Epics / stories against yourself...

The most fateful thing I did was not take antibiotics on a S.I. traverse. My companion got cellulitis and was eventually medevaced by helicopter after a few days of showing symptoms. I've not really had epics though I've done the occasional trip in bad weather e.g. heavy rain or strong winds usually on multiday trips where you can't plan your trip around the day's weather. Last year Frank and I walked along a ridge (Bob's Knob) in very strong winds. I got picked up and dumped and then blown along a bit more. We retreated to the lee of the ridge, doing a slow sidle through scrub until the wind had dropped at a lower altitude to enable us to come off the ridge and descend to the car in the valley below. Serendipitously the change of route allowed us to travel another attractive side ridge that we wouldn't have considered.

One thing I've learnt in general is that when the route gets crazy steep and hairy, I am no longer on the route.

I had a bad reputation for running starvation trips in my youth. I'm sure it wasn't all my fault... Came out to the top end of [Lake Monowai](http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap?v=2&ll=-45.861982,167.455845&z=13) at the end of Easter once, expecting to catch a water taxi back to the car. Got to the lake edge, water taxi was disappearing into the distance. Decided to take a shortcut around the lake edge, it took us the rest of that day, then two more days with a gulp of fresh air and a cup of cold water for dinner breakfast and lunch before we got out. Another time we came down off the Paparoa tops at the end of a trip, weather getting worse, got to the Ballroom overhang and couldn't cross the Fox river. Food for one lunch left, sat there for two more nights before we could get across and out in the afternoon. The biggest distance/time/food miscalculation was a trip through the middle of Strathcona park, Vancouver Island. Needed to get the car back from Gold River after spending three weeks kayaking down to Tofino. Decided we'd walk back through the mountains, got a water taxi to the head of the fiord inland from [Ahousat](https://goo.gl/maps/XynSLHuovhT2) Took a week's food, tent fly. I had walking shoes, cheap warehouse style non proofed nylon anorak, a couple of plastic rubbish bags and a roll of electrical tape to turn them into a raincoat if it started raining. (My partner had a real raincoat and boots) It was October, so it started snowing as we got on the tops, we were camping on the tops by frozen tarns, tent fly and sleeping bags came out of the packs frozen. No going back due to starting with the water taxi from the head of a fiord at the end of the season. End of day five fly camping by frozen tarns with snow blowing through we had two days of food left and five more days to go. Tricky southern Fiordland like transalpine country, rope and ice axe would have been handy, we had to manage with a couple of bush poles. Ate our last food at lunchtime below the last pass, still had the last two and a half days to go on fresh air and cold water. Got to Gold River evening of day 10, it took more than an hour to get the car started. Almost too giddy to drive in the dark and rain to somewhere we could get something to eat. It was critical and fortunate we didn't make any mistakes, no radio or PLB, no tracks or huts to retreat to.

Early voyages off the top of my head. Tramping in steel toe work boots. Four sausages and four slices of bread between me and my Cousin. Carrying a hatchet and handsaw. Having a cheap single skin tent and sleeping in a pool of water that night when the heavens op pened up. Carrying a large warehouse tarp to cover said tent till I could afford a better one. Buying military boots a size to small to upgrade from work boots and tramping for 40km with crippling blisters. It's all lessons learned and never forgotten.

I'm old enough to have started my tramping life wearing those big green boots, which probably weighed more than I did at the time, carrying a Mountain Mule style pack (I'm surprised I can still stand upright) and (trying) to eat that solid freeze dried stuff in silver packets which came from down south somewhere. Alliance Foods? We certainly have it much more comfortable now.

At least that wasnt Vesta curries. To think that they were sold as real curry says a lot about the currys available in real food shops

Forgetting toilet paper

Going downhill on my butt.

I took the 10 days supply of toilet paper for a swim when I crossed a flooded river with it in my parka pocket. Luckily it was in Fiordland so no trouble with moss everywhere.