The Great Wall’ker

Before leaving Norway, I spent quite a lot of time researching lightweight equipment. This is one of the gems I found.

My 72 liter rucksack weighs only 1.4 kilos! That is about two kilos less than other conventional rucksacks.

After carrying the rucksack for about 4.500 kilometres, I am very satisfied with the choice!

Functionally, I don’t see many disadvantages. The hipbelt doesn’t move with the walking movement and the padding of the shoulder straps is a little on the thin side, but because I keep all my equipment light, I don’t miss this.

Golite Quest rucksack on the Great Wall

As with all light weight equipment, it pays to show a little extra care. For instance, when I am putting the rucksack in the luggage space under a bus, I make sure there are no sharp objects around, and that the shoulder straps won’t be hooked onto something when other people take out their luggage. All the straps are thinner than usual, but they are more than strong enough for the rucksack’s intended use.

During the winter, I carried in excess of 20 kilos. Sometimes the straps on the lid were stretched to the limit, because I had my tent under it. All the same it never crossed my mind that I wanted a bigger (and heavier) rucksack.

The rucksack has a stiff back, and I like the way it hugs to my back. It feels comfortable both in minus 20C and pluss 40C.

Wear and tear:

After about 4.500 kilometres, it is only natural that a rucksack becomes somewhat travel stained.

I have walked quite a lot through dense foliage and forests. Once I felt something holding me back, and as so often before just forced my way on. The zipper is attached to the rucksack with a fairly thin water resistable membrane. A twig went through the membrane and slashed open a hole in the lid. When I got to a small town, I had the zipper stitched to the lid. The membrane is only glued on. The content of the top lid is waterproof, and with enough rain anything will get wet. If I were to do a long walk again with the same rucksack, I would have the zipper stitched to the rucksack with a heavy duty thread before I left.

The material in the rucksack has done suprisingly well. The side pockets which have a stretchable material have become a little slacker. They have carried half- and one litre bottles, tent poles, tripods, woolen hat, gloves, maps, sun cream, food and walking sticks. Not all at the same time though.

Repair to the hip belt

I have had to repair both sides of the hip belt where the straps are attached to the padded hip belt. This is another reinforcement I would have done before setting out on a long trip. I had shoe mongers repair the damage with two studs on each side going through the padding and straps.

All in all, I’m very happy with this rucksack and hope to use it many times after I am finished walking the Great Wall.

Unless you are climbing Mount Everest, then you would probably have a lot of enjoyment from using a lightweight rucksack that is more than half the weight of ordinary rucksacks. Come to think of it - a person climbing Mount Everest might want to consider saving a couple of kilos too…

Thank you very much for the supportive comments and mails I have received lately. I have taken the time to eat a lot of good food, and organize all the pictures from the walk. Quite a task, although not quite as challenging as walking the Great Wall.

The foot is mending ever so slowly. Not as much pain now as a week ago, but I’m still favouring my right foot, and keeping the walks short. I hope it keeps on mending at the same rate the following week.

Tomorrow I will start writing more about the equipment I’ve been using while walking the Great Wall. Thanks for the hint Bryan.

Wishing you all a good weekend!

Sorry for not writing sooner. I have been to the doctors office the last three days, and saw little point in writing anything until it was more conclusive.

On Monday I went to a clinic in Beijing and had my foot examined. The doctor recommended an x-ray. The results came in the same day. They were inconclusive and therefore I went for an MRI scan on Tuesday. I went back again yesterday to get the results. Doctor Sarah - whom I have been seeing - brought along doctor Alannah who is an expert on feet. Thanks to both of you for all the help and advice you have provided!

The bad news:

• Left 1st phalange is fractured and bruised
• The big toe joint has effusions
• The area has soft tissue damage

The good news:

Alannah asked me to bring along the shoes I have been walking in, and examined them and my feet carefully. She said that my biomechanics are good. That means my walking style is not putting bad or incorrect pressure on my feet which leads to more injuries.

I was hoping there was no serious injury. After seeing no substantial recovery the last two weeks however I was half expecting this. It is hard to say exactly how long the recovery time for an injury like this is. Normally it should take approximately another 4 weeks.

This is bad news for my progress of course. The truth is that I want to see this walk through. This is an old dream, and one I have been living for a long time. So I will wait the time it takes, and then continue walking the Great Wall.

Last week there was an article about the walk in a newspaper called Beijing Today that you can read here.

Sorry for not writing sooner, but at this stage, there isn’t that much ‘news’. Thank you all very much for the nice words of encouragement that I  have received lately. Much appreciated.

The last week the swelling in the foot has gone down. The flexibility of my big toe has improved a little every day, but moving it upwards causes a lot of pain in the big toe joint. I have spent time reading up on march fractures, stress fractures and learnt a lot about the bones that make up our feet. I have also spoken to a couple of doctor friends about it - thanks Andrew and Brynjar!

The bottom line is that it may be a fracture, or it may not. Fractures like this can be difficult to diagnose. I plan to go to Beijing tomorrow and have it checked with x-ray and/or MR. Up until now I have been in Zunhua giving the foot plenty of rest which is what it needs in either case. I’m hoping it is a soft tissue issue.

I remain pretty relaxed about the situation although it is the last thing I wanted. There is no need to use a lot of energy worrying about something I have no control over. I’ll let others do that… Time will tell, and the show must go on!

Will write more when I know more. Until then, there will be a new picture each day!