Four weeks after our toes felt the Mediterranean Sea I sat
at my desk, glancing every now and then through the sash window in my room. It
was drizzling. Surrounding me were piles of books, diaries, notes and
photographs from our trip. I was in a particularly decisive mood and had spent several
hours gleaning as many facts and figures from the materials in front of me as
was possible. As my bottom began to numb from the hard wooden chair I deemed it
time to stop. So, here are the results.
·
Days
– 130, beginning April 14th 2013, ending August 21st 2013.
·
Overall distance
walked - 2,842.9km (as the crow
flies, Bristol to Menton is 1000km).
·
Steps
taken – Danny; 5 million, Jake; 5.1 million (because his legs are one
centimeter shorter than mine).
·
Number of
countries – 8; England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Luxembourg, France,
Switzerland and Italy.
·
Total
ascent and descent – 60,000 metres, that’s nearly 7 Everest’s!
·
Tick
tally (combined) – 195 (Jake; 117, Danny; 78 - only counted if imbedded
beneath the skin. Number of ticks found on bodies likely to be quadruple the
figure).
·
Highest point
- Col de L’iseran, 2770m.
·
Hottest
day – 38 degrees centigrade.
·
Greatest
distance covered in a day – 42kms.
·
Blisters
tally – 3 – unbelievably Jake
had no blisters, the three were mine.
·
Accommodation
– 70% camping, 25% hotels/Bed and Breakfasts, 5% donated shelter.
·
Average
daily distance - 21.8 (24.1km excluding rest days).
·
Enjoyment
ratings (out of 10) – Highest 9.5, lowest 2, average 6.3, mode 7.
·
Painkillers
– Jake; every day for headaches, Danny; 3 for headaches.
·
Number of
scroggin (trail mix) components – 47.
·
Number of
falls (all the way to the ground) – Jake 7, Danny, 3.
·
Number of
fellow walkers who joined us for a section – 14.
·
Wettest
country – Belgium.
·
Largest
city – Bristol (432, 000), closely followed by Antwerp(en) (408, 000).
·
Capital
cities – Luxembourg City.
The rain was still toppling from the sullen sky, and as I
stood to get a closer look I was reminded of the dull ache that remained across
the sole of my feet; would it ever fade?
