Planning

Whilst I've been recovering from the op, I've had plenty of time to plan my walk.  I had originally intended to simply stop when tired, camping most of the way and booking a bed and breakfast once a week or so.

My nerve has deserted me!  I have now broken the walk down into roughly 12 mile days, and I've booked campsites, bed and breakfasts, and ear-marked possible wild camping spots. For much of the time, this tent (Durston Xmid Pro 2P) which I trialled on the Dales Highway in July, will be my home:

I have to say, getting stuck into the planning has made me more and more excited that the walk is possible and will actually happen now, with renewed determination to get myself fit and well for the start of the walk.

I'm currently walking about a mile a day - sounds awful considering where I was before the op, but never mind.  The target is to increase that over the next 8 weeks to 12 miles, gradually adding weight to the backpack as I fully heal and gain strength.  

The high level plan for the walk is as follows:

• Days 1-10            Penzance to Tintagel                                                  120 miles
• Days 11-20          Tintagel to Quantocks                                                240 miles
  
• Days 21-30          Quantocks to Hay-on-Wye                                         360 miles
  
• Days 31-40          Hay-on-Wye to Thorpe                                                480 miles
  
• Days 41-50          Thorpe to Horton-in-Ribblesdale                               610 miles
  
• Days 51-60           Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Byrness                            730 miles
  
• Days 61-70           Byrness to Linlithgow                                                850 miles
• Days 71-80           Linlithgow to Kinlochleven                                        960 miles
• Days 81-90           Kinlochleven to Loch Broom                                   1080 miles
• Days 91-100         Loch Broom to John O'Groats                                1220 miles

Splitting this a little differently according to the National Trails, the route looks like this:

• Days 1-16             South West Coastal Path (Penzance to Barnstaple) (16 days)
  
• Days 17- 25          Barnstaple to Chepstow                                                  (9 days)
  
• Days 26 - 32         Offa's Dyke Path (Chepstow to Knighton)                     (7 days)
• Days 33- 42          Knighton to Edale                                                            (10 days)
• Days 43-62           Pennine Way (Edale to Kirk Yeltholm)                         (20 days)
• Days 63- 73          Kirk Yetholm to Drymen (Loch Lomond)                     (11 days)
• Days 74- 81          West Highland Way (Drymen to Fort William)              (8 days)
• Days 82-91           Cape Wrath Trail (Fort William to Oykel Bridge)         (10 days)
• Days 92-99           Oykel Bridge to Keiss                                                        (7 days)
• Days100 -101       Keiss to John O-Groats                                                    (2 days)

 As you can see, the walk isn't quite as neat as 1200 miles (its more like 1220), and I'll likely take a bit longer than 100 days, but you get the drift!