Kit List - Scottish Highlands November 2 Weeks

[littlebiglane]

If you are lugging the stuff then may I recommend:
Ditching the SFA - if you have a knife and saw this will suffice.
You have got a tent already why also bring a tarp - one or the other. If using tarp then you'll wisely pair with a bivi-bag. You also mention a poncho (if like a 58 pattern then it can double as a small tarp anyway). If its windy then just put a belt around it - stops it flapping and some have poppers to secure sleeves. Having said that - 9 hours of cold driving rain and plenty of exertion on your part going up and down hills and you'll be soaked under that poncho.
Ditch the tracks and signs book and get the Field Studies Council tracks and signs lamintated tracking card/fold out. It weighs nothing and has plenty of info.
the extra weight I think for a short trip is unecessary.

Map, compass as mentioned.

How about some boots

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Longgggg, dark nights in November, so some reading material or something. I would stick to the coastal areas, although windier it will be milder and less chance to be moved on.

I would suggest you add a synthetic fleece and another thin fleece. It may be very wet and cold so a larger tent and plenty of clothing.

I did the Spey last Oct. hols and it was only 2 nights but it's tricky to sleep at 7pm ! We stopped an hr before dark for setting up the tent etc. The second night was easier and we got up an hr before daybreak to strike camp and cook brekkie, then off at dawn. I think you would need a 'night routine' to get thru.

Nick

 

[Toddy]

That was the bit that occured to me to me too. Scotland, in mid November; there'll be eight hours of daylight.
That's a long time to spend in the dark, and a very, very short day to get anything done or distance travelled.
Depending on the weather, and that 'has' to be taken into account in that area, especially at that time of year, the daylight could be even less simply because of rain or snow clouds.

Put it this way, very few of the locals would do what you are suggesting simply because the tedium of trying to occupy themselves, for more than a few days, alone, with sixteen hours of darkness.

Better to find a site and settle in, and use that as a hub for loops out and back through the area. It would let you travel more lightly and less encumbered that way too.

Those lands are not abandoned or unused. They are owned and regularly hunted over. November is slap bang in the middle of the shooting season for not only virtually all of the birds (though it's generally for pheasant then, and mountain hare) but for the start of the hind season too.

Sorry to sound so negative, it's not that it can't be done, it can, I know people who have done, and still do, go up there at that time of year, just to camp and to walk and climb.
If you just want somewhere to practice snowholes and the like, then contact one of the campsites that usually close over Winter, explain what you want to do, and they might at least suggest decent access points. The one at Loch Morlich comes to mind, and it's on a good road, you might get a hitch to there.
Public transport won't get you in and out of much of the area, and tabbing in with a full pack is a mugs game if the weather turns on you.

Shelter building, as in using timber......the only real woodlands in the area are the Rothiemurches forest, and it's comparatively low lying. The bulk of the Cairngorms lies well above the treeline.

On re-reading your post I note that it wasn't in this thread that you mention the Cairngorms; perhaps that area isn't your aim for this trip ?

If so, well, the Highlands are a big area.
Would you prefer we suggested suitable sites ? The Loch Morlich one is a good area for wandering, and covers a big range of wildlife habitats. Carrbridge has the advantage of lots of forests nearby and good access by public transport.

Kit wise ? More dry socks and a spare hat and muesli bars, nuts and dried fruits for munchies.

Hope you have a good time.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[ged]

...any suggestions recommendations welcome

Agreed with others you can never have too many ways to make fire, nor too much cordage. I like great variety in both. Again agreed with others ditch the axe. Also ditch the water containers and get one or two litres of water in PET bottles for 20 pence or whatever it is at your local supermarket. A 2 litre PET container weighs 40 grammes and is tough as old boots. You can crush it when empty to put in your pack and blow it up again to fill it. Blow up part way by mouth, then put the lid on and squeeze to get the more awkward folds out. Repeat until satisfied.

Almost all my camping is solo, and I very rarely use a 1-man tent although I have two or three kicking around. If the weather is bad and you're holed up for a while I find the extra space in a 2-man tent well worth the extra weight.

I'd seriously consider several roll-top dry bags with dry socks, underwear etc in each. Fleece is great for sleeping in if you're a bit damp, stay away from cotton at all costs.

Dehydrated soup in packets? Cheer me up no end.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

I would also suggest that getting dry wood could be very difficult so another tarp to help keep wood dry.