Daily Regime

With thirteen more years on the clock since the last time I did this, I had some concerns about the physical effort. In contrast I had no concerns about the mental effort or the solitude. So for the first week or so I deliberately eased into it, rested 5-10 mins each hour and started a regime of long lunch breaks (initially in the heat of the day) which I continued more or less uninterrupted until the end of the walk. And long means from one and a half to two hours, sometimes nearly three and once four! Sometimes I also had an afternoon tea break as well.

I'm also not much of an early starter (in contrast to Chris Upson you won't catch me saying "Once again I was up and on the trail before first light"*), and a good getaway was prior to 9am with 9:15am becoming something of a benchmark. I left when I was ready and not before. However I did on occasion walk late into the evening as there was a delicious light (until 8:30pm) and it was pleasantly cool. 

I had envisaged trying to separate where I cooked from where I camped, but in practice this rarely happened, Las Illas being a notable exception.

Being consistently alone, I also walked more slowly and more carefully, especially on the descents.

However notwithstanding all of the above I went considerably faster with less effort. Overall nearly three weeks faster! Part of which can be explained by not doing some extra peaks (Mt Perdu, Pico d'Estats) and partly because this time I took not a single rest day! But mostly it was that I simply covered more ground each day as I was not restrained by the location of Refuges, and nor did I feel as tired.

* However in Nepal I have become a bit of an advocate for the early start, provided I have a clear plan for where I am stopping for breakfast. The last few mornings on my most recent Everest trek started around 5am just as it was getting light. A wonderful time of day, if you can handle the cold.