*My great adventure* - "I think it's a good idea...

SillyHeatsink said:
When you brake with an ice axe, your head is tucked in to the slope and your heels up to prevent you from tumbling down the hill. Hence the recommendation for a helmet! If you don't bring a helmet, I'd leave the ice axes at home, they're dead weight.

The microspikes are dead handy on icy paths though, good buy! I have a set myself for general meandering.

I'll follow your blog with interest!
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Aye, I know what you mean. The axes are ultra light though, and there are only a couple of places where one might be needed. the main place is the snow chute leading up to Foresters Pass;

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By the way I lived in Norway for over 10 years. I lived further south in Langesund & Porsgrunn. Can hardly remember any Norwegian now though. We went back for a holiday last year and it was great. Went back to the south coast and up to Hardangervidda where we used to spend a lot of time. :)
 
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Looks tremendous! Norway is crackin, eh - I'm based in Ålesund, work in Brattvåg, Ulsteinvik, Hjørungavåg...lovely lively ferry every morning! What did you do over here?

Is there any chance I can beg/wheedle/bribe you into getting a helmet, if only to rent one for doing sections like in the pic above? I haven't done a lot of mountaineering, but have done quite a bit of ski touring, and wouldn't leave home without it. Go on, you know it makes sense!
 
SillyHeatsink said:
Looks tremendous! Norway is crackin, eh - I'm based in Ålesund, work in Brattvåg, Ulsteinvik, Hjørungavåg...lovely lively ferry every morning! What did you do over here?

Is there any chance I can beg/wheedle/bribe you into getting a helmet, if only to rent one for doing sections like in the pic above? I haven't done a lot of mountaineering, but have done quite a bit of ski touring, and wouldn't leave home without it. Go on, you know it makes sense!
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I went out there when I was 2, and came back when I was 12. We moved because of my dad's job for Hydro Polymers. It was a 1 years secondment, but 10 years later they were still there. It was a great place to be brought up, and I have very fond memories. Are you Norwegian, or did you move out there for work?

The helmet is no go I'm afraid. I have done a fair bit of ski touring myself (although not for a while. I really want to go skiing again!) and have some mountaineering experience in the alps, slovakia, norway etc. But for this expedition I am taking my equipment lists off the people who have done it before. The main way to success with a long distance hike like this is to keep the weight down. it is very different to mountaineering or a even a weekend tour. Having to travel 150 miles a week for 6 months with food for that whole time means that every gram needs to be accounted for, even if some corners have to be cut. Naturally there are some risks, but these need to be balanced against the fatigue caused by extra weight. The biggest risk out there isn't the snow (And this year is looking like it is going to be a low snow year in the Sierras) but river crossings. The glacial melt water will swell the rivers which can be very treacherous. Again, it is a risk but as long as we are sensible and take it slowly, we will be ok. :)
 
I'm from Northern Ireland originally, moved out here to do some engineering. I wish I'd grown up in Norway, what a terrific country.

Ok ok, you've talked me round...I'm sure you'll be grand without a helmet. A colleague has actually just pointed out to me that ten years ago, nobody wore helmets (and seeing someone in the backcountry with a transceiver/shovel/probe wasn't that common, either) and the death rates haven't really improved. So the statistics are on your side! An ABS backpack on the other hand, now you definitely need one of those...

On a different note, I think my wariness of ice axes stems from a time when I did some apres in Austria, and a group of half a dozen burly Germans rocked up after a tour, replete with ice axes. They started singing 'hey wie wollen die ice-axe sehen' and started ascending the ceiling beams of the pub whilst totally smashed. It all ended badly.

Anyhoo - have a great trip! Keep posting to the blog!
 
Big issue anyone?



Well today I wake up to my first day of being technically homeless! Yesterday we moved out of our flat of 3 1/2 years. Although the landlord was rubbish and we were surrounded by students, it was still sad to leave it as the view was great and the last few days in the sun on the quayside felt like we were on holiday and made us reflect at how lucky we have been living where we did.

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But we now have just over 3 weeks of living with the parents. I have 3.5 days left at work and Sarah has 5.5 days left. Moving out yesterday though just made everything a lot more real! :eek:
 
Fuzz said:
If you get attacked by a Mountain Lion, Don't worry, the bears will save you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://news.sky.com/home/strange-news/article/16198822

:D

Godspeed on your epic journey ahead.
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Hehe, like people would believe me if that happened!

Anyway, today's news is.... I now have no work for 7 months! I worked my last day of work and am not due back until the 5th of November! Get in! So now I have no home, and no job. Just time to finish sorting things out, and saying goodbye to people. This last few weeks is going fly fast me thinks! :)
 
I really hope you both have an awesome time and I wish you the very best of luck :) ...Its something I would dearly love to do .I look forward to reading all about your trip .
 
La Nina has started to take effect, here in Oregon the snow has really picked up in march. 150inches in some parts making it one of the snowiest marches on record. Certainly a lot of rain down here but my impression was there was not excessive new snow. Should be more snow this week but then spring may arrive.
 
D.P. said:
La Nina has started to take effect, here in Oregon the snow has really picked up in march. 150inches in some parts making it one of the snowiest marches on record. Certainly a lot of rain down here but my impression was there was not excessive new snow. Should be more snow this week but then spring may arrive.
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I hope it doesn't settle too much. I'm hearing that the snow pack is low, so even if it snows now, it should melt away quicker than usual. South California could do with more water though. But overall I want a lower snow level than usual, especially in the high sierras.
 
Last night of normality! Tomorrow we get the train down to Manchester Airport, ready to fly out to USA on Friday. We have about 6 days in San Diego, getting over jet lag and finishing resupply preparations etc, then we start walking north on the 26th! If we are on schedule, we won't stop walking until the 11th October!

If anyone wants to follow the updates as we go along, the blog is;

http://www.afowler.co.uk/adventures/

or follow us on twitter;

http://twitter.com/#!/bear_and_boy

We will be trying to write regular updates as we go along. If anyone wants to copy any updates into this thread, then feel free as I will be unlikely to get the chance to update this thread myself until the end of the year.

Farewell ocuk, and I'll see you on the other side of the wilderness. I'll leave you with a nice quote from T.S. Elliot;

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go"

:)
 
Best of luck! Hope you've been brushing up on your bushcraft aka Bear Grylls/Ray Mears. From what I remember from watching, bin liners, rope/string and a pocket knife/swiss army knife can get you out of most problems (do not quote me on that!).
 
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