Stefan Durkacz

What a difference a day makes. I woke up before dawn this morning, head full of despairing thoughts about jacking in the walk altogether as my tendon is little improved after ten days of anti-inflammatory drugs. By four in the afternoon my left leg was being brutally worked over by a sports physiotherapist who has made it his mission to get me in shape for starting my walk in four weeks' time. During the day a nurse friend had advised going straight to a sports physio. Cue frantic internet searching and comparing reviews and testimonials. I found a place that sounded ideal and they booked me in for the same day. It's the start of an aggressive campaign to fix my anterior tibial tendon, and prevent a recurrence of the problem. This physio company specialises in getting troubled athletes (professionals and rank amateurs like me) sorted out at short notice for events such as the London Marathon. The physio who treated me was thorough and competent and really seemed to know his stu...

I didn't know what this was until a couple of days ago. Now I do because I damaged the left one walking in the Luss Hills . It's the tendon that runs down the front of the shin to the ankle and is involved in lifting up the foot, so pretty important for walking. At the moment, walking becomes difficult and painful after a couple of minutes. The doctor reckons it should clear up in a couple of weeks and has prescribed strong anti-inflammatory painkillers, ice packs and rest. However it could take much longer, especially if it's been caused by a longer-term muscle imbalance or foot problem. Only time will tell. This is the last thing I needed, five weeks before I'm due to set off.

I've wanted to get in amongst these hills for a long, long time. A work engagement in Glasgow towards the end of the week provided the excuse. It's fascinating frontier country on the cusp of the Highlands. One of the last ever clan battles took place in Glen Fruin between the respectable lowland Colquhouns and the MacGregors, true Highland tearaways. Nowadays the MoD encroaches with a firing range and, in Glen Douglas, possibly western Europe's biggest munitions store. It's a good place to hide things: stolen cattle, hi-tech weapons, yourself. I tried out quite a few new bits of gear on this outing, which I may talk about in a separate post. As far as the trip report goes, I thought I'd try something a bit different this time and tell the story through sound and vision rather than verbiage, so here it is: The rough and the smooth: A two-day walk across the Luss Hills, April 2014 from Stefan Durkacz on Vimeo .

Recently I wrote about making the move away from gas canister stoves towards other, less environmentally unfriendly fuels, at least for use outside winter. I bought a Trail Designs Sidewinder ti-tri stove , which can be used to burn wood, meths, or solid fuel cubes. I did a back garden test in wood-burning mode, which I was very pleased with. Today I wanted to try out the meths burner, but also the final piece of the jigsaw: a pot cosy. I made the cosy from a kit from backpackinglight.co.uk . The purpose of the pot cosy is to keep the contents of the pot at a simmering temperature. The food therefore continues to cook when off the stove, saving fuel. The flame on simple meths burners can't be adjusted like a gas stove, so can't be used to simmer anyway, making a pot cosy essential if you plan on doing anything other than boiling water to add to dehydrated meals. I want to limit my use of expensive dehydrated backpacking foods on the Tay watershed walk so needed to get to grips...

One of the ironies of planning a major backpacking trip in Scotland is that my preparations have turned me on to the outdoors possibilities on London's doorstep. During most of my years in London, the commuter belt was just somewhere I whizzed through on the train on the way to Scotland with my hiking kit on board. During a short spell when we lived in Hertfordshire a few years ago I got to know the local back roads very well by bicycle, but walking never occurred to me. Maybe it's because I got into walking growing up in Scotland, where it's almost invariably summit-focused: walking as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. The need to build up walking fitness can't be met by sporadic trips to Scotland though, so I've been forced out into Kent and Sussex to sample what's on offer, and I like what I've found. Trail walking in a landscape with little variation in elevation is so different to hillwalking. Navigation is surprisingly difficult! Waymarki...

What are you supposed to do with spent gas canisters? Throw them in the bin probably, but that doesn't seem right. As I assumed that canister gas would be my fuel of choice for the Tay catchment walk I did a few internet searches on how to recycle them, and ended up more confused than before. The bottom line, if there is one, seems to be that putting empty canisters in with other metal for recycling, isn't advised. The canisters are highly pressurised and need to be safely punctured in some way and any remaining fuel removed before they can be recycled. I even read on a US forum someone advocating puncturing the canister with a knife, then smashing it flat with a rock. I won't be getting up to any of that malarkey this summer. My gas stove is a Primus Eta Paclite. It's fast, fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly as gas stoves go, and essential for cold winter conditions. For the Tay catchment walk, though, I decided it was time to branch out and try something diff...

Planning a first long-distance walk could be described as a huge learning curve. But a curve suggests a smooth and straightforward progression. Really it's more haphazard than that. There is much to learn in many different fields. (Mountain) hares are set running in all directions in pursuit of expertise: gear, navigation, weather, fitness, nutrition, logistics, route planning... Everything needed to be safe and successful, serious rather than half-arsed. Things that reams are written about and careers built upon. Perhaps 'growing a tree of knowledge' is a better way of putting it (pretentious though!). Something complex but coherent. Making the decision to do this has revitalised many semi-dormant passions and interests. I'm amazed at how I'm suddenly able to find the time for these things, although on paper having less time than ever before, between a full-time job and children. If you want something enough...! It may not be as core as safety and survival, but ma...