Made in England -
29 th Apr 2008

Paul’s weigh in

Paul at the start

Firstly I’d like to say Hi to all you followers of Cookies blog as I will be Cookies partner in crime and you will be seeing and hearing a lot from me over the next 6 months. For those of you that do know me this picture is a bit freaky as its the first time in over 2 years that I’ve shaved off my beard. It will also be the last time I shave until I return to the UK and I’m looking forward to seeing how Grizzly Adam’s I can get without my girlfriend Claire complaining ;-)

Paul's weight at the start

My starting weight of 168lbs or 12 stone is the heaviest I have ever been and is the result of 6 weeks of stuffing my face with anything I can get my hands on and cutting back on all exercise. From experience this extra weight I have gained will not last very long and I am hoping that I finish the walk loosing only 1 stone.

Weight of Paul's rucksack

Our rucksacks have 6 days of food in them and our water is full. At 34lbs or 15.4kgs it is heavier than we had both hoped as our base pack weight has been dramatically reduced after investing in new ultra lightweight gear. I’m sure as we go we will ditch anything that does not get used and some of the small luxuries we are carrying will get binned to save weight.

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29 th Apr 2008

Cookie’s weigh in

Cookie before walking the Continental Divide Trail

This is photo Day 0, from here on in it’s just going to get more and more hairy, much dirtier and probably less chubby cheeked too.

Cookie's weight at the start

It’s tradition to do a pre-walk weigh in – This is my weight today, on the scales it says 185 pounds. In English that’s 13.2 stone, or 84 kg. It’s going to be interesting to see how much we loose during the walk… I’d be quite happy to get down to 12 stone ;)

Weight of Cookie's rucksack

Also it’s good to know how much is in your pack – This is the weight of my rucksack starting out, on the scales in says 35 pounds. In English that’s 2.5 stone, or 15.9 kg. we’ve got about 6 days worth of food packed in and our water full, so this is a fairy accurate ‘average’ weight of what we’ll be carrying right across America. Bit heavier than I was hoping though…

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30 th Apr 2008

We’re in New Mexico

Just got off the Greyhound bus, our man Sam is taking us to the Crazy Cook monument on the Mexican boarder, we’ll be starting the walk tomorrow morning!

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01 st May 2008

Crazy Cook Monument

And we’re off! With the Mexico border at our backs this, this is us starting our walk towards Canada :)

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01 st May 2008

Camp #1

Alongside the Big Hatchet Range, on the outlet of Thompson Canyon. Our man Sam had left us a couple of gallons of water here, and after 17 odd miles, we were too beat to carry on.

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02 nd May 2008

First Water Windmill

There’s no running water out here in the desert, these things pump it from the water table and are our only source. We ran out of water about 10 miles before we hit this one, so were a bit parched when we arrived! Took advantage of the only tree for miles and miles and had a nice long break in the shade.

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02 nd May 2008

PooView #1

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02 nd May 2008

Camp #2

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03 rd May 2008

Would you drink from an old tire?

Yeah it wasn’t actually that bad, I’ve seen greener water. We filtered it and it was fine. Impressive amount of cow shit around though, most turds I’ve ever seen in one place!

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03 rd May 2008

PooView #2

Ishould probably explain for those who aren’t aware of mine and Paul fascination with views from our poos… These are genuine throne placements, we really did take a shit while looking at this exact view!

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03 rd May 2008

Bath time

Paul Gets A Wash

What do we have here? A tractor tire in cow shit central, full of green water, get your kit off Paul it’s bath time!

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05 th May 2008

Sun-a-rise early in the morning

Sun-a-rise early in the morning

The sunrises, sunsets and starry nights are truely awesome here in New Mexico. It’s just the middle of the day that’s a bit grim!

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05 th May 2008

Not a great deal of shade about

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05 th May 2008

First town – Lordsburg

Cookie & Paul drinking beer

We made it to our first town :) we’re now rested, re-supplied, drunk and ready for the next section to Silver City. Our solar panel is pretty much buggered, so we might have trouble keeping the blog updated until we can get a new one, but we’re working on it!

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06 th May 2008

Mexican Boarder to Lordsburg

Bloody hell this stage was tough and our feet are battered! A word of warning, never buy shoes online without trying them on first!

This was a harsh section to break us in not solely because of the 20 miles a day but more the hostile terrain and desolate environment. We either walked on tracks that were uneven and rocky under foot or bushwhacked through shrubs that tear your legs to shreds. The Landscape was barren with little or no respite from the baking sun and no sign of running water. Restocking our water was a constant gamble as we relied on the few cattle troughs on the trail of which many were dry. We ran out of water on a few occasions and if it were not for Sam Hughes water cache it would have been more often. We did however fight on with blisters weeping knowing that a steak dinner, a few bottles of beer and what turned out to be a full bottle of tequila would reward our efforts.

I entered Lordsburg with with the tune on repeat in my head “Things can only get better” - Paul.

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