fit your shape of foot of course – but they are very soft and flexible so I expect they fit more than most.

You’ve probably heard of their lightness, their comfort, their ability to dry even after stream crossings. Well, from what I can tell from the last eight days we’ve had them on the hill everything you’ve heard is true.

Three of the Iceland crew have been wearing them; myself, LB and Kev. They also come in women’s specific fit which does actually seem to be a differently designed shoe. We tried them with Smartwool socks, up a clough scramble to get our feet nicely wet with the air temperature at only about 6C (43F) and water a couple of degrees less. Afterwards, everyone’s feet became warm, and eventually dry, as the day progressed and were never uncomfortable.

On a colder, wetter day we found that our feet didn’t dry. But reversing the route the next day with us all wearing Sealskinz socks instead of Smartwools we found it perfectly comfortable.

To me, they’re far preferable to an eVent or Gore Tex lined shoe since when a lined shoe leaks (and they will, one way or another) you are stuck with a plastic bag full of water on your foot, which generally refuses to dry.

Since we’re going to be crossing many small waterways in Iceland, their ability to dry is invaluable. I’ve tried crossing (very shallow!) glacial-melt barefoot and it’s not something I want to repeat. I’ve also looked at carrying sandals but I’d rather avoid the weight. These look to be a good solution. Combined with some waterproof Sealskinz if our feet get too cold, I think they’ll do everything we need.

Of course it’s early days so I can’t comment on their durability which I know Lighthiker had a slight problem with. I’m not expecting them to be as durable as a leather boot though and fortunately I think the price reflects that fairly well. They’re about two thirds of the price of a really sturdy pair of three season clumpers.

The most interesting thing about them is the way that they bend. Look at a normal pair of shoes or boots as you stand up on your toes. They’ll bend almost square across the shoe from side to side. But the Terrocs (and all Inov8 footwear apparently) have a deep groove which runs across the base of all your toes, where they join your foot. And that line is diagonal. So when you stand on your toes in the Terrocs they bend exactly where your toes bend. Which is actually a very odd feeling! We found that if you tried it whilst imagining you were barefoot it felt fine. Very interesting.

The picture on the left shows how the Terrocs bend naturally, across the top of the long bones of your foot. The picture on the right shows where a “normal” shoe bends. Notice how I’m having to grip the toe hard to force the Terrocs into bending there.

What was also interesting was that in the first day’s walking, I got a single, very sore quadriceps muscle. It was the one quad that’s weaker than the others and that I’ve been doing physio-advised exercises to strengthen (thanks Rachel!). The fact that just that one muscle was sore, and the rest weren’t suggests to me that my leg is working in a far more natural way whilst wearing them. With all the muscles doing their share of the work. Making less strain on the knees and more energy transmission into actually propelling me along. Since then we’ve all noticed that our feet seem to be tired in an “unusual” way. As if muscles in them have been working more than usual.

Whether it’s the weight, the improved bio-mechanics or both, we’ve found that we really fly along wearing these. We did a route recently that we’d done last year, whilst at a relatively similar level of fitness and we found it was far too short. We could have done it in half the time easily.

I’d been thinking of getting them last year but hadn’t found a shop where I could try them on. It was an interview with Mat Hazley that convinced me (not sure which one – one of Bob’s perhaps?). Initially he rejected them as too odd-feeling. But then he was sent a trial pair, free, by the owner of Inov8. Once he’d tried them on the trail rather than the shop floor he was convinced. He now says he wouldn’t wear anything else. I already know how he feels.

Are they the ultimate walking shoe? No. Such things only exist in the breathless, sticky dreams of marketing folk. But for the summer they’re certainly the best we’ve found.

The only question I have now is; why didn’t I get them last year?

17 Jul, 2008

On the Landmannalaugar To Thorsmork trail there are apparently many small crossings of watercourses. But there are also a couple of larger ones including one that may require waiting for a friendly vehicle if the bridge has washed out again.

I’ve never done anything much in the way of serious river crossings having always managed to avoid them outside of an ML course.

So for the last year or more I’ve been soaking up any knowledge I came across on the subject and thought I’d put it up here. If anyone has more to add I’d love to hear it.

The one thing that I do remember from my own experience becomes quickly and intuitively obvious; always aim for a point upstream of your entry point since that way the water is hitting your knees from the front. If it is catching them from behind it will tend to make them buckle.

But I only remembered that once I read the excellent Backpacker’s Handbook by Chris Townsend. Chris also mentioned Iceland specifically as an example of a trip where his route changed completely due to high water levels in rivers!

He advises stripping-off down to shorts and t-shirt where practical and putting your clothes in a waterproof bag. Zip off trousers are a good idea here unless, like us, you’re planning to take swimming kit for the hot pools (hmmm, maybe I should just use the zip-offs…).

It’s usually best to cross in a huddle, or in a sort of “conga line” with the strongest at the front, and preferably carrying a stick for support.

Also, find the widest spot as that will be shallowest and slowest. Don’t cross any white water!

The way you carry your rucksack is critical. Hip belt and chest strap must be undone or else they could hold you under, with the bag floating on-top of you. People have drowned in just that way.

Opinions vary on whether to also take off one shoulder strap. Chris advises keeping both on. I’d definitely use both since it would give far more load stability. The last thing you want is to instinctively move to balance a wayward pack and have that movement itself throw you off balance.

He also advises that since you’ll probably be cold on the other side, have some high carbohydrate (very sugary) snack ready since carbs are the quickest way to sort out hypothermia.

Crossing in bare feet is highly inadvisable. Stones and freezing-cold water make for an incredibly painful combination especially with the weight of a pack. As we found out a couple of years ago in the very far north of Sweden (I must post something on that one day…). It may also mean that you cannot feel that you are shredding your feet on sharp rocks.

One option is to take light shoes of some kind specifically for crossing and camp/hut use. Lighthiker, as ever, has come up with some very good options there. But with the amount of food we’ll be carrying, we don’t want to carry extra footwear. So we’ve decided to use Inov8 Terrocs only. Probably remove socks before crossing, possibly replacing with Sealskinz afterwards.

Of course the final option, other than turning back and trying another route, is to simply wait and let the waters subside. This can happen surprisingly soon after heavy rain and will scupper your itinerary less than a watery grave!

14 Aug, 2008

What are we using for information on the Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork trail?

There are no English language walking guides that we can find for the area, so the best we can find is the description in the Lonely Planet Iceland guide. I’ll be copying the few relevant pages onto a single sheet of A4 paper rather than carrying the whole book.

There is a single, 1:100,000 map of the L to T trail and surrounding area;  Special sheet No 7 1:100,000:  Porsmork/Landmannalaugar.

It’s specially produced to cover the trail, and the trail and huts are marked out. I don’t know how accurate the mapping is but considering it’s only at one to one hundred thousand and the landscaping is a shifting mass of rock being affected by streams, glaciers and even volcanoes I’m not expecting anything quite up to the standard of Ordnance Survey.

As usual I’ve sent it off to Aqua 3 to have it laminated. Total weight 78gms without the paper sleeve.

The actual trail sounds to be well marked but I’ll be carrying the little Garmin Gecko GPS regardless. From what I hear, the Icelandic rely very heavily on them even when driving, especially in the winter. It seems sensible to have along.

There are also other sites that have write-ups of walks in Iceland that are helpful for background info such as making sure you have sunglasses, something to cover your face and gaiters against the volcanic dust storms that can blow up. One of the best I’ve found is Jonathan Ley’s A Hike Across Iceland which is fascinating reading.

It’s certainly not like we’re heading into uncharted wilderness but the lack of detailed information does make it rather fun planning.

19 Aug, 2008

I’ve been dropping hints about this for months now… finally I can show you the first prototype Cioch Liner Jacket.

Neil and Helen at Cioch may decide to call it something different if they ever decide to put it into production but at the moment “Liner Jacket” seems the most appropriate name. And since I “designed” it, that is what I’ll call it.

Well, I say I designed it, but it’s so simple that’s probably over-stating it. Helen and Neil also came up with some great tweaks particularly to the hood.

As you may have noticed, we both really enjoyed using the Glamaigs during the winter. I was not looking forward to going back to my eVent shell for the summer. Impressively breathable though it is. So I started wondering about how I could reduce the weight of the Paramo fabric based system even more.

A Paramo fabric based jacket is made of two fundamental parts; the outer and the pump-liner. The outer is there partly as a windproof but critically, it is there to slow raindrops down. If they hit the pump-liner at terminal velocity, they explode through it. Making you wet. But it struck me that I carry something just like that anyway during the summer; my Montane Litespeed jacket. Importantly, the Litespeed has a hood.

So surely, I thought, all you need is a pump liner on its own that you can wear under the Litespeed when it rains?

The answer is a resounding – yes!

You can see the design in the pictures. Bear in mind these were taken in a very stiff breeze so the material is rippling and plastered to me in places. (I am trying to do my best Eddy Meechan impression, but I haven’t got the eyes… the eyes…) Helen has come up with a good face panel that I’d not thought of. There are poppers instead of a zip and short sleeves to save weight.

I’m reserving final judgement on the short sleeves. They do save weight and I have only had one, brief couple of minutes when I had cold arms. And although wearing a micro-fleece under it meant the arms of the fleece got wet they were still warm and dried quickly. This is for summer use after all.

The only thing I’d change is the Velcro Omni Tape (they now seem to have re-branded it Anti Snag) volume adjuster at the back of the hood (Cioch don’t use Omni Tape – I supplied that to them). It should be vertical along the centre line of the head, allowing as much or as little of it to be overlapped as required to change the volume of the hood, but we got our wires a little crossed. But the hood fits so well I’m not convinced that it even needs a volume adjuster.

Price on application (to Cioch not me) but Neil reckons a maximum of £80. Weight is excellent at 252gms, bear in mind I’m not small. The event Rab Drilium that it replaces is 353gms. But for a full waterproof you also need the Litespeed: 186gms. Making a total of 438gms for the Liner + Litespeed. But of course I’d be carrying the Litespeed anyway. It’s too versatile during the summer not to.

So that’s a total of 539gms for the Drilium + Litespeed. Meaning an overall weight saving using the Liner Jacket of 101gms.

But the weight isn’t the main point for me. In fact I may even have considered carrying this if it worked out heavier. It being lighter is just a big bonus. The main point is the supreme breathability.

I’ve tried it in very warm conditions in late June during wet weather mixed with bright, hot sunny intervals and I found that it had my hoped-for massive comfort range. I would have been throwing my eVent jacket on and off regularly but with the liner jacket I hardly had to change at all.

So it might be warmer in a sense, it’s two layers, but they’re thin layers and they are as breathable as a T-shirt. Which means overall, even in summer conditions, you remain comfy.

Is it the perfect summer rain jacket? Well not quite, but as as I’ve said before; there’s no such thing as perfect kit.

The poppers are a slight fiddle. The fact that you have two jackets to throw on in a downpour is a slight extra faff. Though of course you’re less likely to be changing clothes so much as I’ve just mentioned.

Probably the worst point is that the hood has no peak. I’ve not had time to think about it in much depth. Maybe it could be given a stiffened brim but that may interfere with the brim of the Litespeed.

So far though I’ve had no problem since during the summer I walk with a Tilley hat (hey if Ryan Jordan and Chris Townsend love theirs who am I to argue?).

As you can see from the picture, it forms its own brim nicely. Again it’s not perfect, the rain does tend to run around and onto your cheeks. But for a very, very wet weekend in the Peaks recently it did me fine.

Does it keep me dry? Do I really need to say? Of course it does. Bone dry.

To give you an idea of how much I like it and already trust it, it will be coming to Iceland this week, a very wet place indeed, instead of the eVent jacket.