To start, the route for Day 6, omitted from the last post.
So, the big question was would I be able to carry a pack that was larger than my usual day sack and keep doing that for several days? I could have left out my hat and gloves but you never know!
Got my packing about right, change of clothes, wash stuff and a supply of fruit and nuts etc. Had a small flask for coffee and some bags if I needed to make it and a water bladder which I could fill each day. Although I took two poles I only used the second on a steep up hill climb for a short time, didn’t always use on at all.
All the distances were greater than expected so feel much more confident with the carrying greater weight for distance than when I set off and the rucksack – a ladies for 40 lite from Mountain Warehouse was very comfortable with a brilliant number of pockets.
My initial research was from the coastal Path website. A criticism would be no mention of path diversions and not even a link to the county council path closure site that I found once on route!
Distances were also quite a long way out. I decided to extend their Day 4 and shorten Day 5, in reality the two days combined were 5 miles longer than they suggested.
Foot passenger ferry from Portsmouth was good meaning a shorter walk could happen on the first day and although I wasn’t initially sure walking the path in an anti clockwise direction was good with highlights coming at the right moment.
I can therefore conclude that I feel I can tackle the South Downs Way without the added expense of paying for someone to transport my bags. It is a bit longer but most of the sections are reported to be shorter than those that I have just done. So now to plan when?
So the statistics ….
For each day – kilometres, miles, ascent, steps (I am very short so there are a lot!)
- 13.69km, 8.51 miles, 250m ascent and 24,828 steps
- 30 km, 18.64 miles, 437m ascent and 47,011 steps
- 25.64 km, 15.93miles, 627m ascent and 41,902 steps
- 22.34 km, 13.88 miles, 423m ascent and 38,988 steps
- 12.96 km, 8.05 miles, 563m ascent and 22,966 steps
- 21.8 km, 13.55 miles, 354m ascent and 36,558 steps
That’s a total of 126.43 km / 78.56 miles and a lot of steps!
Marion's 50 Walk Challenge 