The Plan - A day-by- day schedule for the E4 Walk

"The best-laid schemes o' mice an men

Gang aft agley"

I might be mad but I have a plan, a schedule of where I'm going to be every day of the E4 walk (attached to this link).  Although it's almost certain to go wrong, it's necessary for the people who want to join me (my wife, Christine for example) to plan their journeys and book leave.

I'm now pretty certain about the route and the stop-overs.  The main issue has been about rest days, how many to take and where.  There is a lot of conflicting advice on this. Some people saying I should stop on a regular basis (every 2 weeks for example), while others have said "crack on" and build up contingency to cope with the things that will inevitably go wrong.

My schedule combines both approaches (typical).  It's got 10 stop-overs in places that are accessible and where it should be possible to do some essentials, getting my hair-cut for example.   I'm planning to take two days in Tarragonna because it looks such a like a nice place and there is lots to see. 

If all goes to plan I should be in Budapest by the 8th of September, which is a couple of weeks earlier than I anticipated when I started planning. I want to get well past the Alps by August, so I have two to three weeks contingency. 

I've been particularly encouraged by Nat Severs' experience on his walk around the UK coastline (great blog by the way).  Nat describes how he struggled at the beginning with 20 miles a day, but after a while found 30 miles easy.  I know Nat is 30 years younger that me, but I'm not carrying anywhere near as much as he did, and only rarely will have to do 30 miles.

Stamina, I think, is one the attributes you can hold onto as you get older (my memory went years ago).  On my recent trip to Nepal, there was a big American who, at 67, played with the Kanchenjunga, and who, a couple of years ago, climbed Aconcagua in Argentina, which is just shy of 7,000 metres.  

Well the first person I need to convince is myself, and I have a plan!

I will get to:

• Alacala la Real by the 14th of March;
• Cazorla on the 21st;
• Montanejos on the 18th of April;
• Tarragonna on the 29th of April;
• Carcassonne on the 21st of May;
• Malataverne on the 8th of June;
• Grenoble on the 18th of June;
• Konstanz on the 13th of July;
• Salzburg on the 31st of July;
• Kozeg on the 21st of August;
• Budapest on the 8th of September.

Of course all the things I will miss while I'm away are starting to become apparent.  Perhaps the best one will be the dodgy start my team usually makes to the football season - by mid-September, the mighty Spurs will be all guns blazing.

Budapest in September

The Britain Nepal Medical Trust Video

If you are interested in the work of the Britain Nepal Medical Trust (BNMT), the charity I'm trying to raise money for on the E4 walk, then please take the time to watch the video below.  Dr. Gillian Hodsworth, a BNMT Trustee, and Sadhana Shrestha, one of the BNMT co-directors, give a succinct introduction to the work of the charity and how it is addressing some of the key health issues in Nepal.

Dr. Gillian Hodsworth, who worked for the BNMT as a field doctor in the mid-eighties, is also an accomplished trekker.  In 2007 she raised money for the BNMT by completing a 71 day trans-Nepal trek. She can be regarded as a pioneer for the Nepalese leg of the emerging Great Himalaya Trail. This will eventually cross six countries and involve a 4500 kilometre journey going east to west.  The full story of Gillian's walk is on the BNMT website.

Child Malnutrition Project

Having met the Britain Nepal Medical Trust (BNMT) in Nepal a couple of weeks ago, they have now a sent a description of how they would like to spend the money if I'm successful in reaching my E4 fund raising target.  It's a really exciting project, inspiring for my walk, and hopefully something which will attract sponsors.

BNMT Hospitality

At the start of this I only had two criteria for the charity I wanted to work with.  Firstly to able to talk to them and try and develop something specific for the E4 project.  Secondly I wanted the E4 funding to go to something which might interest people who share my passion for trekking and walking.

On our recent Nepal holiday, Christine (my wife) and I met the people who run the BNMT and spent an afternoon talking about what they needed and whether or not we could help.  It was a brilliant afternoon and I learnt an enormous amount about how the BNMT works and, in particular, what makes it special.  I also discovered that money raised by a project like mine could be really important.

With the co-directors, Sadhana and Bhana

The BNMT is a Nepalese led charity, run by the Nepalese for the Nepalese.  More than 40 years old it operated through the civil war and is a key contributer to the difficult process of post-war reconstruction.

Being a Nepalese led charity has a huge upside in terms of successful projects but a downside when it comes to fundraising.  Obvious with hind-site, but a revelation to me when I met the BNMT in Kathmandu, is that a charity essentially based in Nepal finds it much harder to raise money than a western charity.  As a consequence the BNMT is much more dependent on funding from national and multi-national bodies like the EU than would otherwise be the case.

While the charity has been very successful in the delivery of programs from funding bodies there is less scope for innovation.  Funding from the E4 project, therefore, could be particularly important.

With the BNMT team

When we met, the BNMT had a number of projects that fell outside the criteria set by the funding bodies, but they were particularly keen on the "Community Based Child Nutrition Programme".  Since our meeting, and working around the constraints of the funding target I'm trying to hit, they have given it more thought and the detail of the program is can be found via this link.

I think it's brilliant and I just hope I can raise the money.

Given the interest we have in the west in child obesity, the fact that around 45 per cent of children under 5 in Nepal are underweight, and consequently stunted, is shocking.  Halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger is part of the first of the 8 Millennium Development Goals and addressing the issue of children who are underweight  a specific target.  Malnutrition, of course, not only impacts a child's growth but is also a challenge to both their survival and cognitive development.

Central to the BNMT approach, and underpinning its commitment to sustainable health improvement, is the empowerment of individuals and communities through a "rights based" approach.  Essentially this involves raising expectations about health and using this to change behavior from all those involved in receiving and giving health related services.  The core elements of this approach will be used in the "Community Based Nutrition Program".

Working with a particularly poor (even in Nepalese terms) Musahar/landless community in the Kapilvastu District (Nepalese visitors may be familiar with the nearby the Chitwan National Park), the program will focus on raising the nutritional status of children under 5.

The attached program recognises that while food security is an issue, much can be achieved by getting people, throughout the "system", to raise their expectations and consequently change how they behave.  The program does have a "Feed the Meal" element but most of the activity will be with mothers, community leaders and people involved in health care.

If it works, and like all good programs there will be clearly defined ways of measuring success, it will have a sustainable impact.  By influencing the development of Government and donor programs  more widely, it can then be replicated.

Please let me know what you think about the project, either through the comments or by email.  I'm know the BNMT will be pleased to get any feedback.

Countdown to Tarifa

I'll be setting of from Tarifa, heading to Budapest, on the 1st of March. That's less than 12 weeks away. The countdown for the E4 walk has really begun.

Definitely having second thoughts, a lot more than just second thoughts to be honest. I did anticipate this a year ago when I started to put the idea together and deliberately wanted to paint myself into a corner. Coming out with the plan, giving up work, and making the commitment to the Britain Nepal Medical Trust were partly at least designed to prevent any last minute turnaround. The fact that it's worked doesn't reduce the anxiety however but it does mean that I'm definitely going. Tarifa here I come!

One excuse I could use to get out of it is that there is just too much to do. I could really turn planning the walk into a full-time exercise and never get round to actually doing it. Some of this is Parkinson's law applied to long-distance walking (although Murphy's law kicks in on the technology) but part of it is the amount of detailed information you could assemble for a 180 day work.

At the moment I'm working on three things:

• the detail of the walk - getting all the maps and navigation in order (paranoid about wasting time by getting lost);
• the actual schedule of overnight stops - really important for people who might want to join me, might even be a source of sponsorship;
• sponsorship - set myself a £20,000 target and only raised £2,000 so far so a long way to go - a lot of heavy pestering needed.

Getting lots of feedback from all over Europe which is nice, lots of emails as well as the comments. Going to try and blog more often as the walk gets nearer and build to a level I can sustain once I get started.

High Altitude Training in Nepal

No blogs in November - I've been away.  Nice to call it "high altitude training" for the E4 but actually have had a extended trekking holiday in Nepal with a bolt on visit to Delhi.

The walk was great - a trip to Kanchenjunga (the third highest mountain in the world) and its north and south base camps  - a 21 day camping trek with KE Adventure Travel.  The walk had everything, lovely Nepalese villages and welcoming friendly locals, as well as the spectacular scenery of the high Himalaya.  It was cold at night, and when it was cloudy in the day time as well, but we got some amazing weather particularly when were at the base camps.  The north base camp is particularly stunning and, unlike Everest, you get the views of Kanchenjunga right from your tent.

Was a bit disappointed with KE if I'm honest.  Have let them know about the specific complaints but really don't understand why a company claiming to support sustainable tourism used a non-Nepalese speaking western guide to lead a trip like this.  Nepal has a really well established trekking industry and individual Nepalese leaders have made the effort to learn virtually every language under the sun and responsible companies wanting (and needing) a successful Nepalese trekking industry should use them.  Not only is it good practice to support local leaders it also gives the trekkers a better experience (based on my trips) and at much lower cost (western guides cost 10 times as much as their Nepalese equivalent).  The KE leader was a nice guy and, in a general sense, was very experienced.  He didn't however speak Nepalese and had only been to Kanchenjunga once before.  KE might come back to me with a response and I will update the blog if they do.  I suspect however that they feel that they can attract more customers if they offer them the security of a western guide - if so then it really doesn't say much for "adventure travel".

I'm a bit annoyed with myself actually and should have checked it out before I booked.  After all I am trying to raise money for a Nepalese charity and going on holiday with a company whose practices are off the pace in what I regard as good sustainable tourism practice is a bit of an "own goal".  Fortunately the charity I'm working for does fit the bill in terms of sustainable development and the personal highlight of the trip was meeting the charity's leadership and staff in Kathmandu at the end of the holiday.  Although initiated by British medics in sixties the Britain Nepal Medical Trust is now essentially a Nepalese charity successfully developing Nepalese solutions for Nepalese problems.

Spending an afternoon with the BNMT team gave me a real fillip and in particular a much better understanding of how the money raised from my walk could used to fund initiatives which struggle to attract money from the usual development resources.  The final package is still being developed and will be subject of a blog within the next week or so.

Before travelling home I made my first ever visit to India and Delhi.  Talk about noise, hustle and bustle - what a place - has certainly wetted my appetite for more visits.  And then back to London, Brighton and snow - washed my thermals after Kanchenjunga and put them on again.  The only thing that has warmed me up was watching the recordings of three amazing Spurs victories on the trot (have now revealed my true colours!).

Children everywhere

Map reading skills essential

Running wild

Getting seriously cold - Jannu (7710) in the background

Around the corner and it's Kanchenjunga (8586)

Nice view to relax to - underpants drying

Early morning view across the glacier to Kanchenjunga

A lot of shouting children - assured it was friendly banter

With co-directors of the BNMT

Once in a lifetime photo

I packed my bag and in it I put (6)

More people read the "I packed my bag" blogs than anything else (huge numbers!). Not sure why given the number of other people, experts, talking about the same subject. I guess what it does show is that I'm not the only one who finds this stuff a bit confusing.

Boots, or footwear, is the big issue for me at moment. Once you cross the rubicon and accept that boots, even modern lightweight ones, may not be the only answer, you have entered a new world of choice and uncertainty. If you add to the mix the debate about minimalist bare footwalking than the ground beneath you disappears.

I think I have concluded that my beloved Scarpas, although at the lightweight end of their range, might be unnecessarily heavy and, if the weather is good, too hot. They are comfortable but on the 10 hour days on the Nordalpenweg I got a horrible heat rash on my the side of my ankles almost as bad a blister. Lighter and cooler must be good for what is essentially a long summer walk.

Inov8 kindly sent me a pair of their Roclite 400 GTX boots. They are incredibly light so top marks on that front but they have a fit that I haven't got used to yet. They are the same size as my usual boots but the cut makes them feel big. Unlike my Scarpa's they don't attempt to grip the foot and the lacing system is more like a conventional shoe than a walking boot. That, combined with the cut, which is very generous, leaves space above and around the toes - a touch of the Wellington boot rather than the walking boot (even has the Wellington boot sound effect). Maybe the boot is too big, maybe it's part of the design approach, I don't know.

Despite the sound effect the boots are very comfortable, as comfortable as my Scarpas but lighter.

Have given them two workouts so far both a bit extreme. The first involved a two day climb of Mt Toubkal from the Toubkal Kasbah (brilliant place). The second day involved about 1000 metres of climb and, more painful, about 2500 metres of descent. My calves were stiff for a week but my feet were fine.

The second was a walk along the coast from Brighton to Eastbourne. My first day in Spain involves a long walk and I just wanted to check my 20 mile plus capacity. The Brighton Eastbourne test was 28 miles and involves a bit of up and down as, amongst other things, you have cross the Seven Sisters. It was a wet day, involved a lot of hard surface walking, particularly along the sea wall at the bottom of the cliffs (brilliant, as the tide was in, there was a bit of a storm, so huge crashing seas) and I didn't really stop. I did get a blister at the bottom of my foot (big one) but to be honest I would blame my soft feet, hard surfaces and an 8 hour 28 mile walk rather than the boots.

Anyway I think the jury is out on three things. Firstly in terms of the Inov8 boot, it's great, but can I cope with the squelching noise as I walk; secondly do I need a boot at all, would be just as well of with a walking shoe, approach shoes I think their known as; and, thirdly given it's a summer walk could I do without Gortex, could be cooler.

By the way, this is my first IPhone blog. As Lonewalker promised, it really is easy to use, even the touch screen keyboard.

Stage 8 - Carcassonne to Lodeve. Version 2

Having completed the itinerary from Tarifa to Budapest I'm now going through it again, checking it, and in particular trying to confirm precisely where I'm going to stay.  Believe it or not I'm going to try and produce a calender saying where I'm going to be on a given date.  Of course things will go wrong and dates will get missed.     On the other hand Christine, my wife, and other friends are proposing to join me for the really nice bits and they need to book their holidays and plan journeys.

Have already worked my through the Spain plan and discovered that when I originally did the plan my glasses were slightly rose tinted and what I thought was accommodation wasn't.  Some of the Hotels have closed down in the six months since I did the initial piece of planning.  Sometimes I just made mistakes.  Where changes have been needed I have just gone back to the relevant blogs and made them.

For Stage 8 the extent of my mistake has meant a complete redraft of the itinerary.  Although the E4 does go from Carcassonne to Lodeve it doesn't go along the route I was proposing.  Thankfully my mistake has been spotted and Menno Wolters, who has walked much of the E4, has kindly gone through my plan and identified where it goes wrong.  He is doing this for the whole route and has provided comments on a number of the sections, particularly in France.

My mistake on Stage 8 was to follow the GR7 rather than the GR71.  The ERA web-site talks about the GR 71 but the IGN GR Map for the whole of France (Map 903) has the E4 going along the GR7.  It takes a slightly more direct travelling along the southern edge of the Parc Du Haut Languedoc while the GR71 goes further north and straight through the middle.  

Menno, as well as experience of actually walking much of the E4, had the necessary FFRP (the French Ramblers Association) Topoguides and these make it clear that the E4 stays on the GR 36 a little bit longer than I had planned and joins the GR 71 at Hautpoul  and does not join the GR 7 until Lodeve.  I need to challenge my mean streak and invest in the Topoguides.

The net effect of the change is a longer walk - around 180 km as opposed to 155 km - over 7 days.  There is a definite option to complete it in 6 although that involves a long day at the end.  Stage 8  takes you through the heart of the Haut Langedoc Natural Park.

The Park runs along the top of the Departments of Aude, Gard and Herault.  Located at the southern end of the Massif Central, including the Black Mountain range, it's a relatively empty area with few significant towns.  Although mountainous, it's not massively so with few "peaks" getting above 1,000 metres.  The mountains are important however and without the rainfall they receive the coastal plan below, its fields and cities, would be sun-baked and dry as a desert.

Heading out of Carcassonne on Day 1 the first 8 kms take you along the banks of the Canel du Midi - the famous canel connecting the Atlantic with the Mediterranean.  You then head directly north via the town of Conques-sur-Orbiel and into the Black Mountains and the Haut Langedoc National Park.  The first place where I can find accommodation on the route is at Pradelles-Cabardes and walking that far involves a tough 34 km walk with a climb of around 1,000 metres.  Instead I think I have found somewhere to stay at Limousis which is just of the trail and about 22 kms from Carcassonne.

Canel du Midi at Carcassonne

Day 2 takes you over the  1,991 metre Pic Noir, the highest point in the Black Mountain Range, and then down to Mazamet.  This looks like a great walk and a tough one involving  just over a 1,000 metres of climb (and a similar amount of descent) and 30 km.   Mazamet is a town (pop 10,000) and has plenty of accommodation.

Fraisse-sur-Agout

Day 3 and at last on the GR 71 and, after a few kilometres from Mazamet, heading east.  The countryside looks a lot more remote and accommodation is again scarce.  The best option looks like the village of Angles which has an auberge.   Another good walk, around 800 metres of climb (back to the top of the Black Mountains) over 25 kms.

Day 4 is an easier walk with a lot less climbing - 24 kms and 600 metres the target is Fraisse-sur-Agout where there are two gîte d'étapes (one with a web-site which I consider a good sign!).  At Fraisse-sur-Agout the GR 71 joins the GR 7 before heading of again in a more northerly direction.


Day 5 and it's getting very remote with little in the way of accommodation.  The best option I think is a 24 km walk (600 metres of climb) to Castenet le Haut where there is an auberge at Le Fau.

Around Castenet le Haut

A short Day 6 would set up the option of doing a mega 40 plus kms walk all the way to Lodeve.  The last part of the walk in particular is downhill but there is hilly country to cross before you get there.  If I don't make it all the way to Lodeve than the obvious half way stop is Ceilhas-et-Rocozels where there are bed and breakfasts and a Hotel and perhaps a lake to swim in.

Lodeve itself will seem like a metropolis after the villages of the previous six/seven days although in reality it's a small town with a population of a little over 7,000.  It sits in a valley at the meeting points of the rivers Lerge and Soulard.  It has a cathedral, plenty of other things to see and lots of accommodation.