For those of you who think this is just a leisurely jaunt across the North of England, think again. There are things you must have or you won’t make it and there are things that will make your life easier. Here is my recommendations of essential and nice to have bits of gear to take with you.
Essentials.
Walking boots. Remember this is a longish walk so your three most important bits of equipment are, good walking boots, good walking boots and good walking boots. Have I made my point. If they are not well walked in, your walk will be hell. I know that sounds pretty drastic but it is true. I did not get any blisters on my feet as my boots were well worn in but my ankles were not (well worn in that is). The constant rubbing of the wet boot tops took its toll. And before you think of it, yes you do need at least mid height boots over the ankles. The paths can be very stony and without the extra support you may sprain an ankle or worse. The blisters on my ankles were not pleasant but bearable, it would have been far worse if the blisters were on my feet. If you are not used to the taller boot it may bruise your ankle as well. They also need to be waterproof, the more breathable the better, especially if it is cold. There are a number of things that you can do to ease your boot problems but before I get too side tracked, I will continue on with the must haves. I will revisit the boot issues in a later post.
Yorkshire Moors
Compeed. Never heard of it? This is a really important piece of gear if you get blisters. They are wonderful. I will also cover this in a later post.
There And Backpacking Again 