Kinder Dozen with Chris 2021

 Ever since I first heard about the Kinder Dozen (it must have been before 2012, as that was when I first did it with Al, Jules and Brae), I knew of the then record, which was 5hours and 45 mins- or thereabouts. Insane levels of speed over rough terrain that were simply incomprehensible. I know Geoff Briggs who did that time (or something in the region of that time, records were hazier then), and was in awe. 

Not too long after, John Boyle went and did it in 5 hours and 25 mins- which raised the bar even higher. That level of speed is simply incredible. Especially when, on the 2012 "expedition" we managed to get around in just over 7 and a half hours. Taking a couple of hours off that- and then some? I doubt it! 

Indeed, a few years later Tom Saville took the time down to a quite frankly insane 4:23 which only goes to show just how damn good he is.

I didn't get to do the Dozen again for a few years. Other things kept getting in the way, like, I dunno, washing my hair. On New Years Day in 2020 I headed around with MarkD. We obviously had no idea quite how the pandemic would shape the world, or the world of fellrunning at that time- we had a great day out apart from a minor navigational mishap that occurred due to far to much chatting and having a good time. Again, just over 7.5 hours. I wasn't as knackered by that round as the first one, but then it was a lot less hot, and I'd had the most part of a decade to get fitter. 

Chris suggested we have a bit of a blat around the Dozen at some point over this period, mainly because we've been putting in a few decent weeks of hard hill training (that is, hard underfoot, not necessarily fast), it would be "fun" to do, and also, he's never done the round, so it would be a nice adventure. 

So up and at em for a 6:30am start from the house- Which I guess got us to Fairbrook for about 6:45, started our watches at the bridge and off we went. It was fully overcast, no cloud on top, not very breezy- so a pretty decent day- especially considering that the bracken hadn't even begun to show shoots yet. We went pretty light- food, emergency gear, a couple of water bottles and that was it. 

There was no plan for the speed of attack, no previous thoughts of splits. I'd merely told Lynne that we'd be about 6 or 7 hours, so back after lunch. 

Not much to tell about the first hill- apart from the fact we chatted all the way up Gateside, reminiscing about the 4 Inns a few years back when we'd taken much the same line, to the top, then down the Wicken to Blackden. A bit of a stop and faff to make sure we weren't going too low, and to remind ourselves to take the *right* line, not go up the main track like Mark and I did last time(!). A fairly fun scramble up through a load of heather, and along and up to the fence by the notch in the top- indicating the grough that leads straight to the trig, a curve around the trig, reminiscing about the midwinter  15 trigs we did a while back and how screwed we were by the time we got there- before heading back to the edge path and back down the hill past Jubilee cabin. 

Down to the bottom and a thought... we'd probably better eat something as the porridge energy that started us out was probably all gone by now. Slog back to the top, chewing on some form of "mars" bar from lidl, and in short order, back down again to Jaggers. All the way through we were catching up on life, stuff and chewing the fat over a number of subjects ranging far and wide. 

Hit the bottom of Jaggers- don't forget to go to the gate, and then up the hill to the top that isn't really a top (Chris was a little disappointed that we didn't actually need to go higher), and then a bit of a fun jinky line through heather, looking for sheep trods that were barely there as we jogged down to the Yha in Edale. Touch the stile, turn and head back up the clough. Fairly wet and manky all the way up, but hey, it was like that (and full of bloody bracken) last time I came down there on the Kinder Killer last year. A fair old stomp to the top, and we saw the first other person on the hill since we started- a walker, quite a way away. Circle round the Druids stone, along the top for a short time before diving back down into Ollerbrook and away from people again. At the bottom, we looked up at the crags and thought- "where have we seen that before?"... ah yes, an attempt at the "Ladder to the stars"- the Heart of Darkness- which I don't think I ever actually blogged about... have to get around to it at some point- anyhow, back up Ollerbrook and a bash through some heather to gain a scramble to the top- a faff as we ran up to the cairn at the top of Ringing Roger. After a short debate we decided to go to the highest one, because, hey, it's all about the ascent, right? Before coming down into Edale and seeing more people than we wanted to. 

All the way down past hash smoking groups of people to the Nags head, touch the wall, a look at the watch... sub 3 hours? that's a surprise! An immediate right turn and back up toward Grindsbrook knoll, where we happened across surprisingly few people. The cloud was beginning to set in as we got to the top- about 3 hours or so in. There was a moment of navigational amusement at the top of the knoll as we couldn't work out where we'd come from or where we were going, and very nearly a very confident setting off in the direction of Edale again... before we came to our senses and dropped off in the right direction, again, away from people and into the peat hags underfoot. We took a crappy line, but eventually found a trod that took us to the bottom of the next clough (remember to go ALL the way down to touch the gate), before filling our water bottles at a very Springy spring and heading up to Crowden Castles. Quite a boggy and rutted affair this one, but thankfully pretty free of people until we got to the top. 

Continuing to stuff food down our necks we descended (again on a terrible line) to the bottom of Jacobs ladder and the suspected hordes of people- where again, we were pleasently surprised not to have to fight through lots of people on the way up to Edale Cross. Yes there were a few people, but not what we were expecting. 

Hitting Edale Cross and then down on the Kinder Downfall line the clag had steadily begun to build, as had the breeze from the West. We were beginning to tire, but were happy to have finished the South side of Kinder, only 3 more climbs to go now. There was the thought to scramble up the nose to Kinder Low, but the thought of the trod and the steps up Kinderlow end won out, so we took the longer line around to the gate and up the hill instead of a sharp bash up the way. Up to the top, and into the murk, avoiding as many people as possible, hit the trig and then a lovely little route down to Cluther rocks where we fouled up a bit and faffed around the rocks for considerably more time than was optimal... oops.... before we found our way out of the rocks, and back to a faint trod that took us to the bottom of the line and faced the ridiculous climb up Sandy heys. 

On the way up we could hear some very loud and raucous people over towards Kinder Corner- so we concentrated on keeping our heads down, moving well uphill, and generally taking the most efficient line that we could that would get us away from them post haste. Up to the top, direct to the trig, and off towards Upper Red Brook, reversing the old Trigger line from back in the day and a sneaky dive off to the right to pick up the Ashop track down to the bridge. 

Ooh look! a trig

 A final gel as we stomped our way up to Fairbrook naze and the mushroom stone at the top- some trods, followed by the steepest climb of the day- hands were a necessity- before a delightful run off the top (stopping only to go thigh deep in a bog) all the way down to the bridge and stop the watch in ... 5:39? 

Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine doing that in less than 6 hours. That's for superhumans only. To say I'm chuffed to bits is an understatement- genuinely astonished and proper stoked- especially as we kept to what felt like a pretty conservative (but continuous) pace all the way around. 

Ok, I didn't particularly want to go much further- my right hip/SIJ was playing up a bit by the end, but wow. Happy with that.

Standing in the Ashop at the end.

My Stuff is broke! how do I fix it?

I break things. However, when then eventually break, I do try to mend them- partially because I dislike having to buy new stuff if I don't think it has reached its full life capacity, partially because by the time I DO break things the manufactuers have moved on and I can't actually get the thing anyway, and partially because I dislike throwing things away because of minor breakages and issues. 

There are a few products that I use on a fairly regular basis which form the core of my "fix things" workshop. It is useful to note here that I am in NO WAY a repair professional, and anything I say here is basically me just trying things to see if they work. 

With that in mind, here we are:

Shoe repairs

Stormsure glue. I love this stuff. The ones I buy tend to come in packs of 3 small tubes. I know that if you buy a big single tube it is probably better value, but you have to remember that you need to stick it in your freezer if you want it to be any use after the first time you open it. I seldom do that and end up with a semi used tube of glue that just goes off in the tube. Not useful. 

What have I used this for? Essentially sticking shoes back together, sticking soles back onto shoes, generally gluing footwear back to itself. I use small G-clamps to hold the sole and upper in place for 24 hours after gluing, and that seems to work pretty well. No, it does not make the shoe "good as new", and yes there is some degredation of the glue, however, it does prolong the life of your inov8s. 

 

Wetsuit repairs

Black Witch. This stuff is amazing. Neoprene in a tube? Or something along those lines. Because of the way I swim it seems that my wetsuits are particularly susceptible to rips under the armpits. My alpkit Lotic did it pretty much from brand new, which was a bit of an issue, and after a year of stress, my huub has started to do the same thing. Ok, so Black witch is a bit of a stopgap for these areas which are under high stress, but it does seem to work very well. 

wetsuit awaiting repair. (again)

Also if you are clumsy/have a propensity to stick your fingernails through your wetsuit, then this is the stuff you need to repair it. It seems pretty easy to store as I've had the same tube for about 2 years and it hasn't turned into solid craziness in the tube in that time. 

 

Fingertip repairs (I'm not kidding)

Get cracked fingertips in the winter? Need a good answer? Superglue. Brilliant stuff. I bought this one from the local hardwear store, and it has been brilliant. Normally, superglue ends up gluing itself to itself, but this stuff has stayed useful for a good couple of years despite it being open. No, superglue doesnt appear to be dangerous to you... it was originally developed to glue soldiers back together in the Vietnam war (unless that is just a myth?). 

This stuff has also been used for multiple superglue like things as well as sticking me back together- so yes, can highly recommend this stuff. 

 

Goretex patches

Comes with a square patch and a circular patch- stickybacked so that it is easy to apply. I've used it on a few things now, not just Goretex, but also eVent trousers with no problem at all. It has stayed stuck on much longer than any other tape/attempted repairs with other things in the past, so yes, I'm going to say that these repair patches are very very much worth the money. 

 

Yes, the patches are black. This is the peel off backing.

Tenacious tape

Using Ducktape/gorrilla tape/helicoptor tape to repair things? Fine and dandy, but you might be missing out on tenacious tape. I've used this as backing for a lot of things, taping up holes and other bits and bobs for ages. Strong, clear (or at least, the version I have is clear), and generally excellent. 

ok, so it didn't work quite as well here.

The only time it hasn't worked was when I was using very small pieces to cover over small holes in pertex in a pair of mittens. It worked for a short time, and then didn't. Probably because they were being used a lot. 

 

Other stuff which might come in handy

To be fair, all this stuff is just stuff I have at home. They don't come out with me on the hill or on a trip (though I might start putting a tube of Stormsure and a roll of tenacious tape in a kit for the bike or hike bag, just for good measure). 

Other things that I either have around - or carry with me on the hill are: 

Spare shoe laces. 

Kevlar thread and a needle.

Zip ties.

Which is generally enough to fix things up where necessary and get me off the hill for a more thorough repair. 

What do you use to fix your stuff? What am I missing?

 

Walking (&MRT) gear 2021

 Having had some comments and feedback about the Running gear that I'm using at the moment (Jan 2021), I was looking through my kit and thought there are some useful bits and bobs that I'm also using

on a fairly regular basis, just not for running. Call it walking- or MRT kit- that doesn't actually fall into the running category. 

As a continuing education for those who don't know about Mountain Rescue, everyone is a volunteer in MR, and although we do get some kind of kit either as a national or a local team, we don't get everything needed to go on the hill and so our hillgoing kit is very much personal and funded by each individual. 

The majority of teams will give out the following clothing:

Goretex jacket and pants/salopettes, primaloft "belay" jacket, paramo windproof, baselayers. 

Other kit will include a radio a helmet, eye and hearing protection for around helicopters maybe a search torch and a head torch and spare batteries. 

With that in mind, here is what I'm using for bimbling around the hills (sometimes at a pace). 

Baselayer

As before, I use Helly Hansen lifa baselayers. When it gets cold I use the "Warm" hellys, which are merino layers with a lifa backing. I use these as I have ecsema and Merino on its own really doesn't work on my skin. 

Midlayer

Over the baselayer the best thing I have ever used, bar none- is my Mountain Equipment Ultratherm.

Grid fleece backed pertex top, big zip pocket that you can roll the whole thing into for storage, full zipped AND it has an amazing hood- which zips away. Windproof, but not waterproof, it's a little too warm for anything faster than a slow run, but for walking- brilliant. ME keep making it, and then not making it, and then making it again. I don't know where they are on the cycle at the moment. They make something kind of similar with a much fluffier fleece in it- the Kinesis Jacket- but I don't think it is windproof

Warm layer 

Although I have an abiding love for my berghaus hypertherm, for walking I have a full zipped rab primaloft jacket. It's about the same weight as the Hypertherm in terms of insulation (so it really is not a full on belay jacket), but along with the other layers, it is plenty warm enough for all the stuff I need it for. (I don't think they even make it anymore- the closest they have is the Xenon jacket). Looking at Ultralightoutdoorgear the closest you're going to come is a Zipped Patagonia nanopuff, a Haglofs LIM Barrier or a Montane Icarus type thing

In MRT terms, we have a Buffalo special 6 and a Mountain Equipment Fitzroy- which is a brilliant bit of kit. The Buffalo gets used sometimes, but the fitzroy is carried or used ALL the time.

Waterproof

I have a "walking" waterproof- its a Goretex proshell (mountain hardwear Argon... crikey Ive had it
since 2010!) that I picked up cheap somewhere. It's *ok*, but not a lot more that I can say about it. The hood is nowhere near as good as my old Mountain Equipment Changabang, it's actually probably more of a climbing jacket than a walking jacket, and I'd much rather wear my OMM Aether smock. To be honest, I barely use the Argon and would prefer to buy another one- but don't really have the need to. 

In MRT terms we have a proshell. It depends on the team which Goretex jacket you get. Some go with the ME MRT Kongur, I've seen paramo, there is an Arcteryx version. etc,

So I couldn't find a picture of me in waterproofs. So have a look at this one instead.

Trousers

I should call this "legwear" really. I used to swear by softshell trousers in the hills, until I finally got around to buying a pair of Powerstretch tights. They are normally sold as Baselayer, but I now use them as a matter of course when walking (or MRTing) on the hill. They're warm, have a fair amount of windproofness about them, dry quickly, and feel fine with a pair of waterproof trousers over them. Ok, they aren't the most dignified bit of kit in the world, and I *probably* wouldn't go to a pub in them, but in terms of kit that works. These Work. 

Waterproof trouser-wise, I use the Montane eVent trousers mentioned in the previous blog if its not really going to be that bad. If the weather is properly minging, then its straight on with a pair of Mountain Equipment Hardshells (probably the Kongurs, but I don't remember). I have a personal pair and a pair for MR use. Bombproof. If I'd have bought a pair of Rab, or Arcteryx, or whatever, I'd probably be saying the same thing. Whatever the brand, if you're going to be out in crap weather, they are VERY much worth investing in.

Footwear

I have to confess to not really wearing boots anymore at all. I just got fed up of having leaking boots. I must have sent back 3 pairs of the same damn boot after wearing them for a grand total of 6 walks that ended up leaking. Just not good. So I accept Im going to get wet feet and wear fell shoes. The inov8 Arctic Claws are my preferred shoe now as I can fit 2 sets of socks in them at the same time (as in a liner and a neoprene). Unfortunately- as with quite a few things here, you can't get the things anymore! Such a shame.

Rucksacks

I have a couple, ok, 3... no, 4 walking rucksacks according to the needs of the walk. The Massive one is a Montane 70 litre Grand Tour which takes everything and more. It truely is a ridiculous size. As ever, its an old version, but there are other 70 litre packs around.

The one I use mostly for day hikes and battering around hills is the OMM Adventure 20, which, unsurprisingly, as with all my stuff, they don't make any more. However, they DO make a new version with a zip pocket rather than a clip.

The larger 35 litre is the OMM Jirischenca, it used to be my MRT sack as well, but is now for lightweight camping adventures. 

The one I currently use for MRT is a Salomon Peak40. It fits everything in it and has an inordinate amount of pockets around the harness to keep radios, phones, masks, gloves, snacks, compass, extra lights etc. to hand for immediate use. I really hate having to stop and get stuff out of my bag when on a shout- if it is all to hand, so much the better. The back is a bit long for me, and I'd love to try an Outweek 38+6 with the short back length, but unfortunately Im not made of money! (and it looks like it might soon not be made anymore.... Classic.

Poles

Leki Micro Vario Carbons. Got them for the Spine. Used them on and off ever since.  

Gloves

As previously mentioned, I tend to use Mitts these days. I have a really old pair of Montane Extreme mitts with Goretex outers and a pair of Montane resolute mitts. When One of those is drying I borrow Lynnes Primaloft Mountain Equipment Mitts. I have no idea which model they are, but they are LOVELY. 

It' quite nice going through all your stuff and working out what you do and don't use. The most obvious thing that I've noticed doing this little exercise is just how much of my stuff has proved to be really robust and resilient over a number of years. So much so that there are a number of items that you literally cannot buy any more. 

I've also noticed that I have quite a lot of stuff by Mountain Equipment. This is partially because they have a factory pretty close to us and occasionally have factory sales, and partly because the stuff just seems to fit me well. 

I know that clothing companies have to stay in business, and they have to keep making upgrades and different clothing lines, changing things through seasons, and that is fine. It is also evident that the lighter weight you go, the more fragile the item. This is one of the reasons why I still haven't invested in a Shakedry jacket yet. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to have one, but simply can't justify the cost for the fact that I'm probably going to trash it within a few months.

At the end of the day, when you're talking about the relative merits of waterproofs I am reminded of a test I did back in 2009. There were 5 of us in brand new jackets, from ME, Arcteryx, Rab, MHW and someoneelse that I can't remember. We did a day of scrambling in the wet in Wales. By the end of the day we were ALL wet through. A waterproof will NOT keep you entirely dry, no matter how much you spend on it. Have a read of the review of Mike Parsons book- and then read the book.

Epic day out. Doesn't matter what you're wearing. You're going to get wet.