Just a short trip but a good one. I was out for a day and a night. Using OS Landranger 180, I set out from Lee Abbey on the coast just west of Lynton. The Valley of Rocks

was amazing as usual with mountain goats and wild ponies around. My walk took me along the coast path, around Woody Bay to Heddons Mouth. I came across an odd signpost which had to be worth a snap …

 

The path went inland. I left the coast path and went in to have a pint at Hunters Inn, a bit out of season with scaffolding around but the beer was good. I went south to Parracombe, over Challacombe Common to the B3358 and followed a path east just south of the hamlet of Challacombe. It was raining a bit by now and quite muddy. However, it wasn’t particularly cold. Clothing worn was basically waterproof overtrousers, a Golite windproof top and I used an umbrella for much of the time which was fine as it wasn’t windy. At GR718408 I headed north towards Saddle Gate. The path was a bit indistinct and the mist came down, but by following a compass bearing it wasn’t difficult to keep in the right direction. At Barbrook, just past Shallowford I filled up with water and a short distance off the farm road around GR714455 there were any number of good wild camping opportunities, one of which I took. I spent a very peaceful night although woke to rain at 6am. Still, this didn’t last and I set off at seven to head back to Lee Abbey. On the way I came across a strange notice at a river crossing …

An excellent outing.

I think this will be my last paper TGO as my sub for the next twelve months will be digital. In many ways, TGO surpassed itself this month in my view. I was particularly interested in the feature on Stephen Pern. I’d never heard of him or his writing. I immediately found a web site and bought, second hand, his book “The Great Divide” being an account of his walk along the CDT in the States. It arrived promptly. Having dipped into it, I can say that he writes well and I’m looking forward to reading it cover to cover.

The other person of interest was Francis Tapon; hadn’t heard of him either. The article on him could have been longer but hey. He has a web site http://francistapon.com/ which has a lot on the APT, CDT, etc.

Am hoping to get away for a couple of days on Exmoor later this week; hope the weather’s not too wet. The south west has been very wet and windy so far. A wild camp will go down very nicely thank you.

I’ve just renewed my TGO subscription for another twelve months. No regrets, it’s a good mag especially now they’re really plugging lightweight hiking. However, I’ve gone for the digital only version and will see how I get on with it. Having every issue of Trail from issue 1 and TGO for the last couple of years, it was getting out of hand. As a long term project, I’ve been scanning the magazines - not every page but just what I think may be useful - routes, etc., but it’s quite time consuming and I haven’t done any for a while.

Well, last weekend was the first outing for the bivy bag from Alpkit , the Hunka, a cheerful red colour which they call Chilli - it largely matches the colour of my sleeping bag; the alternative was black. The location was the Bedfordshire/Northamptonshire border. The weather was still, dry and, at night, cold, both nights dropped to -3C. I was under a tarp. I slept pretty well both nights. In the morning, there was not a hint of damp between the (down) sleeping bag and the bivy. Basically, it was doing the job it was intended for and seems to be a brilliant piece of kit. No-one else on site was using a tarp. There were five Aktos and, without exception, they had all suffered badly from overnight condensation. There was none under the tarp, which was frozen both inside and out. The photo here doesn’t really show this.

Generally, I become more impressed with the tarp with each outing. I know I had problems back in December - see http://litehiker.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/backpackers-club-christmas-weekend/ but there are so many advantages with a tarp. I really must do an in-depth posting about this when time permits. I’ve researched various tents (the front runner so far is the MSR Hubba HP  good price, good weight, but I’m in no hurry, particular with spring coming on. At the moment, the tarp is the favourite for LEJOG next year.

A plan for the spring is using the bivy bag without the tarp.

I ordered an Alpkit Hunka this week. Amazing value for only £25 (as long as it does the job). Very good service - I ordered it one day and it arrived the next. I tried it out on the floor at home and my ME Xero bag fits nicely into it. Can’t wait until the 9 Feb weekend which is the next Backpackers Club weekend I shall be going on. I shall be taking the tarp whatever the weather.

Had a really great weekend in the Peak District with the Backpackers Club. Started at Wetton on a farm site. Was dark when I arrived and snow had started falling a couple of hours earlier and was still coming down; quite cold as well. For my first night I’d brought my Khyam Epic tent, having made a footprint for it as the sewn in groundsheet had become porous. It went up within five minutes. It actually sleeps two I think so is quite spacious for one. Unfortunately, it must weigh 4-5 kg so is useless for lightweight backpacking. However, for car camping it’s great and my car was on site.

After getting back from the pub, listened to an episode of Hancock’s Half Hour, downloaded on to my mp3 from www.archive.org – a really great resource.

In the night, the temperature plummeted and by morning the tent was frozen. I had cold feet so really must work out what do to about it as I only have a ¾ length Thermarest. It’s amazing how much difference it makes having a decent mattress. Once or twice in the night, it slipped down a bit, leaving my shoulder touching the tent floor and really feeling the cold.

Walked with two others via Hartington to Reaps Moor, just outside Longnor. The pitch was a field at the back of a pub where we ate that evening. I was using my tarp, a Golite Cave 1. It was a wet and blustery night but it took it in its stride. To make sure I didn’t get wet from the head end, I put up my Golite umbrella from the inside, wedging it in and that was very successful. As I didn’t have a bivy bag, I thought I’d try sleeping in my down bag inside a plastic survival bag, just as an experiment. Definitely not a good idea. It’s amazing how much moisture the human body gives off! After a couple of hours, I woke and, realising it was wet inside the bag, I scrambled out and bundled the survival bag next to me. Next morning it had gone! Blown away! I panned the surrounding countryside for it but no sign. It’s bright orange. In the end, one of my companions located it the other side of a nearby stone wall. I hope that Alpkit get their Hunkas back in stock soon.

My stove is a Mini Trangia, using meths. On more than one occasion over the weekend, I had the devil of a job getting it to light, using a fire strike and matches. I think maybe meths and cold do not mix. I wonder if anyone else has had this experience.

Having tried this winter camping lark recently, I’m starting to think that a tent might be sensible for winter use. It can be a bit chancy leaving a tarp unattended and exposed to the elements. One that was mentioned on a www.backpackinglight.co.uk podzine was the Wild Country Sololite, weighing in at 1.9kg and costing only £120. I can’t find any reviews on it, unfortunately, not can I find anywhere that stocks it to go and have a look. Given that I’d mainly use it in the winter, I’m not inclined to spend up to £300 or so for something like an Akto as most of the year I’ll continue to use the tarp. However, the jury’s out on what I’ll use on my LEJOG next year. A tent may not be as weighty as I’d thought, given that I would do without walking poles and a separate groundsheet (and a bivy bag). There would certainly be some weight offset.

An idea I had to save weight with the tarp would be not to carry a separate lightweight groundsheet but to use a survival bag opened out and pegged down. Can’t think why I didn’t think of it before because I always carry one. 

Heading back to Wetton on Sunday was a wet and windy affair. Still, the company was good, up to twenty of us in the pub on Saturday and, for me, the Backpackers Club has been a great discovery.  

I’ll be using the tarp again next weekend in the Peak District and will hope for some reasonable weather. I’ve beefed up the four corner pegs to make sure it stays put and have replaced the two end guys with reflective ones (courtesy of backpackinglight.co.uk ) Such nice people to deal with. I also ordered a head mozzie net and they threw in a tiny bottle opener and Outdoors Station mp3 CD. I also got a Gossamer Gear Polycryo groundsheet from winwood-outdoor to replace my usual space blankets. It should be more durable. I also want to get a bivy bag from Alpkit but unfortunately they’re out of stock.

For winter use, I’m thinking of a tent, not necessarily ultra-lightweight, but still light. Contenders are an Akto and various others but also the Warmlite which a couple of fellow-bloggers have. My main question which hasn’t been answered yet is whether I can cook inside it with my Trangia. If not, how do Warmlite owners manage to cook? Even with, say, gas-fuelled stoves, what happens if it gets knocked over inside? Cooking outside when it’s pouring down is not on.

The new site www.livefortheoutdoors.com (or www.lfto.com ) is up and running. I’ll need to explore it but my initial thought is that it doesn’t measure up to TGO’s site. Some podcasts would be nice - these seem to be de rigueur nowadays. Still, maybe it needs some time and input before final judgment.

Thanks to those who commented on my last post. I’ve gone back to the oracle - Ray Jardine in Beyond Backpacking. His view is that, whilst he has camped in all weathers using a tarp, a tarp is not a four season shelter. I think, also, some of the problems I experienced earlier this month were of my own making:

• I didn’t gauge the wind direction properly. The tarp was end on to where the wind was coming from and this produced the wind tunnel effect. I should have rotated it 90 degrees and pegged the windward side right down to the ground.
• Apart from the end guys, the corners of the tarp are most susceptible to wind. As the ground was soft, I should have used more robust pegs which would not have come loose (hopefully).
• It may not be a good idea to use the tarp and leave it unattended, particularly when the weather is bad. On a normal backpacking trip, as opposed to a “static” weekend, I would usually be close by.
• It might be be better to use a tent during the worst of the winter. Unfortunately, my only tent is a Khyam Epic which is heavier than lightweight and does not pack down small. It is really a car camping tent.
• I shall buy a bivy bag, probably the Alpkit Hunka. This should prevent the sleeping bag getting wet.

I plan to upgrade the tarp guys to fluorescent yellow (from black) so that I don’t have the problem of others on site tripping over them.

The weekend with the Backpackers Club was brilliant; I wish I could say the same of the tarp! For anyone who does not know, I have a Golite Cave. I pitched it in the dark and, because rain was expected, I pitched one end and the sides completely down to the ground. The entrance end was at normal height (although, because one end was really low, the entrance was lower than usual), using a trekking pole fully extended. Although the rain kept out, the tarp was too low for reasonable use because:

1. Condensation formed and, whilst not enough to drip, nevertheless was unpleasant and it came into contact with my new down sleeping bag.
2. The entrance was really too low to comfortably get in and out of the tarp and I tended to pull one of the front guys out whenever I went in or out.
3. It resulted in insufficient usable space, particularly at the lower end.

Anyway, I survived. In the morning, I adjusted the tarp by increasing the height at the foot end which appeared fine and, as a precaution, I put my down bag in the car which was nearby. I then went off and left it for a few hours. This was a bad move. The weather took a turn for the worse. It was windy and there was blizzarding snow, followed by rain. When I returned, I found that although the main guys at either end were still firmly in place, the two pegs at the foot end had pulled loose in the wet muddy ground and the guy points had lifted off the pegs. The end of the tarp was flapping in the wind and my Thermarest was wet. As the car was there, I packed up and slept very comfortably in it that night.

I’ve used the tarp a lot over the past five years or so but only over the summer months (apart from the Dartmoor trip a month ago when the weather was calm) and so this was my first experience of using the tarp in really inclement conditions. One of my reasons for testing it is to check whether it is likely to be suitable for my LEJOG in May 2009. The jury is definitely out on this at the moment.

More robust pegs at the corners of the tarp are called for, I think (I now use stout plastic T-section ones for the guys at either end and these are very effective). This might have prevented the problem of the flapping end.

Although pegging down to the ground at one end kept the weather out, I would prefer not to do this. Maybe pitching higher at the foot end with hiking umbrella opened up from the inside and secured to the ground would be feasible.

Apart from that, a sheer lack of “cosiness” was evident – the tarp was like a wind tunnel! When it’s really cold and horrible, I can’t see myself looking forward to spending night after night in a wind tunnel (although the LEJOG won’t start until May and it won’t be as cold).

However, I’m not giving up yet. I think maybe a bivy bag (perhaps the Alpkit Hunka for £25) would be sensible, for a fraction extra warmth and to prevent the sleeping bag getting wet. Comments/suggestions from folk would be most welcome. I wonder if anyone uses a tarp all year round in the UK.

A couple of short walks rounded off the weekend - one at 7am on Sunday, down Biggindale some distance and then back along to Dalehead and the other stopping off on the way to Ashbourne and parking the car at Milldale and striking up to head down Hall Dale to the Dove and back to Milldale - both only about three miles each but at least it wasn’t raining.