Wildcamp 5 for 2017 finally happened. My stated aim of one per month, on the first Saturday of the month was truly tested for May. I had said from the start, as long as it is rescheduled I don't have to be a slave to the first Saturday rule, but the last Saturday of the month was pushing it and I decided to clarify, it has to be rescheduled to sometime during that month at least! Anyhow, the camp...
As I had mentioned in another post, I had bought a new, super toasty (Alpkit Mountain Ghost 300) sleeping bag to make dangling in the hammock ultra cosy. It would knock a couple of kilos of my pack weight and pack small enough for my desire to get up on the hills for some lightweight bivvy action. I got a Hunka bivvy bag and Dirtbag mat at the same time. Not ultralight, but smaller and lighter than what I had already. The only reason I mention this is because the last weekend in May was swealtering! It was only due to drop to about 11-12 celcius overnight so my shiny new "down to -5" sleeping bag seemed a little, hefty? Just the DD over and underquilts then. So I actually dropped over 3kg! I also dropped my Petromax folding trivet, for another kilo. I cut down my first aid kit to something suitable for 1 person, rather than the kit I use for group outings and practically danced up the hill!
I was also pleased to see that despite it being almost 2 months since I had last been in the brambles hadn't taken over the world but the midges were trying to, and the threat of thunderstorms was still hanging in the air. Tarp up, quick fire and get some smoke in the air and I began to settle in. First up, a brew... Oh, did I mention that I forgot my fire kit? So glad I have a small emergency kit that lives in the pack, saved a 45 minute round trip, or who knows how long first attempt at friction fire!
If you watch the video you will see exactly what I mean but normally the 14cm Zebra fits very neatly in the middle of the trivet, directly on the coals and boils up in no time. This time though I had a bit of an upside down fire thing going on, and no trivet... Anyhow, the obvious came to pass and the second time I nestled the billy in much more securely and got a brew.
Next up, food. Quick and easy this time was frying up some chorizo and throwing in a bag of pre-cooked and flavoured spanish rice stuff. This was then bundled up in Old El Paso street tortillas (or something like that) which fitted exactly in the top dish of the billy. Really, couldn't fit better! Oh, and as you will see, a bit of a pudding based treat (blame carlisle195 on YouTube for that one).
Quick refresh thanks to Old Mout and an early hang. The quilt was actually perfect for the conditions and I soon dozed into a deep slumber, at least for a while... had I mentioned the threat of thunder?
The camp is essentially on part of a plateau so any lightning could present a bit of a risk. It has decent mobile reception up there so I run a lightning warning app on my phone just in case. Well, 10.30 comes along and boom, crackle, boom, BOOM! I'm woken by the most huge, close, rolling thunder, and it just didn't stop. My disorientated brain took a good minute to run through should I stay, should I abandon camp and walk home, why isn't it raining, why isn't it windy, hang on, why can't I see any flashes? After 2 minuets of waking up and trying to remember everything I ever heard about lightning I came to the conclusion that just outside the woods there was a huge professional fireworks display that I simply knew nothing about. Phew! It did take some time for the adrenaline levels to drop though and for me to nod back off.
Come the morning and it was time to pilfer some more ideas from YouTube, Scrambled O this time, for breakfast. Bacon and apple this time. Another reason for the video being a little long was putting in the making of this delicious breakfast. Seriously, cook bacon, cook apple in bacon fat, put bacon back in, eat the result doesn't do it justice. Really went down well, some as a breakfast wrap (thanks again Old El Paso!).
Pack up and pack back out and all was well again in the world. I enjoyed the trip, I enjoyed playing a film making, I enjoyed being a little more organised (thanks again John Fenna for the pouches) and I hope you enjoyed hearing about it. Now back to writing reports, I do love my class, I just maybe wish there were fewer of them sometimes ;-)
Chris.
https://youtu.be/wziD50I6pyg
As I had mentioned in another post, I had bought a new, super toasty (Alpkit Mountain Ghost 300) sleeping bag to make dangling in the hammock ultra cosy. It would knock a couple of kilos of my pack weight and pack small enough for my desire to get up on the hills for some lightweight bivvy action. I got a Hunka bivvy bag and Dirtbag mat at the same time. Not ultralight, but smaller and lighter than what I had already. The only reason I mention this is because the last weekend in May was swealtering! It was only due to drop to about 11-12 celcius overnight so my shiny new "down to -5" sleeping bag seemed a little, hefty? Just the DD over and underquilts then. So I actually dropped over 3kg! I also dropped my Petromax folding trivet, for another kilo. I cut down my first aid kit to something suitable for 1 person, rather than the kit I use for group outings and practically danced up the hill!
I was also pleased to see that despite it being almost 2 months since I had last been in the brambles hadn't taken over the world but the midges were trying to, and the threat of thunderstorms was still hanging in the air. Tarp up, quick fire and get some smoke in the air and I began to settle in. First up, a brew... Oh, did I mention that I forgot my fire kit? So glad I have a small emergency kit that lives in the pack, saved a 45 minute round trip, or who knows how long first attempt at friction fire!
If you watch the video you will see exactly what I mean but normally the 14cm Zebra fits very neatly in the middle of the trivet, directly on the coals and boils up in no time. This time though I had a bit of an upside down fire thing going on, and no trivet... Anyhow, the obvious came to pass and the second time I nestled the billy in much more securely and got a brew.
Next up, food. Quick and easy this time was frying up some chorizo and throwing in a bag of pre-cooked and flavoured spanish rice stuff. This was then bundled up in Old El Paso street tortillas (or something like that) which fitted exactly in the top dish of the billy. Really, couldn't fit better! Oh, and as you will see, a bit of a pudding based treat (blame carlisle195 on YouTube for that one).
Quick refresh thanks to Old Mout and an early hang. The quilt was actually perfect for the conditions and I soon dozed into a deep slumber, at least for a while... had I mentioned the threat of thunder?
The camp is essentially on part of a plateau so any lightning could present a bit of a risk. It has decent mobile reception up there so I run a lightning warning app on my phone just in case. Well, 10.30 comes along and boom, crackle, boom, BOOM! I'm woken by the most huge, close, rolling thunder, and it just didn't stop. My disorientated brain took a good minute to run through should I stay, should I abandon camp and walk home, why isn't it raining, why isn't it windy, hang on, why can't I see any flashes? After 2 minuets of waking up and trying to remember everything I ever heard about lightning I came to the conclusion that just outside the woods there was a huge professional fireworks display that I simply knew nothing about. Phew! It did take some time for the adrenaline levels to drop though and for me to nod back off.
Come the morning and it was time to pilfer some more ideas from YouTube, Scrambled O this time, for breakfast. Bacon and apple this time. Another reason for the video being a little long was putting in the making of this delicious breakfast. Seriously, cook bacon, cook apple in bacon fat, put bacon back in, eat the result doesn't do it justice. Really went down well, some as a breakfast wrap (thanks again Old El Paso!).
Pack up and pack back out and all was well again in the world. I enjoyed the trip, I enjoyed playing a film making, I enjoyed being a little more organised (thanks again John Fenna for the pouches) and I hope you enjoyed hearing about it. Now back to writing reports, I do love my class, I just maybe wish there were fewer of them sometimes ;-)
Chris.
https://youtu.be/wziD50I6pyg
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