A complete list of wild camps with route info, kit I used and experiences I had along the way.

2016-2020 / 2018 / Wild Camps

Alport Moor

Location: Alport Moor, Dark Peak, Peak District Derbyshire Distance: 10km Date: May 2018 Shelter: MLD Duomid XL   Meeting up with a few friends after work Friday evening at The Snake Inn we had a couple of pints before heading out towards Bleaklow via Oyster Clough. The plan was to head to Bleaklow Stones to catch the sunset, however as we were delayed leaving the pub…we stopped short and found a nice spot on Alport Moor. The 6 of us setup camp just as the sun was setting. A perfect evening, warm, still and midge free! The night was clear …

2016-2020 / 2017 / Wild Camps

Bleaklow Stones

Location: Bleaklow Stones, Dark Peak, Peak District Derbyshire Distance: 34km Date: August  2017 Shelter: MLD Duomid   Having not been out walking since the TGO back in May, it was high time I secured a pass out for an over nighter. A couple of texts later, my friend Dean and I had arranged to meet up in Bamford and head to Bleaklow, that was the extent of our plan. Friday evening I received a message from my mate Dan C and coincidentally he also had plans to head into the Peaks that Saturday. He and Dan H were planning to …

2016-2020 / 2017 / TGO Challenge / TGOC2017

TGO 2017

Plockton to Kinnaber Links (Montrose) Day 0 Thursday 11th May I set off from home around 7am – taxi to Derby Train Station and the 0730 to Birmingham. Pete met me on the train at Burton. Arriving at New Street we hopped onto the airport-bound train, where we bumped into Caburn, also flying to Inverness to start his 2017 TGO. The airline flew Pete and I plus one pack to Inverness… yes, one pack short! After a frustrating visit to the customer services desk and some “computer says no” responses, Flybe agreed to fly Pete’s pack (if found) up to …

2016-2020 / 2017 / Wild Camps

Kinder Jabob’s Ladder

Location: Kinder Scout, Dark Peak, Peak District Derbyshire Distance: 15km Date: April  2017 Shelter: MLD Trailstar Sixteenth Wild Camp The main purpose of this trip was to have a final test of the kit I’ll be taking on the TGO in 3 weeks time. Everything has been used/tested before on previous trips but not necessarily together in this combination. The short route started at Edale and headed up The Nab and turning West towards Swines Back. Arriving at Swines Back a few friends that I’d arranged to meet had already pitched their tent on the summit. Wind speeds were forecast for 40mph gusts…however it was …

2016 / 2016-2020 / Wild Camps

Woolpacks

Location: Woolpacks, Kinder Scout, Peak District Derbyshire Distance: 14km Date: November 2016 Kit: MLD DuoMid + Exped Downmat 7 Ultra Light + PHD Custom Sleeping Bag (Minim K Series) Fifteenth Wild Camp I met up with my mate Dean Read for a walk and wild camp on Kinder, the intension being we’d head over to Kinder Low to get a good view of Manchester and maybe see some fireworks. We met at the Ramblers Inn at Edale where they let you park overnight for £5. We had a quick pint and set off to the Nags Head for another quick pint…. We left …

2016 / 2016-2020 / Wild Camps

Back Tor

Location: Back Tor, Dark Peak, Peak District Derbyshire Distance: 7km Date: May 2016 Kit: MLD DuoMid + Exped Downmat 7 Ultra Light + Wilderness Down Quilt Fourteenth Wild Camp   This was a quick, last minute solo wild camp, setting off from home at around 4pm I drove over to The Strines Inn and stopped for a swift pint. After asking the landlords permission to leave the car in their carpark overnight I headed off West along the Foulstone Road towards Derwent Reservoir. It was raining relatively hard and the wind was battering me as I climbed up to Derwent Edge. Back Tor overlooks the …

2016 / 2016-2020 / Wild Camps

Crookstone Knoll

Location: Crookstone Knoll, Dark Peak, Peak District Derbyshire Distance: 20km Date: May 2016 Kit: MLD DuoMid + Exped Downmat 7 Ultra Light + Wilderness Down Quilt Thirteenth Wild Camp I’ve been meaning to write a report on this route for ages and only just got round to doing it, so this will be brief as its all from memory. I met up with my good friend Graeme in Hope and set off for Lose Hill. We didn’t really have a plan other than to head to Crookstone Knoll. We followed the busy path along Mam Tor and dropped into Edale where we sampled a few …

2016 / 2016-2020 / Wild Camps

Cadair Idris Wild Camp February 2016

Location: Cadair Idris, Snowdonia National Park, Wales Distance: 12km Date: February 2016 Kit: DuoMid + Exped Downmat 7 Ultra Light + Wilderness Down Quilt Twelfth Wild Camp After a fairly lengthy drive and a quick pub stop for a full english and a pint, Tim and I parked up at the carpark near Minffordd to begin the assent of Cadair Idris. Without a route planned as such, we followed the main footpath out of the carpark that heads up to a small cafe. Just next to the cafe is a 3D diagram of Cadair Idris and the circular route that isn’t marked on the OS …

2016 / 2016-2020 / Wild Camps

Kinder North Edge Wild Camp

Location: Kinder Scout, North Edge, Derbyshire Peak District  Distance: 15km Date: January 2016 Kit: Trailstar + Exped Downmat 7 Ultra Light + Wilderness Down Quilt Eleventh Wild Camp Winter 2016 and time to fill up the Osprey 88ltr pack with warm kit and head out for the first wild camp of 2016. After a short break, the first wild camp of 2016 has long been anticipated. Kinder Scout has to be my favourite place for a walk and wild camp so with the route roughly planned we drove up to Hayfield and parked near the Kinder Reservoir on Saturday morning. Finding a space …

2012-2015 / 2015 / Wild Camps

Pen Y Fan Wild Camp

Location: Wales Brecon Beacons Distance: 21km Date: August 2015 Kit: Solo Tarp + Alpkit Hunka Bivvy + ALite Monarch Chair Tenth Wild Camp The mighty Brecon Beacons! Having spent some very painful hours in this area during my Army Selection over 12 years ago it was time to return for a more leisurely bimble over Peny Y Fan. Leaving the car in the nearby village of Llanfrynach Tim and I made our way down the road to pickup the footpath at (51°54’42.35″N,   3°20’47.27″W) to Bwlch y Ddwyallt which continued on to Fan Y Big. The path then drops down a few hundred metres before climbing back …

2012-2015 / 2015 / Wild Camps

Alport Dale Wild Camp

Location: Derbyshire Peak District Distance: 14.7km Date: May 2015 Kit: Solo Tarp (BPL.co.uk) Ninth Wild Camp 6 months since the last Wild Camp in the Derbyshire Peak District it was well overdue. Having visited Alport Castles back in March 2014 I wanted to go back and have a look what the amazing area is like in warmer weather. I was also very keen to further minimise the kit and get my pack weight down to the 10kg mark. Opting to take the small Backpackinglight.com tarp and Alpkit bivvy along with my spring/summer sleeping bag my pack weighed 12kg including 2 litres of water, so not bad really. The route started at …

2012-2015 / 2014 / Wild Camps

Wild Camp: Langsett and Howden Reservoir

Location: Derbyshire Peak District Distance: 19.3km Date: November 2014 Kit: Tarp (MLD Trailstar) Eighth Wild Camp testing out the new Alpkit Down jacket. For sometime I’d been trying to plan a 24hr route that camped at the River Westend. Its a tricky place to get to without circling Howden and Derwent Reservoirs which include a number of very busy footpaths. The solution I found was to start at Langsett Reservoir and drop down to Margery Hill. The issue with this route is that its a “there and back”,  not my favourite type of route. I tried a number of alternative routes such as taking one leg around …

2012-2015 / 2014 / Wild Camps

Wild Camp: Tryfan Snowdonia

Location: Wales Distance: 19.3km Date: July 2014 Kit: Tarp (MLD Trailstar) Seventh Wild Camp. This was a very nice two day walk starting from the North face of the mighty Tryfan. The route started with a scramble up to the summit of Tryfan to the famous Adam and Eve stones. The route descends Tryfan on the South and dog legs up to Lyn Caseg-Fraith to top up water supplies. Time to properly test the new Sawyer water filter, a recent addition to my kit. In principle an amazing bit of kit but I’m reserving judgement for now. The first night was spent under …

2012-2015 / 2014 / Wild Camps

Wild Camp: Alport Castles, Win Hill and Lose Hill

Location: Derbyshire Peak District Distance: 27.5km Date: March 2014 Kit: Tarp (MLD Trailstar) The sixth wild camp, the MLD Trailstar stands up to a beating! Having had a successful wild camp in the Trailstar it was time to test it out in different conditions. This time there was three of us, my brother Pete wanted to experience wild camping in the Peaks.  The route started from a B&B carpark (permission kindly granted) on the Edale Road climbing steeply to Lose Hill. Following Back Tor to Hollins Cross and into Edale. Weather was sunny, very windy and the occasional hail/snow flurry. Continuing through Edale we took the …