The Pennine Way is the United Kingdom’s oldest hiking trail. It’s about 270 miles long and runs from Edale in England to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland. Time permitting, I may extend the route west along St Cuthbert’s Way to Melrose or even Milngavie at the southern end of the West Highland Way. These hikes are all part of a larger section-hiking project I’ve undertaken: hiking a LEJOG, which stands for Land’s End to John O’Groats. These two points are the south-western and north-easternmost points of the United Kingdom, and the “uber” thru-hike that many backpackers make across England and Scotland.

I’ve done a fair amount of hiking in Scotland and some in England. There are a lot of things I like about it, including the beer. Perhaps most of all, it’s not all mapped out and decided up front, unlike many US trails that are blazed or signed to death. I thirst for open country, the freedom to roam, and the thrill of making my own decisions. Scotland has a lot of that, and there’s also some in England, particularly in the National Parks that the Pennine Way links together. While the Pennine Way is signposted, once I cross the border into Scotland, the gloves can come off, particularly if I have time to extend my journey. I have three weeks in-country, in May and June, when the days are long, and I can hike for more hours each day.

Packing

Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest 55 Backpack

I’ve tried a few backpacks in my time (like 300 or so), but I keep coming back to the Hyperlite Mtn Gear Southwest 55, a good all-rounder for backpacking trips. It fits me perfectly and can scale up to heavier loads when required. I line it with the Exped Schnozzell 42L drybag/pumpsack, which I use to inflate my sleeping pad. I’ve found the Zpacks Travel Utility Zip to be indispensable for keeping my passport, tickets, and wallet organized for foreign travel. It hangs around your neck.

Shelter/Sleep System

Durston Gear X-Mid 1

I tested out the new Vesper 20 Quilt and liked it so much that I decided to bring it on this trip. I’m a sucker for a draft collar and 900-fill-power down, so it was an easy choice. I’ve been using a Sea-to-Summit Ether Light Sleeping Pad since 2019, when I hiked the Cape Wrath Trail before Covid (has it been that long?). It’s really hard to beat a 4″ insulated mattress on a backpacking trip. I’m bringing a third-generation Durston X-Mid on this trip for a few reasons. First, I want a tent in a stealthier color because I’ll be wild camping and don’t want to be disturbed. Baby blue and white Dyneema tents stick out like a sore thumb. The Silpoly X-mid is darker green and will blend into the landscape better. It also has two vestibules so I can keep my gear covered at night and boil water in my tent, if I have to sit out bad weather. The X-mid is also pretty easy to set up, even in the wind. Most of my route is highly exposed terrain, and there will be times I need to pitch up in windy conditions. So I’m bringing some longer 6″ Easton stakes than I usually carry, along with extra guylines to anchor the tent.

Clothing Not Worn

Montbell Storm Cruiser Rain Jacket

I’m probably going to get rained on a fair amount on this trip, and this route is known to be quite wet and muddy in places. So, I’m bringing some extra socks because 1) I want to keep rinsed out ones a chance to dry before I put them on again, and because 2) trying to find replacement socks on a long hike in the UK is really difficult. I have firsthand experience. The rest of this list is a pretty standard set of wet-weather and cool-weather layers. The only new thing is the Showa Temres 281 work gloves. These are an obnoxious bright blue color, with wrist gauntlets. Andrew Skurka recommends them, and I’ve been using them for hikes in Vermont this spring. I’ve also used their winter version, the insulated Showa Temres 282 gloves, for many years. They’re not expensive, and they work much better than gloves from outdoor sports companies.

Electronics/Navigation

Anker Nano 10000 Battery Meter and Time Left to Charge

One of the hardest decisions about what gear to bring for this trip centered on device charging and the most important capabilities for a power brick: capacity, weight, a battery meter, and charging time. I really like the battery meter on the Anker Nano 10000 power brick, which is why I chose it over the Nitecore NB10000 4th-generation power brick, which is still a great new product. Given that I’m going to have to grab recharges at pubs and cafes en route, the Anker battery meter tells me the exact percentage the battery has been recharged and how much longer I need to sit in the pub/cafe until it’s finished. That’s worth a few ounces for me. Next was deciding how to recharge the battery. Should I use a UK->USA outlet adapter or go native and get a UK-specific charger? I decided to go native and chose a 30W Belkin USB-C charger with a UK plug. I plan to keep my SmartPhone in airplane mode for most of the trip, but my Verizon plan includes UK service if I need to use it. When I text home, I’ll just use my inReach mini2 to send check-in messages. They cost $0.10 each on my plan. Can’t beat that.

I’ll be using the OSMaps app to follow my route, augmented by Harvey Maps north and south Pennine Way maps. While you can download a GPX of the entire Pennine Way, OSMaps won’t download all the digital maps adjacent to it unless you break them up into smaller stages. That was tedious. I used Caltopo to do it, and then imported the stages back into OSmaps. If you encounter this issue too, I’ve published the individual stage GPX files in my public Dropbox folder. Have at them.

Hydration/Kitchen

MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe Stove

There’s a lot of water along my route, and I’ll be filtering it. I prefer a Platypus setup to other alternatives because I like having soft bottles with gussetted bottoms that stand up in camp, and, out of habit, since I’ve been using Platypus bottles for over 20 years. They’re super durable and easy to maintain. As for the White Nalgene. It’s indispensable for hot drinks, including the big pot of morning tea I like to prehydrate with on backpacking trips. I’ll be cooking along the way with whatever I can resupply with from town, which will probably include a lot of noodles, soup, and oats. One of the first things I have to do when I arrive in Manchester, England, near the start of the Pennine Way, is to go buy a can of isobutane gas. I’ve booked lodging there for my first night in the country, near the outdoor ships, just for that purpose. I expect to be able to buy more along the route if required.

Personal Care

QiWiz Big Dig Titanium Trowel

I’ve never carried more than a sliver of a towel on backpacking trips, but I’m changing that on this trip. I expect I’ll stay at a few commercial campsites, near trail towns, and if you’ve ever tried to dry off after a shower at a campsite without one, it’s just no fun. Even then, I plan to freshen up when I’m wild camping in the open, and having a towel, even a small towel, will be a nice luxury.

Gear Carried/Clothing Worn

Rab Incline Light Pants

This is a standard mix of clothes for me, although there are a few newer items since I’ve lost some weight. The Pennine has a lot of grassland, and I’m expecting ticks. Most of the things I’m wearing have been treated with Insect Shield (Permethrin) from my shoes all the way up to and including my hat. I won’t be wearing shorts in order to protect my legs from insect bites. There may also be midges, so I have a head net.

Totals

This gear list has a base weight of 15 pounds and a skin-out weight, minus consumables, of 19.8 lbs, which is the most I’ve carried for a few years by a pound or two, even when backpacking in Scotland. I’m not bringing an ultralight Dyneema tent on this trip, which accounts for some of the added weight. I’m also carrying a little extra clothing, both for layering and so I can rinse what I wear during the day, but still have dry stuff to put on at night. I’m hoping to camp out as much as possible on this trip to take in the landscape, and probably won’t stay in town lodgings for more than a few nights, preferring to wash up along the trail instead. But I guess we’ll see how it goes.

Backpacking The Pennine Way: the Quick and Dirty

Here’s a quick-and-dirty synopsis of the hiking conditions I expect to encounter on this trip, which motivates the gear list above.

• The Pennine is wet, muddy, and boggy in places. It rains a lot. There are numerous stream crossings, far too many to take your shoes off every time.
• The abundance of water means you don’t have to carry much drinking water, except on longer ridge walks
• The Pennine Way is windy. There are very few trees. The wind and rain can be nasty to walk in. Rain gear isn’t optional. You want decent insulation if it turns colder.
• Temperatures can be all over the place in May and even into June. Expect temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s, maybe higher, maybe lower
• England has many paths. Signage can be sparse. You need to be vigilant about staying found.
• Once you cross into Scotland, public access laws allow you to walk and camp anywhere, even on private land. That’s not the case in England, but people still wild-camp discreetly or stay at paid campsites along the route.
• The Pennine Way has lots of hills and smaller mountains. Lots of hills and mountains with valleys, lakes, and rivers in between.
• The Pennine Way is sparsely populated, but there are a few towns near the route. You can resupply often enough that you only need to carry a few days’ food at a time.
• There are no large animals to fear. You can sleep with your food and cook in your tent.

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