About the Author
Photo credit: David Palmer
Lily is a writer and a runner based in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Her childhood was spent in Ireland and the northwest of England and her love of the outdoors grew from studying geology during a natural sciences degree. She started running in her 20s and since then the sport has taken her from pounding the pavements around Birmingham University to running around Manaslu, Nepal, the world’s eighth highest mountain. She also enjoys cycle touring and has ridden Land’s End to John O’Groats and the loftiest roads of the Himalaya in Ladakh. She still enjoys the buzz of a big-city marathon but is always happiest spending time with friends, beneath open skies and preferably in lumpy places.
Lily is passionate about sharing her love of adventure and the natural world with others. A proportion of author royalties from this book will be donated to nature conservation projects and activity breaks for disadvantaged children.
FASTPACKING
Multi-day running adventures: tips, stories and route ideas
by Lily Dyu
JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS,
OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL
© Lily Dyu 2018
First edition 2018
ISBN 9781783627004
Printed in China on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated.
© Crown copyright 2018 OS PU100012932. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI. Contains OpenStreetMap.org data © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Joe at Cicerone for helping to shape this book; to Verity, Andrea and Georgia, my fantastic editors; to the very talented Caroline, for her great design work; and to my writerly friend, Judy Mills, for all her support.
It was a privilege to hear the inspiring stories of all my contributors; this book is dedicated to them, with heartfelt thanks for being so generous with their time and input.
Running has brought so many friends into my life and I’m indebted to all those I’ve shared the trails with (you know who you are!) Special thanks to Chris for many of the wonderful photographs within these pages and precious memories of shared fastpacking adventures. Without his enthusiasm for crazy capers, this book would not exist.
Updates to this guide
While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/957/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time.
The non-UK route maps in this guide are derived from publicly available data, databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a published map from an official mapping agency, although naturally we have reviewed them closely in the light of local knowledge as part of the preparation of this guide.
We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL.
Register your book: to sign up to receive free updates, special offers and GPX files where available, register your book at www.cicerone.co.uk.
Mountain safety
Every mountain run has its dangers, and those described in this guidebook are no exception. All who fastpack in the mountains should recognise this and take responsibility for themselves and their companions along the way. The author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this guide was correct when it went to press, but, except for any liability that cannot be excluded by law, they cannot accept responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person using this book.
To call out the Mountain Rescue, ring 999 (in the UK) or the international emergency number 112: this will connect you via any available network. Once connected to the emergency operator, ask for the police.
Front cover: Sea views from Mam Meadail, Knoydart, Scotland (Route 8) (Photo credit: Chris Councell)
CONTENTS
Welcome to the world of fastpacking
How do I train for fastpacking?
The different styles of fastpacking
Where should I go fastpacking?
Key considerations when choosing a route
Tips for staying happy and healthy
INSPIRATION: STORIES FROM THE WORLD OF MULTI-DAY RUNNING