The picture above shows Three Points of the Compass and daughter hiking Hadrian’s Wall in 2014. Together with Mrs Three Points of the Compass we experienced a typical mixed bag of weather on that six day April walk.

An important factor for me to consider when I set off on my ‘Big Walk’ in thirty days is the weather. In Britain, at that time of the year, I can encounter just about any type of weather. I may hope for cool days with little wind, but will almost certainly be presented with cold, wet, or hot (well, very warm) conditions. Such changeable weather means that my clothing and equipment will have to be capable of handling extremes.

As I write this, much of the UK is gripped by the ‘Beast from the East’. This is simply a polar vortex spiralling in from Siberia. Much as I would dearly have liked to go hiking, I have had to work over the past few weeks. Commuting has been ‘interesting’ to put it mildly. Temperatures haven’t risen above 0°C for most of the week and have usually been a fair bit below this, especially taking wind chill in to account. I could have dug out my battered old Brashers for the commute but instead decided to see how the new Altra Lone Peak 3.5’s tackled ice and snow. I am pleased to find that the sole pattern and grip on these is as good as any other trail runners I have had in the past, possibly with the exception of my Inov8 330s. While I don’t expect to have to contend with snow in the West Country in thirty days time, I do expect to encounter slippery conditions.

Altra Lone Peak 3.5. Three Points of the Compass will be wearing these on the forthcoming trek

That said, it is just as likely to be sunshine I experience in the early weeks of my hike. So despite the snow outside, I spent a few minutes this week decanting sunscreen from a larger plastic container into two smaller plastic bottles.

I frequently wear a Tilley Airflow hat when hiking, whether sunny or raining. However I do find the backs of my hands especially can catch the sun when hiking with Pacer Poles.

The 50ml bottle of 50 SPF sunscreen from Lifesystems weighed 67g when purchased. When I set off from Poole on the south coast of England on 1st April this year, I’ll be carrying one small 5g bottle containing 18g of sunscreen (total weight 23g). I also have another bottle with 24g of sunscreen ready to be posted to me as, when and if I require it. This is a pretty good sunscreen, with one application lasting up to six hours. I usually prefer Piz Buin as I find that less greasy but the one from Lifesystems offers added protection from Jellyfish stings, I am sure that will come in handy….

Prism Mitts from Montane are a fantastic choice for lower temperatures. Three Points of the Compass will also be carrying one small bottle of sunscreen in his pack, hopefully neither item will be required

I am still waiting for just a couple more items to turn up in the post. I’ll write a little on these once they materialise. In the meantime, I am still playing with maps and routes and getting to grips with OS Maps online and App. Roll on the next month…

Three Points of the Compass walked the Norfolk Coast Path in April 2017. Tilley Airflow hat protects head and neck, however the backs of hands and forearms frequently catch the sun