What is the South Downs Way?

The South Downs Way is tranquil island of quiet in the busy South East of England, running entirely within the South Downs National Park. The Way is a 100 mile walking trail starting in the ancient & historic city of Winchester and ending in the ocean-side resort city of Eastbourne on the English Channel coast.  Running along a chalk ridge means that the Trail drains and dries out quickly making it good for year round walking and ensuring that we will be rewarded by breathtaking views across the English Channel and Isle of Wight to the south and over the wooded Weald and heathland ridges to the north.

 

The South Downs Way passes through a varied landscape of protected habitats including beautiful chalk steams like the Meon and Arun rivers, rare species of rich chalk grasslands and beautiful ancient woodlands. The Trail passes through or passes by five National Nature Reserves and dozens of Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

Most people take 8 or 9 days to walk the whole 100 miles at 12-15 miles a day. We’re planning on 9 walking days plus a day of rest at the start (jet lag, you know), in the middle to explore our name-sake sister city of Arundel and at the end to explore around Eastbourne and (hopefully) congratulate ourselves. We’ll also take two nights and a day in London on the way home. We’re both looking forward to seeing the Tower of London and other sites. We were last in London back in 1989!

The villages where we’ll be staying at B & B’s and inns are at the foot of the escarpment so we’ll have to walk down in the evening and up in the morning. Some days will be “taxi-assisted”. There’s about 12,600 ft. of climbing involved as well as 100 miles of walking the trail.

Our blog is named “tothe7sisters” and here’s why. The long chalk escarpment ends at seaside near Eastbourne & Beachy Head and ancient streams have eroded the cliff face into seven hills, all with names (in good British style). They are: Haven Brow, Short Brow, Rough Brow, Flagstaff Brow, Flat Hill, Baily’s Hill and Went Hill. Of course, between the hills are the valleys but nothing looks too tough and the excitement of being close to our destination should kick in the adrenaline!

A week to go!

Gearing up for takeoff on Virgin Air in a week!

Tick-tock, tick, tock! When we started planning all this last winter, it seemed so far off it was a “Neverland” sort of dream, but here we are now, a week away from departure. Are we ready? In some things, yes; in others - not quite.

Physically, it’s feeling pretty good. Joan & I have developed a simple & easy to understand “check-in” code to ascertain how each of us feel at any time along the trail.  One of us will periodically ask the other “What’s your color?” and the answers can range from “Red” to “Yellow” to “Green”. In answering, one considers not only how you feel physically – aches, sores, tiredness, weakness – but also mentally. How do you feel about what’s remaining ahead (“God, I know that big hill is about 2 miles ahead. I’ll never get up it the way I feel now.’) but also about your mental state. It’s influenced by your worldview in general and self-confidence but also by letting yourself “go” and being part of the world around you.

 “Sparkles’ help a lot in this regard. Here is one from our 11 mile walk around Kennebunk down the Mousam River to Mother’s Beach and then along the beautiful beaches up to Kennebunk Lower Village (thank you, Helen & Bonnie at H & B Provisions for the rest, tea and great conversation!) and after a short summer rain, back to Kennebunk. Somewhere in the Marx Trust land east of Rt. 9 we came across this beautiful ladyslipper flower, nestled down beside the trail and dappled with sunlight falling through the maple and ash trees arching overhead.  They are not a common sight but so beautiful and fragile.

So right now we’re both feeling “Green” about our trip. A last minute trip to REI in Reading last Saturday before going to a Red Sox game gave us a chance to stock up on things like Cliff Energy Tabs and Darn Tough hiking socks. Joan has new Merrill hiking boots (her last pair were worn off-kilter from 500 miles of walking with a badly sprung knee – replaced last winter) and says they feel wonderful. I’m still wearing the Keen boots I bought last year before doing the Cotswold Way- best boots I’ve ever had! Nobody has to “break in” boots any more, but those who can remember the process from wearing the old leather boots can sure say “thank you” that’s all gone!

How we pack for a distance walk.

“What to leave in, what to leave out.”

The title of Tim O’Brien’s great book about the Vietnam War - “The Things They Carried”- says it one way.  So does rock singer Bob Seger’s hit song – “Against the Wind”:

“I’ve got so much more to think about now.

Deadlines & commitments,

what to leave in, what to leave out.

I’m older now, but still running against the wind.

Packing for a long-distance walk today is sort of like setting off on a sea voyage was in the old days, before UPS and instant web connection to the Amazonian world of next day shipping can bring anything you need or want right to your front door and took away the need to plan ahead for what you needed “out there”. We’ve had a fair amount of experience packing for long walking trips on the Camino de Santiago and last year for the Cotswold Way walk, but there’s always something new out there from REI or Backcountry.com that bears looking at as we plan our trip.

Actually maybe it’s not what you think you need but more a matter of packing to have with you remedy for what you fear may happen to you. Sure, I know we’re going to England and yes, they do have pretty much anything there that we have here, but you never know. So we pack what we fear and that seems to be that I fear gravity’s pull more than anything else. My 81 year old legs and cardiovascular system are in pretty good shape but still- those hills and river valleys can be tough and the miles seem to stretch cruelly by the end of the day.

We’re having our Osprey 33 liter backpacks moved ahead by taxi daily from one town to the next while on the South Downs way but we’ll still have to lug them around airports and on trains during the trip. The Osprey Wasatch 12 liter packs will be our daily backpacks and will use them to carry our rain gear, lunch, 2 one liter water bottles, emergency medical and repair stuff. They’ll be our airplane hand-carry and the backpacks will be carry on so that we avoid luggage problems.

Joan’s also concerned about gravity but has the additional fear of not looking good at day’s end or when we’re tourist-ing around London for a couple of days on our way back home in mid-July, so she’s bringing a set of nice (light weight) “dress up” clothes too. Me, I’m grubbing it out with my hiking clothes –clean, yes, but still nowhere near as nice as my beautiful wife will be sporting.

Joan also is a tiger on cutting weight down and has been working hard at the gym and by using Lose It, a wonderful nutrition and calorie tracking app to shed some of those winter pounds. She’s lost 20 pounds and feels great. However, since it’s only been 5 months since her knee replacement and shoulder rotator cuff surgery, it’s been hard to get in the training miles. Me- I've been holding steady at 170 pounds for over three years, down 85 pounds from my "fat" days five years ago.

We are now doing 8-10 mile walks and have thrown in some hill work too, but some of our days in England involve longer stretches (12-15 miles) between towns on the high chalk escarpment of the South Downs National Park. We have therefore adopted a world-view built around the fact that we’re on a “walking vacation” and that there are two words involved there. So if the “walking” part of a day gets too onerous and the poor old body just says "no" at doing another mile, then we'll switch our mind-set to the second word – “vacation” – and call for a taxi to meet us at the nearest road junction and take us on to our destination. No guilt, no pain and no worries!

So here’s Sam’s packing list: 
 

South Downs Way Walk  (17 days)
Backpack to Carry Daily	Weight (Oz)	Number	Total Weight
Crocs (size 11) -Post-walk wear	6.2	2	12.4
Darn Tough L-size wool hiking socks (pair)	3.9	2	7.8	+ Wear 1
Ex-Officio Tec undershorts	3.7	2	7.4	+ Wear 1
EMS Teckwik  L-sleeve T-Shirt	4.1	1	4.1
REI S/S Sahara shirt	6.4	2	12.8
REI L/S Sahara shirt	8.1	1	8.1
EMS Convertible Hiking pants	13.5	1	13.5	+ Wear 1
Marmot PreCip rain jacket	13.4	1	13.4
Marmot PreCip rain pants	13.8	1	13.8
Nylon sleep/swim pants	4.3	1	4.3
Patagonia Nano Puff warm jacket (L)	11.0	1	11.0
LL Bean Light Fleece PullOver	10.8	0	0.0	+ Wear 1
Osprey Talon - 33 Liter Backpack	29.0	1	29.0
Toilet Kit			4.0
comb	0.5	1		0.5
PFS 50 sun screen	2.0	1		2
tooth paste	1.0	1		1
toothbrush	0.5	1		0.5
Big pins for clothes drying	0.5	4	2.0
Pole Repair Kit (tips,straps, etc)	3.0	1	3.0
Repair Kit (xtra laces, rubber bands, zip bags)	2.0	1	2.0
Outdoor Research Seattle Sombrero (Rain)	3.4	1	3.4
Ooutdoor Research Ultra-light Baseball Cap	1.9	1	1.9
Vaseline (small jar	2.2	1	2.2
Toe Spacer/BandAids	0.5	4	2.0
Rx Meds (20 days supply)	2.0	1	2.0
Non-Rx Pills (Tylenol 650; 1/Day)	1.0	1	1.0
Spring Hill Windproof Beanie	0.8	1	0.8	HiValue Stuff
Headlamp	2.5	1	2.5	British Pounds
Osprey Wasatch 12 Liter Pack w/Hi-Vis cover	25.4	1	25.4	US Passport
Zipper Wallet	3.0	1	3.0	SD Way Personal Cards
Stuff bags for gear in pack (Sea to Summit,etc)	0.1	4	0.4
SmallJournal/pen	1.9	1	1.9
Trailblazer S. Downs Way Guidebook; AZ Map	12.6	1	12.6
Emergency pack(1)		1.0	2.7	E/Pack (1)
Sunglasses; reading glasses	1.5	2	3.0	lipscreen
Reading book (nites,plane/train)	4.0	1	4.0	compass
			0.0	whistle
HiValue Papers & Money		1	3.8	duct tape
			0.0	toilet paper
Total Carry		OZ	221.2
		Pounds	13.8	81%	of max
		Max. Wt.	17
		(10% body wt.)