Decisions, decisions, decisions
There’s so much to sort out! If I was just going to set off and walk on my own then there’d be no need to plan a schedule in any great detail, but I’m hoping that various friends will be joining me along the way. To make that possible, I need to be able to give at least a rough idea of where I’m going to be on any given day. That sounds simple enough, but it depends on a load of important decisions.
When do I start? Having decided that I’m going to push the start date back from my original idea of June 1st, I need to decide how far. I’ve already moved one mountain-biking trip from early August to early September, but the second one is less easy to move, so that’s my hard deadline - I need to be back at the very latest by August 13th so I can be ready to leave on August 14th. Once I’ve decided on the exact route then I ought to be able to come up with a start date to allow me to get back sometime during that second week of August.
Do I stick to the official HRP route? The first question about the route was whether I simply follow Joosten’s suggestion or do my own thing here and there. There are places from the original GR10 trip I did in 1996 that I’d always thought I’d go back to but, having sat down with maps and looked at where I’m going to camp, where I can buy food, fuel etc, I’ve decided it will be easier to just stick to the guidebook. The route covers eleven maps, and I’ve now plotted the route as far as the tenth. I’ll be camping most of the time and cooking on my stove, but there are times when I can’t re-stock food for up to 9 days, so I’m going to eat in refuges where possible to minimise the food I need to carry during these sections.
Do I stick to the schedule? If I’m following the guidebook’s route then I could simply assume that I’ll make the timings suggested but I suspect that, as the weeks go by, I’ll start beating the times. Even if they turn out to be accurate, I may want to go further than the schedule on some days, and stop earlier on others. I’ve made some minor changes to even out the length of some days, but apart from this I’m using the book’s times. Hopefully the good days and the bad days will balance each other out, but if not I can always drop some of the Classic Summits.
Which “Classic Summits”? The guide book has ten summit ascents that are recommended in addition to the 45 day stages. To begin with I was thinking I’d try to do as many of them as possible (i.e. I’d do them all unless they needed ropes for glacier crossings and I was solo), but I think I’m going to be a bit more selective. Some of them are easy to fit into a normal day (e.g. the summit is just off the route) but others require a day of their own. I’ve planned in 6, and would really like to do Vignemale as well, but it has a dangerous glacier so I’ll probably have to give that one a miss.
How many rest days? One of the mistakes we made 14 years ago was walking the first 15 days without a break. I twisted my ankle as a result and had to rest for several days, which is not something I want to repeat! It would be nice to be able to take a break when my body feels like it needs one but that doesn’t fit well when you’re trying to predict where you’ll be in advance. The plan currently has rest days when I reach the stage ends (roughly every 10 days), which are in villages, so I can eat, relax and hopefully recharge. If I need more rest days then I’ll either have to sacrifice some of the summits or slip the dates back.
I’m finally beginning to feel like I have a reasonable plan. As soon I’ve worked out the last few days then I should be able to decide on a start date and book some trains…