How to Wildcamp....

Have a look at this video from the makers of Trail magazine. It provides basic information in relation to wild camping in the united kingdom and some of the do's and dont's.

The best advice i can offer to you is, pack your gear and then repack, but remove all the non essential items that you packed the first time. The less weight you have to drag up that hill the better, making your wildcamping experience all the more enjoyable. Other tips would be to change some of your gear as and when for lighter equipment. You can and you can find some good points of reference online at the following sites -

http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk

http://www.lightweightcampingequipment.co.uk/

http://www.ultralightbackpackingonline.info

Weird Ice Climbing - ICEBERGS ?

Wildcamping Subwoofer !

Have you ever been in the hills and wanted some subtle music to compliment the amazing British countryside, but that smartphone just wont cut it with the wind outside ?

Well i have the answer for you....

All you need is a standard Jetboil, which has obviously been cleaned and dried (don't be breaking that expensive shiny thing !). Drop (gently) your smartphone into the Jetboil with the speakers pointing to the bottom and hey presto....instant Subwoofer !!!! (this also works with glasses, mugs and a beer can cut in half !)

Take a standard Jetboil

Add a smartphone - instant subwoofer !!

First Wildcamp of 2012 - Pendle Hill

Friday night started with fish and chips from local Colne chippy which was bloody good and set us up for the walk up Pendle and subsequent spot of wild camping. Soon enough we were up there, zero wind and a clear clear sky....tent pitched and beers in hand we sat chatting and watching the world of stars spin around our heads remind us of how small and insignificant we are in the scheme of things !

10.30 and a light wind started to turn the -6 air temperature into a chilling -10 unbearable fridge so we retired to the tent for more beer and single malt followed by baileys and coffee fired up in the Jetboil....excellent......then bed....

Bed was amazing, thoroughly warmed by beer, hops and barley and the odd piece of terrys chocolate orange from the ever decreasing Christmas stash.......until around 12pm when the cold really started to kick in......then we felt it, 2am, 4am, 6am and finally time to get up at 7am, freezing cold and numb toes left us thinking it must have been colder then we thought and what my watch had said......















Morning came and a much required warming feeling from the sun. We had a quick brew, broke camp and headed off to the trig point to enjoy the sunrise...........an excellent quick wildcamp on Pendle Hill !

Soggy Settle Trudge

Short trek today up out of Settle up constitution hill and into the clag covered hills. Ang had done a run earlier this morning so her dodgy foot was starting to hurt so we took it quite slow.

First off we took a short trip up to Castleberg Crag to check it out for a future climb...found it its bolted all the way up most of the routes which is good and spotted the route in the image on the left which i think is going to be the next dry day climb....

The idea was to get to Victoria cave and have some lunch, however with the combination of the dodgy foot and not really being able to see very much we continued past the old firing range (see metal with shell holes below) and didnt crack out the jetboil until nearing settle again, missing the cave out completely. Very short trek, very wet and claggy, but a good Sunday jaunt to blow out the cobwebs and get ready for another week at work....