More alterations to the gear for the walk

First off for my latest gear tweaks is something for Alfie.
having spent a night camping in the back garden in -8 degrees to test our gear.

(spot the ice on the tent!)
 my conclusion is my gear is great but Alfie's options for keeping warm were ineffective to say the least, the fleece coat I bought him (pictured near the beginning of the blog) was hopeless and after shivering for the majority of the night he ended up forcing his way into my sleeping bag!, so I have committed a great sacrilege by cutting up camping gear!.  :-o
The gear in question was my old snug pack softie sleeping bag, I've decapitated this to create a doggy sleeping bag:-

Trust me the dog is not dead! just very warm and sleepy :). And yes he can get out if he wants!
by removing the old fleece and packing this I only gain 0.1 of a kilo so considering the amount of energy it will help Alfie conserve it's well worth the slight added weight

The second tweak is a new rucksack, a 51litre golite pursuit ,admittedly this is the third pack I've bought for the walk! but at 1.3 kg's it saves me a whole kilo of weight in comparison with my blacks pack. tho not as functional as the blacks pack everything will still fit on or in as well, tho my first two attempts at packing left me with gear still scattered across the floor and me scratching my head!

Alfie seems happy with my choice too!

The countdown to the walk is at 19days 11 hours 37 mins and 1 second as I write this!
I seem to be in the process of saying goodbye to my home town already! every time I drive or walk passed a landmark (no matter how trivial!) I'm thinking "wont see that again till mid summer!" an odd mix of sadness and excitement is building as I sever ties with my usual surroundings, one thing I wont miss is my local footpaths I've walked them all so many times now maps are no longer needed , I'm so looking forward to chasing the horizon!
Bring it on!
ps will be going to the outdoors show this friday gear heaven!

Strangers can be Lovely!

This is a quick post to celebrate my first donation via my paypal button!
The kind person who donated is a lady named Stacie from Washington, I wont give out more of your details Stacie but you know who you are!
What makes this donation so special is I have no idea who Stacie is, other the payment details from paypal!
Hope to get lots more of course! and if and when the walk is complete I shall post a list of all people who donate to the fund.
Thank you so much from Alfie and me :-)
Oh! I can say at this point donations are up to £217.00! considering that other than the paypal button I have only been hassling people for donations for one and half weeks thats great going! thanks to all!