First time with full pack....feeling battered and nervous

[Melaniet1987]

So, as part of our West Highland Way/Ben Nevis training (which we will undertake in just over 7 weeks, yesterday we decided to load up our packs with a similar weight to what we will carry and get out there and try it out.

We are lucky enough to live right on the Deeside Way so we left our house in Drumoak and headed to Banchory, stopped for lunch and came back which amounted to just over 24k, a similar distance to many WHW days we will be walking.

When I got home and took of my pack (which weighed around 11kg) I literally felt like a broken woman. My whole body ached, presumably because I have never walked with this or any weight on my back before, apart from day packs with some food and water on our latest Munro adventures and I could barely walk. I felt a bit uncomfortable towards the end of the walk but nothing compared to how I felt when I took the bag off and settled down for the evening. This morning I have woken up and I am a little stiff but not as bad as last night. I was really panicking that I have got myself into something I cannot do.

7 weeks to go and I think I have LOTS more training to do to get used to carrying that pack, but any tips to make things easier would be much appreciated. Thankfully I had no blisters (yet!) but I am worried I will hold up the two people I am walking with, or worse, not be able to complete the challenge which we are doing for charity.

I guess I just really wanted to share my experience with people who may have felt similar after starting out with long distance walking and camping so thanks for listening!!!!

[NickyRannoch]

7 weeks is plenty time to get to fitness.

First day will be hard and you will feel it on morning 2. You will walk it off and build strength as you go.

[abbruce]

You've done the right thing in walking with the pack you'll have & 7 weeks is plenty time.

The Deeside line is an ideal training route, although after a couple of weeks, you should try & mix the terrain.

Round Glentanar or Blackhall forests would be good. If you plan on doing any other hills before you go, I'd suggest taking your full pack with you then as well, even if it's just up Scolty.

Walking poles might help, even until you get used to a few hours of walking with the pack.

Good luck, with the preparation you're doing, I'm sure you'll be fine.

[walkingpoles]

Probably it is enough to do some more training rounds. You'll be fine. No need to have the training rounds as long as 24km.

3 points to check:
Did you carry a new pack? Was it comfy? Is there proper support at the hips? Like shoes, new packs have to be worn in. If you simply overstuffed your day pack, it might not be comfy by design. Likewise if you used some ancient army model you found in somebodys attic.

Go over your packing list. Maybe you can scrape off a kg.

Did you use walking poles?

[Melaniet1987]

Round Glentanar or Blackhall forests would be good. If you plan on doing any other hills before you go, I'd suggest taking your full pack with you then as well, even if it's just up Scolty.

Walking poles might help, even until you get used to a few hours of walking with the pack.

I did consider going up Scolty with the pack in prep for the different terrain, up and down etc. I take the dog to Glentanar quite frequently and it has a good mixture of terrain so that's a great idea!

I bought walking poles but thought they would be needed more when doing Nevis (will be carrying a day pack only on Nevis)

Thanks for the support! I am really excited about the walk, just need to get my confidence up!

[Melaniet1987]

Probably it is enough to do some more training rounds. You'll be fine. No need to have the training rounds as long as 24km.

3 points to check:
Did you carry a new pack? Was it comfy? Is there proper support at the hips? Like shoes, new packs have to be worn in. If you simply overstuffed your day pack, it might not be comfy by design. Likewise if you used some ancient army model you found in somebodys attic.

I did wonder if 24k was a bit ambitious for the first time with the pack on!

The pack was borrowed from a friend who does regular trek and is similar size and weight to me, its a vango 60+10L. It felt pretty comfortable whilst walking. Sat in a good position on my hips, although they did feel a little tender after (almost like a bruised feeling?) I wonder if this was just my hips not being used to carrying weight. Back and shoulders felt absolutely fine!

Have seen a good few posts around here on packing lists for WHW so will review and see if I can cut down anything!

[Sgurr]

You don't have to be a heroine. Get a baggage transfer company. They don't break the bank, then you can enjoy it.

There are several, you can take your pick
http://amsscotland.co.uk/

These days, I only carry a full pack if it is absolutely the only way I can get to bag a particular hill, and as you can see, it almost reduces me to crawling. The next day it stayed in the bothy while I went up the hill with a tiny folding rucksack. However, you may be too proud to. I am late 70s and have no pride.

[EileanB]

Every little bit of weight you can get rid of helps.
I have a regular companion for LDP's and the night before we set off we go through each other's pack. Anything deemed unnecessary is chucked out, and has to be argued back in.
11kg is a lot, especially if you are not used to carrying that kind of weight. As Sgurr said, there is a lot to be said for baggage transfer. I haven't gone down that route yet but that is because I long ago decided I couldn't carry a tent, and I b&b and hostel it.

[Arthurs Eat]

A few years ago I,was walking and camping in Patagonia. It had been years since I carried a full pack and this me weighed in at around 25kg due having to carry most of our food for the week. While heavy, after a week of lugging my new friend around, a back complaint I had for years seemed to sort itself out. I did a work up to this walk and got an unexpected payoff. So the moral is train hard fight easy.

[Robinho08]

That's a huge rucksack for 11kg. The rucksack itself must be around 2kg? What's your kit list? Bound to be able to shed some weight.

[Melaniet1987]

Hi everyone, regarding the baggage transfer companies, if I was doing this for leisure I would 100% use one of these, however this is a charity challenge in aid of a local dementia charity who looked after my friend (and fellow walker's) Dad before he sadly passed away this year so to use a baggage transfer company would almost feel like "cheating" if you know what I mean.

I will post my kit list later on and get your thoughts on shaving off some weight, that would be really useful.

Thanks
x

[Robinho08]

You're definitely not cheating if you use the baggage transfer service. Might be for charity but you still want to enjoy yourself and increase your chances of completing the Way.

[Fairweather Softie]

Use the baggage transfer, done WHW twice, once carrying pack, once using the transfer service, I would never think of doing another long distance walk again carrying a bag if I had option, in fact did 4 days of the Isle of Man costal walk this year and paid a taxi company to do baggage transfer for us.

The charity challenge is to walk between Glasgow and FW, trust me after 6 days of walking your feet will feel challenged.

[Sgurr]

This is beginning to remind me of the thread we had from the guy who wanted to climb the Ben wearing some sort of mask that would make it feel as hard as Everest to raise money.

Does the fact that it is for charity mean you have to behave like flagellants?

Who sets these rules?

Believe me, the really hard bit in these hard times is getting the sponsors and most of them will be looking at the credentials of the charity not demanding that you snorkel Loch Ness in a clown's suit before they will put their hands in their pockets.

[Melaniet1987]

This is beginning to remind me of the thread we had from the guy who wanted to climb the Ben wearing some sort of mask that would make it feel as hard as Everest to raise money.

Does the fact that it is for charity mean you have to behave like flagellants?

Who sets these rules?

Believe me, the really hard bit in these hard times is getting the sponsors and most of them will be looking at the credentials of the charity not demanding that you snorkel Loch Ness in a clown's suit before they will put their hands in their pockets.

Your point is a fair one, but I don't think my challenge is quite as extreme as what you mentioned above....

I am going to crack on with training and see how I go. I have read various reports and watched videos of people who have carried their packs the whole way. I am in pretty good fitness and with 7 more weeks of good training, I think I can do it. I would love to be able to complete it with the pack as a personal achievement.

However, I am not going to be stupid about it. If I am still feeling the way I did the other day then I will 100% look into using the baggage transfer service. The last thing I want is to be miserable for the entire week!