It's now a little over two months until the challenge starts. A lot has happened over the past few months . . .
There are now be three walkers intent on doing the whole JOG-LE. These are me, Brian North, and Tess Shellard. Mark Hobson will be attempting to walk the length of Scotland and will then be leaving us at Carlisle. At least ten other walkers have committed themselves to walking a few days or a week with us, and a number of others are thinking of joining us for a period.
That covers the two-legged walkers. The surprise addition to the team is Midge, a labrador x who will be a
bout sixteen months at the time of the Challenge. Many of you will be aware that Bonnie, my devoted lab, died of chronic kidney failure earlier this year. I was heartbroken. She would have loved to have come on the JOG-LE, but would not have managed the distances. I had no plans to get another dog. But an unexpected phone call, telling me how Midge's owners couldn't give her the exercise she craved, and wanted her to go to a good home, and could I help? She's a fine dog. Intelligent. Fit. Irresistable.
bout sixteen months at the time of the Challenge. Many of you will be aware that Bonnie, my devoted lab, died of chronic kidney failure earlier this year. I was heartbroken. She would have loved to have come on the JOG-LE, but would not have managed the distances. I had no plans to get another dog. But an unexpected phone call, telling me how Midge's owners couldn't give her the exercise she craved, and wanted her to go to a good home, and could I help? She's a fine dog. Intelligent. Fit. Irresistable.Obviously, given her tender age, I will need to make sure Midge doesn't overdo it. She will undoubtedly ride out part of the longer days in the support vehicle. Mind you, she is comfortably walking 15-20 miles a day at the moment, and still has a couple of months to go! There is something about walking with a dog that just makes it right.
One of the biggest obstacles over recent months has been the support vehicle. Ann unfortunately had to pull out due to illness in her family. Insurance has been a problem with hiring a minibus, so we may well be using my own estate car as support vehicle. I can change the insurance to cover any named driver easily enough. Although it has been described, unflatteringly, as a rust bucket, it has just been serviced and I am told it is a very sound motor. It also has character! As far as drivers go, we still need volunteers to drive three sections: Glasgow to Kendal (28/5 - 5/6), Youlgreave to Bath (12/6 - 22/6), and Exeter to Land's End (28/6 - 6/7).
Route-planning is coming on nicely. The route was laid out some time ago, and I am now in the process of fine-tuning where we will meet up with the support vehicle each day. This is especially important in areas where we cannot rely on mobile phone contact. Talking of route-finding, I bought my first GPS recently (Satmap). It's one of the most incredible pieces of kit I've come across. An electronic OS map with a blue dot showing your position and an arrow showing the direction you're walking. What could be easier? It's almost cheating.
Must get on. An awful lot still to do in two months. I'll be updating this blog a lot more frequently from here on in.
Hi Phil,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you again. I kept checking your blog weekly and I was beginning to wander if the whole adventure had fallen apart. I am looking forward to following your travels in the coming months especially with your new companion. I'm sorry to hear about Bonnie,I can relate to your loss as our Jack Lucy died in Dec from a stroke aged just 10 years. Enjoy your challenge as it maybe a once in a life time adventure which i hopr to do one day when the time is right.