New Valley Hills

• My body shape didn’t change, but I did lose 4kg. I shrank a bit in diameter.
• Insomnia still happened, despite being physically exhausted I continued to wake up in the small hours.
• Anxiety and nightmares still happened, I just had a smaller list to fret about. I used my mental toolkit to box those thoughts away.
• I had lots of space to think. I’m an imaginative type, my head had a blast. Some days it felt like I walked for hours in my head, my eyes on autopilot for walking obstacles, as I daydreamed pleasantly.
• I had not time at camp for podcats or music – too tired. Setup, eat, shower, more eating, sleep!
• My world doesn’t have to be complicated to be rich with enjoyment.
• Small acts bring happiness- the coast path walkers only cupboard with tea and coffee; the three closed campsite that never turn away walkers; the campsites that turns away vehicles because of heavy rain but not walkers.
• To everyone who has served me in shops – thank you very much. I do not take for granted your welcome and supplying of sustenance and a few simple words. I did not get stroppy when the choice was limited – I was grateful your shop was open and had food.
• Thank you trail angels. They restored me. I’ll post separately about them.
• I had a twinge of sadness as I left the last campsite – goodbye adventure!
• Booking tomorrows campsite was a good thing – it gave me a bit of flexibility but also the peace of mind I knew where my flop place was going to be if the day got tough. I did book further ahead sometimes but in retrospect that tied me down too much.
• When I’m anxiety I overeat, and this meant some days I overshopped and had to carry tomorrows food weight unnecessarily.
• Having the internet was great, though often the aggregate information sources such as Google were wrong for things like opening hours.
• Do not really on campsite shops. More often than not they didnt provide for me.
• Phoning campsites was the best way to deal with them. Emails and onlone forms sometimes went unanswered.
• Alcohol ruins my sleep – it’s conclusive! One glass of beer or wine is fine, anything more is just bad for my recuperation time.
• Packing your fears is a real thing – I sent home 4 parcels of stuff I realised I didnt need, though I acquired different worn clothing. My bag got marginally lighter as a result – bag at start, at end.
• Buying really cheap clothing from Mountain Warehouse made me more confortable than my expensive Rohan stuff. Horses for courses!
• Ponchos for the win! The Froggs Toggs wasnt ideal as it was heavy, the arm holes let rain, and it got snagged easily and then leaked, in but it was a great start in my research for the perfect poncho. I run really hot when hiking, and the poncho helped me vent persperation.
• The gaitors were great. they did their job plus were a talking point especially for women.
• In general I found lone women more friendly than lone men.
• I was pleasantly surprised that there were slightly more lone women than lone men thruhiking and wild camping. The path felt a very safe place.
• The only time I didnt feel safe was when vehicles were concerned – campsites with car movements when I was in my tent – everything sounds louder and closer -, and walking on roads or pavements.
• A chest pack is most useful. Some days my backpack stayed on all day – my day’s needs were on my chest or shoulder strap pouches.
• Toe socks are fab! They solved ALL my toe blister isues. I am converted.
• My footwear choice was perfect for the conditions. The Topo Athletic Ultraventure Pro lasted the entire trip though by the end they’d compressed and the insoles were worn out so were not particularly comfortable and the lugs were worn down so they were a bit slippy. For hotter conditions I’d look for a Topo model which was more breathable.
• Walking with wet feet all day was fine in the end. No foot maseration or trench foot. The shoes were free draining meaning water got pumped out by foot action. Slothing through streams wasnt an issue.
• My feet were in better condition at the end than the beginning. They feel strong and I have no nail or skin issues.
• I feel over twice in 1014kms. I did slip quite a lot but stronger ankles, legs, core, and arms with poles kept me up.
• My weak ankles got tougher. I only twisted twice, and by the end I was noticeably more confident about walking over rough terrain.
• The calf muscle tear injury – where did that go? It seemed to disappear and never cause major issues again. I have no idea what happened.
• Apart from 2 days at the end, wearing shorts was fine in the wind and rain. It was only when the day temperature dropped to 12C I sharted shivering on trail. If sunburn wasnt an issue I’d have worn them from the off, but the late heatwave at the start of September meant I had to cover up with long clothes.
• About halfway along the walking stopped being the difficult bit. The grit was waking up each morning and doing it again. The first 30 minutes of walking were always slow as I woke my grumbling muscles, joints and feet; after that – full speed ahead. Though I did listen to my body and changed pace and gait if twinges started.
• At the beginning the journey ahead seemed overwhelming; I had to talk myself into treating each day on it’s own to avoid chickening out. There were plenty of type 2 fun moments. Several times I thought about giving up as I was miserable, cold, wet, tired etc – I said to myself ‘see this day out, then decide tomorrow if you want to quit’ – that tomorrow never came! I’m immensely proud of myself to see this through to the end – a 47 day project that is mine to own.
• Living outdoors toughens you up. I got used to the cold and as long as I kept moving and generating heat I was fine.
• My one luxury was the Birkenstock platic sandals. Having something to pop on in the evening around the campsite or walking to shops and takeaways was nice for my feet to get away from the wet, smelly shoes. Also I used many minging showers and these kept me off those surfaces.
• I used the same carrier bag for 47 days for food shopping, and a sturdy plastic bag from a breskfast cereal as my bin bag. I did not drop a single piece of litter – everything was disposed of correctly. Leave no trace!
• Having a spare pair of shorts, tshirt and both sock layers meant I could swap them around each day. If possible I’d wash a set and dry during the day. It was a huge psychological boost to put on ‘clean’ clothes each morning.
• A nightly shower kept me sane. The 3 wildcamp nights a bed bath in the tent with wetwipes and the buff with a little water was a less than ok substitution but far better than nothing.
• I did not miss cooking hot food or coffee. I bought one hot meal a day, a warm takeaway such as a pasty, and the rst was snacks, fruit, cake, nuts etc.
• By the end I was fedup of pasties, sausage rolls, Snickers bars, peanut M&Ms and Soreen malt loaf.
• The OS Maps app on my phone with a subscription so I was able to download before I left the 1:25K scale Landranger maps for the entire 1014kms was very useful.

Photograph your guidebook! Mine took a battering, got dogeared from use and glued together from rain. It just survived.