10 mile kit shakedown

Having parted company with my old racing bike (ok, it isn't a 'normal' one) I had a little cash to invest in more new kit this week... :)
First off, thanks to the suggestion from Mac E and Podcast Bob I've invested in a Golite Jam2 pack. The pack will be no use for the Glyde trip but I'm planning on hiking/backpacking to gain fitness and put the rest of the kit through its paces.

First modification is going to be trimming down some of the straps!

Secondly I'm watching the letterbox for the Satmap full GB memory card to arrive... Having tried the options I have a few bits & pieces of Satmap kit surplus to requirements so for any of you who are interested I'll hold a mini-competition or two shortly and if there are no takers the stuff goes to eBay... Keep an eye on the feed!
Oh, and having received my EK mini-meths burner this week, liking the quality of the beast and then being tempted by the GramFairy(tm) I've ordered the matching Einzel-Kocher 750OB wood burner stove with the plan on using it in the sub-100g configuration as a replacement to the 426g Honey Stove for those times when a third of a kilo counts...

Anyway, today, sporting the new Jam we did a 10 mile walk out to the South Coast of the River Trent... Normally this would be a walk along a riverbank but, well, it seems we've had some rain...

There is supposed to be a 'high' path to the left and a 'low' path to the right but today the Trent has other ideas...

The bridge is normally high enough to play Pooh Sticks...

Pack weight, plus camera and GPS came to a comfortable 6.1kg (13.4lb). I'm struggling to imagine carrying the sort of weights that some seem to think 'normal' - only yesterday I was reading a forum posting from an American who was pleased to have economised and got his walking pack down to around 37 pounds! Maybe I'm just a wimp - I'm deliberately overloading myself on a daywalk with the plan of this being around my weekend camping weight! And I'm hoping not to be carrying much more for the full Glyde Around Britain...

I'd be lighter without the gadgets but I do like the SLR camera... And yes, I know, it is heavier than my tent... and sleeping mat...

Anchor Church - not quite the riverside residence we are looking for...

Disaster of the day - ok, not really disaster, more kinda cockup - was failing to light the Honey Stove. I blame it on complacency after it simply 'just working' last time I used it. I should have collected more light kindling rather than expecting the light twigs to go up. Everything in the woods having been soaked for the last week didn't help much either - I should have picked up more of the dry cowparsley stems when I had the chance. But that is the point of these shakedown walks. And the upside was that the MSR Pocket Rocket got it's first fieldtest rather than just being ballast - wow - I'm seriously impressed. It is complete overkill for a cup of coffee, but hey, boiling water in just three minutes. Plus full on roaring sound effects. Hmmm... and I didn't even turn it up to 11 yet!

I remember when this was all fields - last Monday!

The crops are doing well on it - pity this is supposed to be the footpath...

Stats for the walk - a smidge under 10 miles distance and a smidge over 1000ft accumulated ascent!