20th of April Wild Camp on the Highstreet

This is the first Wild Camping trip for over a year now since my hiking buddy damaged his Knees and I became a dad!

I'm hoping to start hiking and wild camping again on a more regular basis and plan to blog my adventures.  As you can see above I have recently discovered Social Hiking and will be utilising it for my blogs also.

Haweswater 20th April 2013

Peaks Bagged

Low Kop (1,877 ft) 

Classification: Birkett

Feature: no feature
Source: Database of British Hills

High Raise (High Street) (2,631 ft) 

Classification: Hewitt, Nuttall, Wainwright, Birkett

Feature: cairn
Source: Database of British Hills

Rampsgill Head (2,598 ft) 

Classification: Hewitt, Nuttall, Wainwright, Birkett

Feature: cairn
Source: Database of British Hills

High Street (2,717 ft) 

Classification: Marilyn, Hewitt, Nuttall, Wainwright, Birkett

Feature: trig point
Source: Database of British Hills

Mardale Ill Bell (2,493 ft) 

Classification: xN, Wainwright, Birkett

Feature: cairn

This trip began in fabulous weather.  A little windy but it was clear we needed to find a sheltered spot for the evenings wild camp.

We arrived at the Haweswater carpark at Mardale at apx 9:30 am as I wanted to get a official parking spot. Luckily we got the last one.  The downside of such an early start is that we had apx 11 hours to fill until it was time to pitch camp (an easy task in these stunning surroundings).

As you can see from the map and photos we left our packs in the Bongo and hiked to Small water, over to Blea water and then to the hotel for afternoon tea.

We returned to grab our kit hiking along Haweswater and cut North East onto Bampton Common and the Highstreet.  By this point our new member was shattered and could hike no further.  We had planned to camp on the picturesque  long stile, however we were a long way off.  I knew from the forecast that the winds would be 30-40mph gusts from the SW so we managed to camp behind a wall that sheltered us from the worst.

This was the first time my Terra Nova Laser Comp has been tested in the wind.  I knew from other peoples experiences that they can flap a lot and be noisy.  Luckily I had my ear plugs but they didn't stop the tent fro smacking me in the face a few times during the night.

My friend James had brought his New Big Agnes UL 1 which I was very impressed with.  I went for a pee a couple of times in the night and noticed it was hardly moving at all.  It seemed very solid.

My home made Meth Stove seemed very inefficient.  Failing to boil my water after 30 minutes.  While Tom's Caldera cone/Fosters can set up boiled in 3 minutes.  Back to the drawing board.  I think the flame was being blown around too much and the pot was too close to the flame.  More experiments needed.

Sunday morning has to be the worst conditions I have ever hiked in. It had forecast winds up to 40mph on the tops but the winds we experience were nearly blowing us over and it was snowing, again not in the forecast I read.  Visibility was terrible.  I must admit I was scared.  Luckily I have kept up with my compass skills and I manage to get us off the mountain.

We all experienced complete failures of our waterproof jackets and trousers.  Should we expect our waterproofs to fail in such driving wet conditions?  What are other peoples experiences?

I forgot to take my camera, however James took his and can be found here, more to follow.

Windermere to Penrith wild camp

Caught the train to Windermere then a quick bus to Ambleside.

We then took 3 days to walk to Penrith train station and train back home.

The walk involved a stay in the cave priests hole and then a brilliant wild camp spot in an old abandoned mine. See maps




View Windermere to Penrith Wild Camp in a larger map

MapMyTracks

just added a new widget to the blog.

MapMyTracks. Im going to use this as a link straight to my recorded adventures but also as a realtime log of my location in case of emergencies.

Gpx file.

GPX file for my recent Howgills walk.

Howgills. Sedbergh to Kirkby Stephen using the Settle to Carlisle train.

Had planned to wild camp the Howgills this weekend, however, remembered it was my wedding anniversary so it was just a reccy.  Stunning scenery and best of all no one around at all. Lots of opportunities to camp on the higher hills or descend in to a gully  and get out of the wind. Pictures and gpx to follow.

: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=200096573754407368465.0004913ff289bdb584cc0

Helvellyn wild camp

Diesel being £1.20 per litre we decided to catch the train to Windermere and then a bus to Ambleside.

From Ambleside we walked up to Helvellyn. The wind was really strong so we dropped down to the woods below Helvellyn.

Quick Wild Camp after work

A quick wild camp after work above Glossop.

Unfortunately my new boots gave me terrible blisters and the walk had to be cut short and i limped back to the car early next morning.

Snowdon Easter 2010

A very Snowy and cold weekend in the Snowdon area.

Dulyn Bothy Weekend 2

Thursday night I drove down to Abergwyngregyn and slept in the Bongo. Friday I had planned to camp in the tent on the Friday night but it soon became clear that the wind was far too strong. I reached Drum and I was nearly blown of my feet and poor Oscar was crying. I decided that Duly Bothy once again was the safest option. On reaching Duly Bothy I had a roam around the reservoirs to see if I could find a sheltered spot to camp (I'd carried my tent after all), however, everywhere seemed to be exposed to the gale, so I resigned myself to the Bothy. Four lads from Liverpool turned up with a couple of bags of coal and a very warm night was had.

The following day I had planed to return to Abergwybgregny via Drosgl Moel Wnion. However, the lads from Liverpool asked me to join them and said the would give me a lift back to the car. This was a great opportunity for me to take in higher peaks I wouldn't have attempted on my own. I also got to use my crampons and ice axe. Oscar did really well and didn't seem to mind the freezing conditions apart from when we stopped. My left eye kept trying to freeze shut.

On the tops it was a complete white-out and extremely difficult to navigate. We made a major mistake and relied on other peoples footprints instead of the compass. Instead of taking the Bwlch Eryl Farchog Ridge we strayed all the way over to Carnedd Dafyd. Instead of getting lost further we made the decision to drop down to Llyn Ogwen and hitch a ride back to the car.

Rombald's Moor Wild Camp

Here is a map of my wild camp round Rombald's Moor. The route was completed clockwise.

Lots of interesting lessons learned.

1. Gators are godsend. The snow was knee deep in places. The gators kept my feet dry all day.

2. Meths won't light when its cold.

3. Sit on Meths to make it warm then it will burn, yey!

4. Walking poles split into 6 massive pegs to pitch your tent in the snow, however, careful they may freeze solid to the ground.

Practice Snow Pitch

We have had about 8 inches of snow here in West Yorkshire.

Thought it was the perfect opportunity to practice pitching my tent in the snow.

Will try this weekend up higher where the snow is deeper.

Some good snow pitching tips can be found here

Ingleborough in the snow

A night on Creigiau Gleision

Managed to convince my wife to come this time. Had to buy her a North Face nupste jacket and loan her my alpkit pipedream 800 as part of the deal.

We left Keighley for Betws-y-Coed about 5pm and somehow missed the traffic. Things were looking good.

Halfway down the M62 the Bongo lost power, the lights dimmed, radio turned off and the speedo went wild. Disaster. i was convinced the weekend was over. After drooling over the weather forecast (the best weekend in weeks) things were not looking good.

the very nice men from the AA turned up popped the Bongo on a truck and drove

us to the nearest service station where, an AA legend (in my opinion) was waiting for us.

He checked the battery and knew instantly it was the alternator. The alternator had rattled loose, lost a bolt and torn its wires out. In true Mc Gyver style he rigged up a new bolt from some scrap laying around in the back of the van and a new plug for the wires

going into the alternator. The weekend was back on!

We arrived in Betws-Y-Coed just in time for all the pubs to stop serving food. We eventually got a table at the Chinese restaurant (the Red Dragon I think) the Beijing beef was amazing.

We then drove to the parking spot I discovered SH 79514 56809.

This was a great little secluded spot that reminded me of a campsite. Not free during the day but their were no signs to say you couldn't park overnight. We awoke to be in a prime location to choose a free spot (SH 79479 56434)

to leave the bongo for the weekend while we hiked and wild camped. This spot seemed quite secure as it was in full view of several shops and a pub.

We were heading for Creigiau Gleision taking in Llyn y Parc

,

llyn Glangors,

Llyn Geirionydd

and Llyn Crafnant

before

climbing up through the forest at the end of Llyn Crafnant to Creigiau Gleision.

This was my full winter wild camp and I was really pleased with our kit.

Because my wife was with us I took our Vango Tempest 300 that we bought for Croatia instead

of my Laser Comp. Although over three times the weight it compacts quite small and had plenty

of room for me and Jo, the dog and Tom could fit in to eat with us and play dominos.

Jo said she was really warm in the pipedream 800. I was using My Snugpak Kestrel which has

a comfort rating of 0. I was ok through the night but I had to wear all my clothes and Jacket.

I was so pleased with the views and conditions in the morning, and I hope you can tell from the

photos it was hard not to take a good photo.

After packing up we continued along taking in the other peaks and then dropping down back

into the forst and back to Betws-Y-Coed for Sunday dinner.

Flickr Slideshow to follow with all 400 photos!

Links to GPX files for the route.

View creigiau-gleision-day-1-gpx

View creigiau-gleision-day-1-gpx

Live blog from skiningrove

My super tall shadow

Live blog from the dune at skiningrove

Live blog skiingrove beach

Saltburn side sands at skiningrove

Hebden Bridge to Keighley Hike/pubcrawl

Forcast looked terrible again so met up with my mate Ian and Hiked from hebden Bridge to Keighley. This turned out to be a pub crawl, 14 miles in total, very tired and hungover.

Stumbled across a couple of little bothies/shelters @ SD971 331 and SD981 353 See the photos.






View Hebden Bridge To Standbury in a larger map

Live blog from haweswater

In the haweswater hotel and waitig for my venison dinner.

The weather has been terrible, walked 16 miles yesterday and slept at mosdale cottage, weather too wet and widy to camp. Just 6 miles today back to hawes water. Oscars paws are very saw, poor bugger.

To wet to get camera out soo not many pictures.

A fellow Bongo Backpacker!

Stumbled across a fellow Bongo Driving Backpacker.

Only thing is his blog is very impressive and puts my feeble efforts so far to shame.

I shall have to step up my game.

http://backpackingbongos.wordpress.com/

Terrible weather again!

Feels like its been gales and raining every weekend since I started backpacking in the UK.

Once again I watched the weather carefully and decided not to go wildcamping.

Am I being soft?

On Saturday I decided to get out and do a hike to see if I made the right decision.

I decided to do a walk from Dunsop Bridge

The weather was atrocious, much of the walk was ankle deep in mud and I even had to wade across a stream come river at one point.

My rain coat kept me really dry, had a little sweat build up but the armpit vents soon got rid of that once I opened them up.

Boots and soles are turning out fantastic, very comfortable, no rubbing or burning sensations.

I think it would have been a pretty miserable camping trip.

That said I really enjoyed the walk.

Map below and photos to follow.


View Dunsop Bridge Hike in a larger map