On The Bonnie Banks

I hooked up with the guys north of the border for some canoe camping at the weekend, a very chilled out affair, mostly spent under the 'chute dodging the rain and chilly winds. It was good to be back up there and I hope to get a lot more paddling in again this year, some pics ...

Landed at the beach

The view for the weekend, although it wasn't always as sunny as this

Stephen getting his camp sorted out

Josh's bivvy under an old Hennessy tarp I think

Mine up, my quilts are getting some air time after being packed for days

Toasty

I had a nice little paddle out in the setting sun on Friday evening

Looking back to camp, pre 'chute

We had a visitor in camp in the evenings

Stephens' new shiny toy, charging an iphone and nano whilst making a brew at the same time.

Chris away for some sailing on day two

Stephen chilling under the 'chute

Big guy came back on the second night, it was too cold and wet on the third night though

Getting brave, he actually came right under the 'chute after the other guys had gone off to their beds

A nice weekend despite the rain and the chill, Josh caught a nasty bug and spent most of the trip in bed, he mentioned some guys at work had the Norovirus thing so it might have been a touch of that. We had the usual lottery of whether we'd make it back to the mainland again on the last morning, the winds had really picked up over night and the forecast wasn't great. Once we were all up though we made the quick decision to pack and get out of dodge while we still could, there'd been a lull in the wind and we managed to get away in good time, timing it nicely before it got a bit squally again.

I was hoping to get a lot more pics but the prolonged showers made it tricky and unpleasant to explore much, I stumbled across the wallaby in the last pic one morning and there were two others stood with it, by the time I'd got the camera out they'd disappeared.

There's no nicer place than Lomond in winter, it's a shame the minority have to spoil it in the warmer months. I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to visit the islands, it looks like the park authority might be about to make them inaccessible for paddlers, we're never sure if our last visit is the final one. There was talk at the weekend that the old house is going to be flattened and the site redeveloped, the existing structure is unsafe but the implications of a new tenant doesn't bode well for us. Good luck to them though, I couldn't think of a nicer place to live, just look after the wallabies for us.     

Looking forward to the next one lads.

A few days hanging in The Lakes

I had a few days holiday left at work to take so headed to The Lakes with a pal last week, we were taking the hammocks so I'd scouted out a decent looking place on the maps and Google Earth. I'd picked out an area by a medieval settlement which looked like it would be interesting to see, I wasn't sure what the hammocking options would be like but we found a cosy little place and settled in for a few days.

Some pics ....

The short walk in

Waterfall

The first glimpse of the medieval remains we would encounter

Following the tree line

Stopping for a break at a crystal clear pool

We found a decent looking spot in a very dry plantation, my camo Superfly blending in very well

Micks' setup

We took a wander up through the forest until we broke out onto the clear fellside, a view across to the mountains opposite camp

While Mick had a siesta one afternoon I set out to explore the woods some more

More hanging potential

A bit early for the Primrose but the wood sorrel made for a tasty snack, finding a nice natural stone and moss seat under a tree in the sun

I went to check out the ruins a bit more, if anyone has any information on these types of buildings I'd like to have a read one day

Some were barely visible under the grass

In a cluster of four similar buildings this one was the most intact and visible

Video

Were they roofed, is the outer ring for holding livestock? I think I could make out a smaller wall within the inner chamber, perhaps a sectioned off sleeping area? I couldn't work out were the hearth might be though.

Back to the woods

For a brew

And sausage sarnies, my old Feather 442 which I gave to Mick was temperamental to put it mildly

A nice couple of days and we never saw another soul once we'd left the car park area. We dodged the rain until the last night which meant our kit needed drying out, always a pain, temps were around freezing at night and high single figures throughout the day. The wood we were camped in was like a giant tinderbox despite what seems like endless rain recently, we had to be so careful with any type of fire or flame, digging down through the peat until we hit rock was required. The winds were pretty strong on Thursday night, when you're in a thick plantation with lots of fallen and leaning trees it always makes for a fun time when the wind comes howling through and gets the hammock bouncing :)

Kit List:

ULA Ohm backpack

Warbonnet Camo Superfly

Warbonnet Blackbird 1.1 SL

UK Hammocks Winter TQ

UK Hammocks Winter UQ

DIY Weathershield

6 x Alpkit Ti v stakes

6ft poly tree straps

Dutch Clips

Dutch Buckles

Dutch Flyz

Dutch Hook

Dynaglide Whoopies

Bushbuddy Ultra

MBD Mini Atomic alcohol stove

8oz meths (used two)

Broken up natural firelighter bricks

Terra Nova 900ml ti pot

GSi Cascadian plastic mug

Nescafe 3-in-1 sachets

Chocolate Horlicks

Thick pork sausages

Breadcakes

Lyons Syrup porridge

Weetabix cereal bars (left on bed at home )

Pepperami

Beef rice

Mug Shots

Hip flask of sloe gin

Knife

Laplander

FAK

Poop pack

Wash kit

Bug cream (didn't need)

Zebralight H51

2 x Energizer Lithium AA

MP3 player

Niteize Glowrings

PacerPoles

Possum merino beanie

Army wool headover

Meraklon wristies

OR Ninjaclava

Berghaus Powerstretch gloves

Heatholder socks

Norrona Goretex trousers

9.2kg