Folks,
They seriously should have a warning beside the track on the map, a heart for heart attack maybe.
I call myself quite fit, I'm a power lifter/Bodybuilder I go to the gym on a daily basis and do a lot of cardio.
But nothing could have prepaired me for the weekend hike in the Dublin mountains.
We arrived in Glendalough at 12:30 unfortunately we don't have a car and that's the earliest the bus can go.
So right from the start we were in a little bit of trouble (i didn't want to let my wife know) since we started quite late.
My wife was sick in the bus so we needed another 45 min outside sitting breathing fresh air, so in fact we started the trip around 13:00.
Furthermore my old hiking boots were end of life and I ordered some new once Lowa mountain boots, they arrived in time but were
Too big so I had to send them back, the only other boots I have are my Altama Jungle boots, they are perfect for bushcrafting in the Woods
But NOT good for hiking due to no ankle support and so on.
I made a couple of small one day hikes with my wife before just to test myself and her, we are both married for a year now and know each
Other in total for about 2 ½ so there was not much time in between to really go out and hike in the Wicklow mountains, the reason Im saying
This is that I know that a strong hike can be quite a relationship tester if you know what I mean
Okay back to the weekend, so right of the bat I knew I had to hump most of the stuff we brought along, we have no tend (who needs a tend huh?)
I have a hoochie so we planned to stay outside sleep under the hoochie and she gets my bievy bag.
So all in all my bag must have weight around 30+ kilos (the new Saber45 SF passed the test, an amazing Rucksack) now I have been out and about for
A while now but I have not taken that much stuff with me before you tend to think differently when no loved once are around I mean I was out there
With my wife and I wanted her to have a good time, the last thing I needed was my babe melting down in the woods because its raining and we
Are both wet.
So I believe I took a little too much stuff with me and yes the bag was too heavy, I gave her my German Sleeping bag (what is rubbish and far too big and heavy) and the food
To carry, the funny thing was the bag she had with that little stuff looked quite big and bulky, so I got a lot of dirty looks from people walking past us ala How can you
Let her carry that much weight? A find husband you are lol And here I was humping the biggest weight of my life and NO THANKS
Anyways, we kinda got going quite good and around 19:00 we decided well its time to look for shelter, I mean it gets dark around 23:00 but I knew from the map that the
Next stretch would have been on the top of mountains, no woods no firewood no shelter from the wind and rain.
So we decided to stop a little earlier and get a camp going.
The place we stopped was quite nice (*I know Ray Mears would have liked it) there was a fireplace but you werent allowed to make a fire unless you asked for written permission.
So we take the backpack of sit down and AND THAN WE NOTICED what was flying all around us, you literally sat down for 5 min and you were covered in these little flies.
AND THEY BITE !!!!!!
Did I thought of insect repellent? OF COURSE NOT
After a while it became quite clear that this is going to be hardcore, I mean these little guys were literally unbearable you couldnt sit down or do anything that requires you for
Longer than 5min on one spot.
So whats the solution? FIRE is the solution, screw the farmers or whoever doesnt want us to make a fire, we are going to make the biggest most smokiest fire around.
So we started to collect firewood and started a fire, and it worked quite well, the smoke of some damp firewood ensured a lot of smoke so they flew off and left us alone.
The rest of the evening was quite idyllic sitting around a fireplace with you loved one (and me having an excellent Cigar montecristo no4 uh yeah) will stick in my mind as one
Of the best moments I had the only thing that dampened my mood was the fact that we littleraly had a half litter of water left, I kid you not, Mr out and about, Mr hardcore and I
Can do anything in the woods wrongly calculated his own water need (I think I never drank so much in my life) and the one of his partner, there were no streams or lakes in close
Reach so we had to make due what we had.
After we burned our firewood and let the fire die down we went to sleep.
We woke up next morning and again due to the flies made sure we packed rather quick and had breakfast (with the little water we had) on the mountain top (breathtaking view I post some pics later on).
This time we started nice and early and went on our way, I have to say this was probably the nicest part, the view around shugarloaf mountain are just stunning.
We still had no water, and especially myself got very thirsty, so we decided to make camp and boil some water, its amazing how fast you can get into trouble, I mean the fact that we
Had no water wasnt a real issue but it became quite apparent that something needs to be done, there were no houses around to ask for water (something I did later on every 3 hours)
So we had a nice break boiled some water and used a lot of our Botan Gas cooker, moving on we had to pass some very steep climbs and finally arrived at a small village were
I went straight to the next house and asked for water what was given to me in a very kind manner.
The next part of the hike nearly killed me, the way was so steep I think I came twice close to a heart attack.
But we seriously at this point reached the point of no return, we both had to work on Monday and there is simply no way in these small towns to take a taxi or bus.
So on we went and at this point we both became very very very exhausted.
Im sure all of you know the feeling, the feet hurt, the first blisters starting to annoy you, the bottom part of your foot starts to really freak you out.
What helped a little was the location we arrived next, it was a river (I forgot the name) and there were campsides all around (some of them unbelievable dirty I made pics because I couldnt believe the extend of the dirt around).
We made a lovely break there on the river and cooked some noodles and improvised with a can of beans and bacon (Cut the raw bacon in small stripes, mix with beans and heat it up real good, its seriously tasty).
We knew by the map that we had still a serious hike ahead of us, so we pressed on and I think came close to breaking point once or twice, there were parts when we didnt talk for 30 min , when everybody is just marching on enduring his own pain, quite interesting thinking back now.
Ha the only thing that keept us going was the fact that we were planning to buy some icecream a large Pizza and Applecake
Anyways to cut a short story short we survived but man do I felt bad this morning, I think we both have learned a great deal from this experience, Im still a little mad that I havent had enough water with me.
All in all a very cool experience, I post some of the animals we saw and the views later on.
Ps: Karrimor Sabre 45 with Vulcan Bergen Sidepockets (they actually fit) an amazing piece of kit I can only recommend that Rucksack to anybody.
I think it will take about 2-3 days to get really used to it, I had some slight pains (more pulling pain) inbetween the traps areas, but I think that will stop later on.
They seriously should have a warning beside the track on the map, a heart for heart attack maybe.
I call myself quite fit, I'm a power lifter/Bodybuilder I go to the gym on a daily basis and do a lot of cardio.
But nothing could have prepaired me for the weekend hike in the Dublin mountains.
We arrived in Glendalough at 12:30 unfortunately we don't have a car and that's the earliest the bus can go.
So right from the start we were in a little bit of trouble (i didn't want to let my wife know) since we started quite late.
My wife was sick in the bus so we needed another 45 min outside sitting breathing fresh air, so in fact we started the trip around 13:00.
Furthermore my old hiking boots were end of life and I ordered some new once Lowa mountain boots, they arrived in time but were
Too big so I had to send them back, the only other boots I have are my Altama Jungle boots, they are perfect for bushcrafting in the Woods
But NOT good for hiking due to no ankle support and so on.
I made a couple of small one day hikes with my wife before just to test myself and her, we are both married for a year now and know each
Other in total for about 2 ½ so there was not much time in between to really go out and hike in the Wicklow mountains, the reason Im saying
This is that I know that a strong hike can be quite a relationship tester if you know what I mean
Okay back to the weekend, so right of the bat I knew I had to hump most of the stuff we brought along, we have no tend (who needs a tend huh?)
I have a hoochie so we planned to stay outside sleep under the hoochie and she gets my bievy bag.
So all in all my bag must have weight around 30+ kilos (the new Saber45 SF passed the test, an amazing Rucksack) now I have been out and about for
A while now but I have not taken that much stuff with me before you tend to think differently when no loved once are around I mean I was out there
With my wife and I wanted her to have a good time, the last thing I needed was my babe melting down in the woods because its raining and we
Are both wet.
So I believe I took a little too much stuff with me and yes the bag was too heavy, I gave her my German Sleeping bag (what is rubbish and far too big and heavy) and the food
To carry, the funny thing was the bag she had with that little stuff looked quite big and bulky, so I got a lot of dirty looks from people walking past us ala How can you
Let her carry that much weight? A find husband you are lol And here I was humping the biggest weight of my life and NO THANKS
Anyways, we kinda got going quite good and around 19:00 we decided well its time to look for shelter, I mean it gets dark around 23:00 but I knew from the map that the
Next stretch would have been on the top of mountains, no woods no firewood no shelter from the wind and rain.
So we decided to stop a little earlier and get a camp going.
The place we stopped was quite nice (*I know Ray Mears would have liked it) there was a fireplace but you werent allowed to make a fire unless you asked for written permission.
So we take the backpack of sit down and AND THAN WE NOTICED what was flying all around us, you literally sat down for 5 min and you were covered in these little flies.
AND THEY BITE !!!!!!
Did I thought of insect repellent? OF COURSE NOT
After a while it became quite clear that this is going to be hardcore, I mean these little guys were literally unbearable you couldnt sit down or do anything that requires you for
Longer than 5min on one spot.
So whats the solution? FIRE is the solution, screw the farmers or whoever doesnt want us to make a fire, we are going to make the biggest most smokiest fire around.
So we started to collect firewood and started a fire, and it worked quite well, the smoke of some damp firewood ensured a lot of smoke so they flew off and left us alone.
The rest of the evening was quite idyllic sitting around a fireplace with you loved one (and me having an excellent Cigar montecristo no4 uh yeah) will stick in my mind as one
Of the best moments I had the only thing that dampened my mood was the fact that we littleraly had a half litter of water left, I kid you not, Mr out and about, Mr hardcore and I
Can do anything in the woods wrongly calculated his own water need (I think I never drank so much in my life) and the one of his partner, there were no streams or lakes in close
Reach so we had to make due what we had.
After we burned our firewood and let the fire die down we went to sleep.
We woke up next morning and again due to the flies made sure we packed rather quick and had breakfast (with the little water we had) on the mountain top (breathtaking view I post some pics later on).
This time we started nice and early and went on our way, I have to say this was probably the nicest part, the view around shugarloaf mountain are just stunning.
We still had no water, and especially myself got very thirsty, so we decided to make camp and boil some water, its amazing how fast you can get into trouble, I mean the fact that we
Had no water wasnt a real issue but it became quite apparent that something needs to be done, there were no houses around to ask for water (something I did later on every 3 hours)
So we had a nice break boiled some water and used a lot of our Botan Gas cooker, moving on we had to pass some very steep climbs and finally arrived at a small village were
I went straight to the next house and asked for water what was given to me in a very kind manner.
The next part of the hike nearly killed me, the way was so steep I think I came twice close to a heart attack.
But we seriously at this point reached the point of no return, we both had to work on Monday and there is simply no way in these small towns to take a taxi or bus.
So on we went and at this point we both became very very very exhausted.
Im sure all of you know the feeling, the feet hurt, the first blisters starting to annoy you, the bottom part of your foot starts to really freak you out.
What helped a little was the location we arrived next, it was a river (I forgot the name) and there were campsides all around (some of them unbelievable dirty I made pics because I couldnt believe the extend of the dirt around).
We made a lovely break there on the river and cooked some noodles and improvised with a can of beans and bacon (Cut the raw bacon in small stripes, mix with beans and heat it up real good, its seriously tasty).
We knew by the map that we had still a serious hike ahead of us, so we pressed on and I think came close to breaking point once or twice, there were parts when we didnt talk for 30 min , when everybody is just marching on enduring his own pain, quite interesting thinking back now.
Ha the only thing that keept us going was the fact that we were planning to buy some icecream a large Pizza and Applecake
Anyways to cut a short story short we survived but man do I felt bad this morning, I think we both have learned a great deal from this experience, Im still a little mad that I havent had enough water with me.
All in all a very cool experience, I post some of the animals we saw and the views later on.
Ps: Karrimor Sabre 45 with Vulcan Bergen Sidepockets (they actually fit) an amazing piece of kit I can only recommend that Rucksack to anybody.
I think it will take about 2-3 days to get really used to it, I had some slight pains (more pulling pain) inbetween the traps areas, but I think that will stop later on.
I know there are issues with e coli 0157 from sheep faeces, but even so.......
