It’s been a while since I posted anything on my website so I thought as Christmas and New Years eve celebrations are now out the way it is time I updated my blog. The last wild camp seems a lifetime ago back in August 2015 when I camped on Brecon. Wild camping has been on hold since then, as my wife and I were planning for the arrival of our daughter. Hettie arrived a little later than expected on October the 9th weighing 9lb 3 and perfectly healthy, couldn’t ask for more! So over the last few months I’ve being elbow deep in bottles, infacol and nappies. She’s now sleeping through the night (23:00-07:30ish) so it’s time to start planning 2016’s wild camping adventures.
So far I have two trips planned, first towards the end of January which will be in the Peak District, most likely on or around Kinder. The second is planned for mid February on Cadre Idris.
During the 4-5 months of no wild camps, I’ve been pining to go out and sleep on a hill, watching youtube videos of fellow wild campers enjoying a night under a tarp and reading reports online of how people spent their New Years eve on a mountain. All of which has made me very jealous and even more eager to get out wild camping. Kinder being probably my favourite place (so far) it has to be the first one for 2016. It was August 2013 when I last slept on Kinder (Fairbrook Naze) which was a brilliant night, albeit very windy. It’s also been over a year since the Trailstar as been out, as in 2015 I used the Backpackinglight Solo Tarp and Alpkit Bivvy combo all year. So the plan is to head up onto Kinder for a 1 nighter under the Trailstar and I can’t wait!
My mate Tim is going to Wales for a family holiday in February, so the plan is for me to meet him somewhere around Cadre Idris at the end of his holiday once the rest of his family has set off for home. We’ve not yet sorted the route but we may just leave that to plan itself on the day. I’ll most likely take the Trailstar for this camp as well.
One thing I’m keen to properly test out is the Wilderness Down Quilt. I used it a few times during 2015 but only in fair/mild conditions. Winter 2016 will be a good test to see how warm it is and if it replaces my two summer/winter bags I’ve used over the last few years. Fingers crossed it performs well and I don’t freeze!
Thanks for reading and look out for the trip reports over the next few weeks.