T - 8

---

Just over a week to go but, more importantly, only one weekend left before I begin the long trip to Nepal. Not 100% convinced I've got everything ready and even less convinced I'm fit in enough to for the trek.

So this weekend is my last chance to spend some time on the hills and get the legs and, perhaps more importantly, the lungs in as good as shape as possible to face what I'm going to put them through up near the roof of the world. Strange phrase that - the Himalaya are not the roof of the world. A roof covers the building below it. The Himalaya most certainly do not cover the planet lying around below their sprawling feet.

Anyway, this weekend I need hours on the hills, thousands of feet of ascent. So, I've booked myself into the familiar Tyn-y-coed (an old coaching inn I was last at back in January for a winter skills course weekend) in Capel Curig in Snowdonia. The weather looks fairly clear so I've picked a couple of harsh hikes. Escape the office tomorrow afternoon and drive the three to four hours to Capel Curig. Rise early on Saturday and drive the few miles up the hill and down the valley to the wee hamlet of Bethania far below the heights of Snowdon. A wide, sweeping horseshoe of a route will deliver a total ascent of 6,270 feet and five summits; Gallt y Wenallt, Y Llwedd, Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), Garnedd Ugain, and Yr Aran. An equal amount of descent hiding behind that ascent figure of course. Retire back to the Tyn-y-coed for a night's rest. Sunday morning I'll be driving up to Ogwen cottage and ascending the formidable slopes of Y Garn before scampering along the tumbling ridge to the summits of Foel Goch, Mynydd Perfedd, and Carnedd y Filiast before reversing the trip to escape back home for a welcome bath and some sleep ahead of Monday morning.

Monday morning. I mentioned in the past that the last hygiene / health check before the trip was a visit to the poorly disguised sadism of the dentist. That was today and I've now got two more appointments next week to deal with a couple of bits that are probably fine but I'd rather have done before I go so I don't have to worry about them when I'm trekking through the wilderness. So Monday morning is the first of them - a couple of fillings to be replaced and a wee exploratory guddle about in another bit that's a bit chipped. There'll be a visit to the totally undisguised evil of the hygienist later in the week. This may sound bad but, for me, that's nothing. You may not know this but I go through this (and much more) every couple of years or so. I once went to a new dentist back in Sussex for an initial check-up prior to registering with them. The dentist had a look and a poke and said "Erm, yeah, no problems there, I don't think I need to see you in the usual six months - leave it twelve." Some may have taken that as positive news. I looked him in the eye as he told me this and could see the fear. He was too scared to tackle the work. I never went back to him. So nothing major (relatively) on the dental front but it will make next week even harder in terms of getting to the point where I can escape.

Enough about such gory subjects. Mountains await. The last piece of kit still hasn't arrived. I ordered a sleeping bag from a company called Bronze Moon outdoors more than a month ago now. I'm not convinced they're even a real company. I've never managed to speak to a human on the phoneline that claims to be theirs. Have exchanged a number of emails (from a company calling itself Anglo Pacific trading). Those were quite funny too. They claimed to have sent it and gave me a royal mail reference for an item that had already been delivered to a place near Aylesbury. I dropped them a polite note back and they said they'd send out another one. That was two weeks ago. So I've pretty much given up on them. I'll be ordering another one tonight - not from them of course. I only tell you this story so the next time someone searches the web for whether they should order from Bronze Moon, they might find this.

Otherwise, the kit list is complete (I think and hope).

• Multiple thermal underpants (various)
  
• Multiple short-sleeved base layers (various)
  
• Multiple long-sleeved base layers (various)
  
• 2 x high-wicking mid layer (Stormlite (still my favourite mid layer despite having spent a small fortune on failed replacements), Berghaus)
  
• Multiple thermal mid layer (various)
  
• Multiple pairs three season hiking socks (Brasher)
  
• Multiple pairs four season socks (Brasher)
  
• Multiple pairs liner socks (1000 mile, brasher, karrimor)
  
• Multiple pairs thermal socks (for the evenings)
  
• 2 x pair liner gloves (one thermal)
  
• 2 x pair four season gloves (Terra Nova Extremities)
  
• 1 pair gore tex gaiters (Terra Nova Extremities)
  
• 2 x waterproof trousers
  
• 2 x zip-off hiking trousers (craghoppers)
  
• 1 x lined trousers (craghoppers)
  
• My trusty Raichle Gore Tex Hiking boots
  
• Brasher Gore Tex hiking/approach shoes
  
• YakTrax (I think I've decided not to take my crampons and stick to these for crossing ice)
  
• Down jacket (Craghoppers)
  
• my trusty old gore tex hiking jacket (lowe alpine)
  
• 2 x warm fleece mid-layers (Craghoppers)
  
• silk sleeping bag liner (for comfort)
  
• thermalon thermal sleeping bag liner (for warmth)
  
• inflatable travel pillow (but I rarely use it - clothes inside a dry bag is more comfortable)
  
• lightweight, fast-drying travel towel
  
• Supermicro trekking pole (Leki - I think I've decided not to take my ice axe)
  
• a vast collection of drugs and supplements - biobalance tablets, rehydration sachets, ibuprofen, paracetamol, diarrhoea tablets, strepsils, cod liver oil, multi vitamins, zinc tablets, and diamox (just in case the altitude gets me)
  
• water treatment tablets (chlorine & neutraliser)
  
• a small collection of hygiene goods - antiseptic wipes, antiseptic hand wash gel, biodegradable camp wash, shampoo leaves, deodorant wipes
  
• 2 x head torch
  
• hiking first aid kit
  
• spartan penknife (victorinox)
  
• tiny little mp3 player
  
• old phone and wind-up charger
  
• compact digital camera
  

My goodness that's a lot of kit. And I'll bet you I've forgotten some too. And all that will fit snuggly inside my Mountain Equipment Wet & Dry Duffel bag and will add up to a total weight of just under 15kg. Did you note the level of confidence with which I stated that? It may be misplaced.

Well, I'm off to order a warm sleeping bag, pack the kit for the weekend, and then try to get some sleep.

---