Thank you for visiting my fund raising page. I am raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Macmillan help people during the most difficult periods of their lives and Macmillan need your help. Please dig deep and sponsor me online. All of the money raised on this site will go to Macmillan. It will not fund the trip.

15:30 26^th Aug 07 – I made it!        Now that I am back, what was it like?

The trip was just fantastic, a great adventure. Setting off as planned on 11th July from Hendaye , a small French town on the Atlantic coast. Forty seven days later, having climbed a total 40,000meters, I was enjoying a swim inMediterranean, over 800km to east.  To put that in context, I was walking everyday, except for 3 rest days. The average days walk was approx 20km with 1000m of accent. The total accent, 40,000m, is nearly five times the height of Mt Everest.

The scenery was continuously breath taking. The weather was generally kind to me, mostly blue sky days, but there were several big storms and ½ a dozen total white-out days, when thick low cloud really tested my navigation skills. I found the 1st 200km tough. Whilst it was over easy ground, the days were long and I was still developing stamina and getting into the grove of long distance travel. The next 600k became really enjoyable, even though a lot of it was through more difficult terrain and much higher mountains, (2000 - 3000m plus). The temperature varied enormously from sub zero in the high mountains to a steamy 35'c during the last days towards the Med. I encountered a number of problems on route, but I was totally focussed on reaching the Med. and that helped me to overcome any obstacle. Remarkably, I completed the trip without getting any blisters. I attribute this largely to great boots, Sorbothanes and the fantastic bamboo socks I was testing for Sprayway. (I wore one pair for the 1st 18 days). My pack weight varied between 12kg and 23kg, depending on how much food & water I needed to carry.  The Cicerone guide book is excellent, but you’ll also need the relevant maps, a compass and know how to use them. Light weight gear is essential for such a long trip and the Mountain Equipment tent, at under a Kilo, was fantastic,  I was grateful to my supporters for providing it.

The auctions would not have happen without the generosity of the people donating prizes. (The Goshawk , Plas y Brein, Vertical Chill, Harris golf club, The Harris Tweed Shop, The Chetwoldarms, The Devonshire Arms, The Peacock at Rowsley, OMM, The Carriers Inn and The Maypole.

In addition to donating items for the auctions, several companies, (Sprayway, Mountain Equipment, Ronhill, OMM, Cicerone, Stanfords, CarPhoneWarehouse, Solio), helped me by providing equipment for the expedition and I am very grateful for their support.  Raising money for Macmillan on this trip has given me a very warm feeling and it proved to be contagious, as so many of the people that I have met have gone out of there way to help me make this happen.  There are too many people to list here, but they know who they are and I hope they share the warm feeling. 

I would also like to record a special thanks the following people really who went out of the way to help me make this happen; JT, my partner, for her love, encouragement and support. Mike Deegan of Sprayway, Mountain Equipment, Ronhill, for the generous d equipment and clothing for the trip and the auction;  JT's Mum & Jimmy and Hannah for arranging the welcome home party, Rob & Dan (Elephant Juice) for rocking our world at the party

I think it will take me a few days to catch up with normality. After that I'll be planning my next little adventure!

I am very grateful for your support.  Many thanks, Mike Heyes.