What are the best waterproof gear options for hiking in Northern England for the C2C walk?
How do you choose the best clothing to keep warm and dry?
We received an email from Joan seeking advice on what are her best options for rain protection when she undertakes the Coast To Coast Walk from the Irish Sea to the North Sea .
Because we are in Australia, and have no idea what the conditions are like, we decided to post the question here.
So, calling all "Our Hiking Blog" readers, please leave a comment with your opinion so Joan can get as much advice as possible regarding her waterproof clothing choice for this 12 day hiking journey.
Here is Joan's question:
Hi,
I am planning to hike the C2C (Irish Sea to the North Sea - 190 miles) in England, have gortex boots, gaiters and a pack cover. I am trying to decide what the best, light raingear will be and would appreciate your advise.
I have some older (heavy) gortex gear, i.e., pants & jacket, and I have some lightweight "waterproof" gear (marmot precip jacket and pants). I am leaning toward going with the lighter gear and carrying a poncho to add another layer if the rain gets heavy. What do you think?
Thanks for the great website/blog!
Joan M.
Related Post
Best Hiking Clothes for a Multiday walk
Please drop us a comment so that others, especially Joan, can share in your wisdom.
Waterproof gear for C2C - Irish Sea to North Sea - what is best?
Food preparation for the Overland Track - Tasmania - Part Two - Lunch and Dinner
Stuck for meal ideas for your next hike?
Can't decide what to eat for lunch or dinner while you are hiking?
What is the best and lightest food to take on a bushwalking trip?
How can we make sure food lasts on a multi-day hike?
Lauren emailed us asking for suggestions about organising food for a group of six who are undertaking the Overland Track in Tasmania next February.
In our previous post we discussed some simple planning ideas and posted our basic menu for breakfast and snacks for hiking.
We now move on to lunch and dinner ideas
Lunch
We take dry biscuits and mountain bread, although our daughter likes to take taco type wraps. Up to you but , again, work out BEFORE you leave how many biscuits or wraps you will eat for lunch and only take that many. Share out the mountain bread and try and use it up fairly quickly, after you open it, as it drys out and becomes crumbly really quickly.
We try and take fresh ingredients for lunch. This would included:
- Tomatoes (one per day between two)
- Avocado (one or two)
- Red onion (two)
- Coleslaw (the pre-made stuff from the supermarket in a bag- lasts really well)
- Cheese (usually a crumbly tasty and some sliced edam)
- Ham (sliced in a peel pack) which we eat first
- Salami - either a piece of slices in a peel pack - eat it last
That is basically it. We have tried lettuce (goes soggy too quickly), sprouts (gave them up for the coleslaw), capsicum (went off too quickly), carrots - bit heavy etc
We also take film canisters packed with coleslaw or mayonnaise, peanut butter, chilli sauce and vegemite.
In winter I always take one soup for each day which I sometimes have for lunch or on arrival at camp. Sue would take four. In summer I would still take 2 or 3 because we have had snow there in December and hot soup is a great energy boost.
Dinner
Depending on the number of days and the expected weather we would take 2 or 3 "fresh" meals. On our last trip in July we took 3 as we were confident the temperature would be OK for fresh meat to keep. In February I suggest 2 fresh meats would be prudent (although I have listed 3 here).
We always get our meat vacuum packed. This stops getting the rest of your food or gear contaminated with blood and should increase its unrefrigerated life. MOST of the time we freeze the meat for a few days before we leave and take it to Tasmania frozen (wrapped in newspaper in the middle of our packs) We can usually find a freezer at our hotel or hostel where we can keep it frozen until the last minute. Recently we found out about a good butcher in Launceston and got our meat vac-packed there the day before.
I will list a sample menu of what we might eat for dinner over 6 nights. Obviously there are many variations and other ideas that work. Our food is pretty simple so we can cook it quickly. My desire is for bulk i.e. I want to be filled up, Sue is keener on nice tasting stuff!
Day 1
- Good hamburgers or vegy burgers
- Some of the coleslaw,dressing and chilli sauce
- Fresh bread rolls (pretty light and won't get trashed in pack that quickly, or they can just be secured on the outside of your pack for the first day)
Simple fare for the first night, especially after that first grunt up Marions Lookout with a full pack!
Day 2
- Fillet steak (why not the best, no use carrying fat)
- Pepper sauce (readily available, dry stuff, just add water and heat)
- Dehydrated potato (Deb)
- Peas and corn (dehydrated)
Day 3
- Sausages and onions
- Devilled sausages sauce (or any alternative you may like...we use it the gravy to make the Deb tasty!!)
- Dehydrated potato (Deb)
- Peas and corn (dehydrated)
I know the Deb potatoes and peas and corn are a recurring theme here but we can put up with them and they are easy to prepare. You could substitute couscous, pasta or quick cook rice for the "potato".
Day 4
- Smoked Chicken breast (sold in vac packs or individually)
- One of the quick cook pasta or rice meals , something creamy is best
We cook up the meal and then add diced smoked chicken breast. Usually plenty with one breast per person, maybe 2 large ones for 3 people.
Day 5 - Tuna Casserole
- One packet of "Alfredo" per person (single serve)
- One sachel of tuna per person
- 1-3 hard boiled eggs
- Peas and corn ( keeps some left overs from other meals)
Cook Alfredo as per instructions (we don't worry about adding marg) either adding peas and corn at the start or cook them seperately. Add tuna and eggs at the end and warm through. Yum.
Day 6 Spaghetti Bolognaise or Chilli Con Carn or a Chicken Mince based Casserole
This is where a food dryer is excellent. I won't go into too many details about drying here because this link Freezer Bag Cooking is the BEST resource I have seen on the web for drying food for hiking.
The instructions on the site are excellent and I am sure you could use an oven at low temps to achieve the same results. Have a try at drying some leftovers and then rehydrating it. Gives you some practice for the real thing. I would suggest you spread the sauce/casserole on a couple of layers of oven proof baking paper on a biscuit rack that sits on a tray in the oven. This lets the air circulate. Freezer Bag Cooking has some great before and after pictures so you can check you have not made gravel!!
The key to creating any meal for rehydrating is to use small pieces of ingredients. Years ago I dried 1cm cubes of chicken breast and they would probably STILL be rehydrating into now...they were TOUGH. Since then we have used minced chicken breast and it has been much more successful. The other key thing is that fat does not dry, so lean meat and correct preparation is important (see Freezer Bag Cooking)
To rehydrate, as soon as we have arrived at camp, recovered and had a coffee, we use some of the water we have boiled to cover the meal in the cooking pot. Wack the lid on, stir it every now and then and add more water (hot or cold) as your dried meal rehydrates.
Full rehydration can be speeded up if you put the meal on a low heat and keep a close eye on it, stirring frequently. We like to use hot water, cover and then chill out until dinner time.
Spare meal
All good hiking books and articles suggest taking a spare meal in case you are caught by bad weather. A small packet of macaroni noodles or other quick cook meal would not go astray. We have never needed one on the Overland Track because if we have been held up we just make a big effort on another day and skip a hut.
Alternatives
We freely admit this is a pretty boring list of meals, but we have been very happy with them for several years. It is almost a "no brainer" shopping and preparation wise. Our daughter, Clare, who is an experienced walker, has volunteered to write a piece on how she plans and prepares her meals. She is a vegetarian so her perspective and ideas may suit many other walkers. We look forward to her contribution.
Please don't hesitate to post a comment or further questions, it has been fun putting this together
Related Posts
Drying a Curry for hiking
Spaghetti Bolognaise - easy to dry and rehydrate on the trail
Hiking food - menu for a nine day trip
Vegetarian hiking food ideas
Snakes in Tasmania
Here at"Our Hiking Blog" (yes, I know it IS a silly name) we have offered to answer any questions our readers may have about hiking in Australia. The purpose of this is to try and create a resource where anyone who is thinking of heading "down under" to hike (or is new to this wonderful pastime and Australian based) can get independant, free advice and suggestions for planning their hike. On our July walk, around the Walls of Jerusulam and part of the Overland Track, we didn't see any ,but then again I reckon they hate the snow LOL.
We then plan to post the questions and responses for others who are may have similar questions or concerns to access. Maple Kiwi was kind enough to get the ball rolling with a question about snakes in Tasmania. You can read her question and our response below.
Question: Maple Kiwi from Love in a Tent posted:
My partner and I are tackling the South Island of New Zealand over the coming summer, but once we get that out of our systems I think a trip to Oz is definitely on the books! Is there an off-season for those tiger snakes???.
Answer:
If you are planning a visit to Tasmania and the Overland Track, in particular, I think "off season" is the best time.
There is a booking system for the Overland Track for each walking season (1 November to 30 April). During this period you must walk the track from North to South (Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair), and pay the $150 fee.(plus park entry of about $30 for a month)We usually try going either side of these dates as it is REALLY busy, like you may see 50 people in one day ...hardly wilderness :-((see the posts on our last trip in JULY (mid winter), we still shared the huts with up to 10 people)
As regards snakes... well summer is obviously their peak season and we have occasionally seen 2 or 3 in the one day. They are generally very docile and if you take a wide berth around them (Sue usually like 2 metres or so!!) you are fine. They tend to lie along the track in the sun so you soon become aware of what is a fallen branch and what is a snake!!
Below is a picture Colin took in February. This is probably the hottest month and hence, excellent snake spotting weather.
The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service have some excellent information here if you would like to read more about Tasmanian Tiger snakes (or just see some scary snake pictures)
Post again or send me an email if you would like any more information...like how to avoid the fee (legally) and other naughty ideas.
Planning Hikes in Australia especially Tasmania or Victoria
When we first started going to Tasmania hiking it required a lot of effort to organise the trip smoothly. How would we get to the start of the track and back? Should we fly or take the Ferry? Should we take our car with us or rely on public transport. Over a few trips we have been able to plan our trips quickly and easily. With a few emails we arrange transfers, gear and accommodation. Usually all goes smoothly (often because Tasmanians are great people and they WANT you to have a terrific holiday)
Today I decided, that because I love organising trips and getting people out in the bush, that I would offer to help people plan their hiking trips to Tasmania or Victoria. Why give free advice you ask? I bet he is getting a cut off the places he refers us to! Well the answer is NO, no commissions from any of the places I might recommend. Besides, the advice may be the best time of the year or whether you can light a fire ...hard to make money from that!
All of the people we use are just ordinary Aussie small businesses, run by nice people who are just trying to make a living. They love their own environments and are great at looking after people.
A potential risk, of course , is to increase the number of hikers in some areas but my assumption is that you will be doing the walk anyway so why not get some help in sorting out transfers, food or gear issues easily. It may also help keep these small businesses afloat and successful and that would give us a "warm and fuzzy" feeling.
I AM interested in increasing site traffic and having people click on one of the few ads I have here , more as an academic exercise to see what interest can be generated rather than making my fortune topping up my retirement funds!!
If I get some email requests I may post them on the blog with our answers so others can share in the knowledge and comment if they think our suggestions are stupid or otherwise.
So, don't hesitate to contact us via the email link here - we may be able to help and, if not, will definitely point you in the right direction.
