A wee story of our recent lightweight camping expedition with a few pear shapes thrown in
Thought Id practice some tarpology with wife and dogs. Near Buxton seemed a good idea as I also wanted some spring water to make some mead with (St Annes well . Its warm too). Picked a spot from the map and headed out there.
First spot wasnt suitable, so found a second from the map and arrived as darkness was descending.
Now for the tarping bit. Well, it only took two DD 3*3 tarps, one camo basha and a great big folded up groundsheet to make our improvised shelter with lots of ventilation gaps and a fine open view. Oh, and a long length of 5mm line, some bungey cords, some guy lines, old kite string, 6 titanium tent pegs and some improvised wooden ones too. Then there were the downmats, sleeping bags, blankets, dog mats and blankets. And a food box, trangia, and gas lamp. Lucky we could park the car nearby, really. What was that about lightweight tarping?
First night was very long with a damp wind blowing up the valley, sometimes bringing low level cloud and a temperature drop with it. The silhouette of the trees against a misty night sky was lovely though. Our old dog just put his head down and curled up, snug in his home made jacket. But our 8 year old rescue Malamute wasnt so sure, and kept getting up to check around, so pulling up the improvised pegs and then tangling herself up in her line. Several times.
Next day I didnt feel so well, with some sleep deprivation, a banging headache, severe acid indigestion and wet feet from leaky boots. I can cope with the others, but hate wet feet.
Thought wed pop in to Buxton first thing, to discover that there was a Police Aware sticker on our car with an incident number. So when we regained a mobile signal all hell broke loose with beeps and whistles.
First text message in was from a neighbour to say that the police had been banging on our door at 2 that morning and again later; responded to kind neighbour. Then voice mail messages from home and the away police to call them. Responded first to home police: yes, we had been parked remotely but all ok they would close the incident. Next for away police: operator said shed read the notes and that the duty constable would ring us back later. We explained our mobile signal was intermitent, at best, and left it at that.
Then back to Castle Tarp, where daylight revealed that what wed assumed in the evening to be a bit of off road woodland, was actually very special indeed. Dont want to say more than that But the rain, drizzle and general dampness kept away any thought of moving, improving the set up or trying out different configurations. Had a lovely walk along the river, all white noise and dark treacle pools.
Not feeling well so went to bed early and had 16 hours sleep, broken for a couple of hours for eating, snacking and chatting. Somewhere heard an owl and saw a few stars through the clouds. Malamute much more settled her very first bushcrafting experience and slept with a smile on her lovely face.
Packed up in the morning and on regaining mobile signal we were hit by a blizzard of messages. A second kind neighbour (who knew we were away camping) reported that a third neighbour had been asking about our welfare (since she knew we were friends) as the police had spoken to her; responded to that message. Then multiple voice mail messages from the away police, most notably: This is police constable X of Away police force. We are getting very concerned for your safety. We are considering helicopters and search dogs. Please, please! contact us as soon as possible.
Home now and all is well. Many thanks to concerned neighbours and thorough policing! But solitude can be so hard to find
So, heres the question: is Pear-Shaped Tarping a new configuration? Thanks for reading!
Tarping by Dom Beeman, on Flickr
Thought Id practice some tarpology with wife and dogs. Near Buxton seemed a good idea as I also wanted some spring water to make some mead with (St Annes well . Its warm too). Picked a spot from the map and headed out there.
First spot wasnt suitable, so found a second from the map and arrived as darkness was descending.
Now for the tarping bit. Well, it only took two DD 3*3 tarps, one camo basha and a great big folded up groundsheet to make our improvised shelter with lots of ventilation gaps and a fine open view. Oh, and a long length of 5mm line, some bungey cords, some guy lines, old kite string, 6 titanium tent pegs and some improvised wooden ones too. Then there were the downmats, sleeping bags, blankets, dog mats and blankets. And a food box, trangia, and gas lamp. Lucky we could park the car nearby, really. What was that about lightweight tarping?
First night was very long with a damp wind blowing up the valley, sometimes bringing low level cloud and a temperature drop with it. The silhouette of the trees against a misty night sky was lovely though. Our old dog just put his head down and curled up, snug in his home made jacket. But our 8 year old rescue Malamute wasnt so sure, and kept getting up to check around, so pulling up the improvised pegs and then tangling herself up in her line. Several times.
Next day I didnt feel so well, with some sleep deprivation, a banging headache, severe acid indigestion and wet feet from leaky boots. I can cope with the others, but hate wet feet.
Thought wed pop in to Buxton first thing, to discover that there was a Police Aware sticker on our car with an incident number. So when we regained a mobile signal all hell broke loose with beeps and whistles.
First text message in was from a neighbour to say that the police had been banging on our door at 2 that morning and again later; responded to kind neighbour. Then voice mail messages from home and the away police to call them. Responded first to home police: yes, we had been parked remotely but all ok they would close the incident. Next for away police: operator said shed read the notes and that the duty constable would ring us back later. We explained our mobile signal was intermitent, at best, and left it at that.
Then back to Castle Tarp, where daylight revealed that what wed assumed in the evening to be a bit of off road woodland, was actually very special indeed. Dont want to say more than that But the rain, drizzle and general dampness kept away any thought of moving, improving the set up or trying out different configurations. Had a lovely walk along the river, all white noise and dark treacle pools.
Not feeling well so went to bed early and had 16 hours sleep, broken for a couple of hours for eating, snacking and chatting. Somewhere heard an owl and saw a few stars through the clouds. Malamute much more settled her very first bushcrafting experience and slept with a smile on her lovely face.
Packed up in the morning and on regaining mobile signal we were hit by a blizzard of messages. A second kind neighbour (who knew we were away camping) reported that a third neighbour had been asking about our welfare (since she knew we were friends) as the police had spoken to her; responded to that message. Then multiple voice mail messages from the away police, most notably: This is police constable X of Away police force. We are getting very concerned for your safety. We are considering helicopters and search dogs. Please, please! contact us as soon as possible.
Home now and all is well. Many thanks to concerned neighbours and thorough policing! But solitude can be so hard to find
So, heres the question: is Pear-Shaped Tarping a new configuration? Thanks for reading!
Tarping by Dom Beeman, on Flickr
