All the gear , no idea!!

I’m being brave today – writing directly onto my phone ! Today has been a ( hopefully 16 mile) practice walk

Kathleen and I ( and our trusty four legged companion) setting off ! At this point , it really is all the gear , no idea! Ok so we know our boots are good – we both invested in these way back ( more detail in another entry) , we both have rucksacks allowing free movement of air round our backs , and we both have two walking poles ( again more info at a later date!) The thing is neither of us had used two walking poles before – well today we did! I can honestly say we’ve mastered the art of pole walking – we tried pole dancing but don’t think that’ll catch on 😂😂

Just in case you wondered- I can reliably inform you all that using one walking pole properly ( not mincing along with it!!) alleviates one stone from the opposing leg. How do I know this? Well under the instruction of our friend Lee, I visited a specialist Steve ( where he hasn’t been is not worth knowing, he has walked, climbed and trekked through everywhere possible – and in my view his knowledge is invaluable) When I asked him about walking poles he gave me this fact- well not only that , he produced a pair of bathroom scales and proved it ! When I looked perplexed, he explained he had many customers who were Yorkshire folk. Now for those of you who don’t know – Yorkshire folk are known to guard their pennies- the dearly beloved himself is known as Mr HOW MUCH Harding! and Steve explained he had the scales to demonstrate the evidence to these customers so they felt justified to part with their precious pennies!

So Kathleen and I marched on today feeling we were preserving our hips knees and ankles !!!! We had a coffee and rocky road stop ( most appropriate!) then proceeded to have lunch further along accompanied by a glass or two of the Amber nectar, then homeward bound!

Here we are, nearly home with 16 miles under our belt ( the dog at this point has rushed off to greet the photographer!!)

What an achievement- now we know we can do Day4 – oh just a minute we’ve also got a few long ( though less long) days before !! Come on we’re avid hikers now …….surely ???

There you go – two happy souls with a large gin and tonic each !!! Wait a minute – we’ve got to get up from the sofa …….watch this space!!!! At least now we have all the gear , and a modicum of idea!!!!!