I felt guilty about making Mike haul the old Wild Country New Ilanos, so looked at the old “Tiger Paws” tent that pops up on Outdoors Magic every now and again. That’s “paws”, not “feet” (thank you, George).
A quick check online, and a trip to Argos last Thursday meant that a smaller packed unit went into the Atmos. Of course, I’d swapped the pegs out for a mix of lighter standard pegs (from Blacks) and some ground-grabbers from Alpkit.
Stats from the Argos site:
2000mm hydrostatic head. [The Akto’s is 3000mm]
Taped seams.
Tension adjusters.
Quick clips.
Size of overall tent (H)300, (W)120, (L)105cm.
Size of each room 110 x 290cm.
Size of living space 110 x 290cm.
Packed size (H)15, (W)15, (D)40cm.
Weight 2.1kg.
There wasn’t much of a wind, and it wasn’t raining. During the night, the temperature dropped to 4°c and rose again to 14°c by the time we broke camp. Mike carried it, pitched it, dozed and slept in it.
The weather was too good, and the fuses too short to stay in Aberdeen over the weekend. Mike was in agreement, and the forecast was great, so kit had been gathered for an overnight visit to Altanour Lodge in Glen Ey (maplink). I’d been there before, and love Glen Ey.
I started packing on Friday night, and looked out extra kit for Mike. I’d picked up a “Tiger Paws” tent from Argos, as I felt guilty about lending him my old, huge New Illanos tent. I’m not a morning person, so was concerned about forgetting to look out essentials for him, so a sofa filled with gear. With my new Osprey Exos 58 litre (large, so 61 litre) pack, he also got my Atmos 50 litre pack. Saturday morning arrived, and the Atmos was packed with chosen gear, and we were off.
An uneventful trip out, with a pit-stop in Braemar, got us to Inverey at noon. Packs, suncream, and brimmed caps were the order of the day.
And so we walked for 3 hours. We saw an adder, birds (brown), birds (black and white), birds (seagull), birds (shadowy), rabbits (big), rabbits (small), slugs, sheep (humming), slug (sunning), deer (red), deer (Gilliamesque), beetles (don’t use it’s stage name), ducks (swimming), curlew (curling).
Mike spotted some shells on the track. .22 he reckoned.
We arrive at the lodge, but there’s a family camped at the good pitch, so we slot into a wee gulley. After pitching, we get some kip in the shade. Mike later finds that he’s sleeping in his tent the wrong way, which accounts for his claustrophobic feeling. The evening passes with tea, cooking, deer-spotting, chocolate and malt.
In the morning, we break the tents down and head back to Inverey after the 16km round trip.
We stop at Braemar and Aboyne. On the way back to Aberdeen, we pass 3 road-side fires being attended by the Fire Brigade. Perhaps related, some steam traction engines are pulled up at the roadside, a couple are beside a vehicle with blue flashing lights.
I went out on Friday night to meet Darren at the designated rendezvous point near the Linn of Dee. If he wasn’t there, we would meet up on Saturday morning.
After a wet drive, with localised flooding and some tree debris to be avoided, I arrived at the Linn of Dee. I left his resupply box (and some extra goodies) in the car, and had a short walk to the clump of trees we had agreed on. There was no-one there. Considering the weather, and that for him the west-east walk would be into the wind, this was not a surprise. The movement that I had noticed further along the track was a small group of stags.
Dropping off the road, I moved amongst the trees in case Darren’s tarp was concealed from view, and then chose a sheltered pitch and put up the tent.
In the morning, the weather had not changed much, still wet, but the wind had died down. I pulled on Paramo trousers, showerproof Montane jacket and treated boonie hat.
Some slugs had to be cleared off the tent and boots, and other kit checked for the slimy wee things.
As I started to pack and think about breakfast, I noticed a couple of walkers heading east. One “helloooo’d” me across the glen, and I waved back. They carried on walking, and so it couldn’t have been Darren.
A few minutes later, I was greeted by the sight of a pair of man-tights (leggings) at the tent door.
We chatted and headed off to the Linn of Dee. He had crossed the Geldie that morning. The holler had come from Vince, first-time Challenger, but who had walked in other countries.
Seeing a red squirrel by the bridge, and an advert for free brew for Challengers and tempting accommodation price at Mar Lodge (good one, NTS). I headed back to the car, leaving Darren to walk into Braemar,where I would meet him en route for a snack break.
Outside Inverey, I gave a ‘helloooo’ to Vince and introduced myself. The scout group camped near the Linn had treated him to breakfast. It is great when visitors to our country are treated like this.
I made a quick trip into Braemar for a thermos, and then caught up with Darren after boiling up some water at the roadside. We were joined by Andy, who I’d met last year. As the cakes were shared out, I got a friendly ribbing from a passing Babyfather John Manning about my weight – guilty as charged.
Returning to Braemar, I met Shirley “Peewiglet” (and was rewarded with a hug) and Andy Howell (handshake). After Darren arrived, we waved at Bob and Rose, then lunched - and Vince came in as we finished; then joined by an other Challenger. The two of us then went to the Fife Arms for a healthy drink and I get another hug from Peewiglet, and a few words with John Manning and Bob “no bones broken” Cartwright.
After making sure Darren has his resupply box, and extras (including a required phone charger), I leave the Challengers to their trail-tales, renewed friendships and then to walk across the rest of Scotland’s width.
I found a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Medium sleeping mat for sale at The Outdoor Shop and collected it from the local corner shop on Friday. Based on my use of the Prolite 3/4-length mat in the past, I had decided that the small (47”) was too small. The regular (72”) too long for me, as that was similar to the Insul Mat I had been using, and the end usually disappears under my rucksack at the foot of the Akto. The medium, at 66” (5.5’) sounded just right. The weight is quoted at 370 grammes, exactly the same as the quoted weight on the Prolite 3/4 mat. The Insul mat is 570 grammes. When I swapped the mats out, my backpack suddenly had much more space.
As the website had stated that a stuffsack was not provided, I had taken along the Prolite 3/4’s sack. The NeoAir only took about 3/4 of the space.
Upon unrolling the mat in my tent, the instructions and stuffsack were found.
In the morning, I compared the re-rolled NeoAir with my 2 litre Camelbak, and above that, the Ajungilak Air Pillow.
On Saturday morning, my feet felt cold. I put this down to the vent being open into the prevailing (cold) breeze. Other than that, I had slept comfortably, and the mat had stayed put. Some other people have reported that theirs have softened overnight. I didn’t have that problem on either night.
To repeat the experiment, I closed the vent at on end. Yet on Sunday morning, around 2am, I could feel the temperature dropping, and pulled on a pair of socks. Checking the Silva ADC, the temperature during the night had dropped to 4.5°c. That isn’t that cold, as I have been out in lower in the same bag.
Next time that I am out, I will use my Blizzard bag as an insulating mat, to see if I can stop heat being leached out of the NeoAir to the ground. I didn’t want to try that on the Saturday night, in case it was just the cold breeze coming through a vent that was causing it. I carry this bag anyway, in case of emergency, so it isn’t an extra weight to carry to assist the NeoAir – which would kind of defeat the purpose of a sleeping mat advertised (on the box) as a 3 season mat.
Other than that, I had a great couple of nights sleeping, and even got some dream time logged. But you really don’t want to hear about that.
I’d promised myself a couple of days in the Cairngorms this weekend. The week flew by. A few trips to local gear shops furnished me with meal-pouches and a fresh gas canister. Kit was dusted off, cleaned, treated and repaired. I couldn’t unlock my PacerPoles, but found the new carbon-fibre poles in Craigdon Mountain Sports. An impulse buy which performed well over the weekend.
After a false start on Friday, I parted with a new Therm-a-rest NeoAir sleeping mat to add to my kit. Apart from a couple of speeding cars and one overtaking on a blind corner, the drive out to Linn of Dee was excellent. Swapping out my sleep mats, I then had a fine walk up to Derry Lodge. The half-moon and familiar Landrover track allowed me to walk it all without a torch until I reached the pitch.
Clearing away pine cones and debris, the tent was soon pitched and the pack (Osprey Atmos 50 litres) was emptied. I pack items into stuff/dry-sacks, so I end up batching bags together in the tent, eg sleeping bag, mat, pillow. After a good night’s sleep, I breakfasted and headed out to see what the weather was going to do on the tops.
The weather was definitely changeable. Snow above 800m was also on the forecast. I decided to turn back to Derry Lodge and have a lazy time.
The weather changed again, but I was already in a mindset to kick back and put my feet up, and enjoy the day.
I rigged up a reading-lamp, which was more comfortable than the head-torch, and got through a lot of Tom Standage’s “The Victorian Internet”. Normally, I don’t take a book, instead a thin, cheap book of poetry. I may change that habit now.
After a cold night, I broke camp and headed back to the car. There were some hailstones (just a few seconds-worth), and the shower didn’t come to much. Looking back, I couldn’t guess whether I would have had a good or bad time up on the plateau, but I still had a good time not risking it.
The journey home included a brief stop to resupply in Braemar (yes, it did include “The Hungry Highlander”), and dropping my Furtech trousers in to HillTrek in Aboyne to get some decent belt-loops fitted.
In the beginning … too cliqued, but the story has a beginning, not quite of Biblical proportions, but a beginning nonetheless. In the beginning, Big Kev was taking his son, “The Lad”, out for a trip to the Cairngorms. There was an open invitation to join them, so I pencilled it in my diary, and Dawn was going to travel up from London. Except for the plague that was brought upon both their houses. As I work for a far-seeing employer, I had already been inoculated against Cold, Flu, and the vengeful wrath of the Almighty.
And so it came to pass that I had a rapid turn-around after work on Friday night, and I was heading into the Chosen Land National Park. And lo, it was bloody brilliant!
Friday night.
With temperatures down to –4°c, it was going to be a cold one. I had the MWIS forecast and dressed accordingly. Also this month’s skymap was in my map-case. Leaving the car and walking through the woods, the cold mist clung to my face. No sounds except a distant water flow. No breath of wind except that which my lungs exhaled. The mist thickened with each breath and my gloves wiped away melting water droplets that clung to face.
Walking up the glen, I could smell woodsmoke from the bothy about 10 minutes before walking past it. No birds, no deer, no wind, no sounds bar the water in the glen and the occasional burn rushing down to join it. Clouds moved slowly in the sky, and a meteorite flashed by. Despite all the hi-tech modern kit, the inner-child still made a wish. About 90-minutes later, interrupted only by a “good evening” to a gentleman hiker walking his dog, I arrived at an empty ford (maplink). I had already decided to pitch where Mike and I had been earlier in the year. I stuck to that, even though I had the whole area to myself.
I cleared an area of debris, and pitched the tent. Then I cleared the debris from under the groundsheet. And once more before inflating my Insul sleep mat (the insulation will prove its worth tonight), and stripping down to baselayer, and climbing into sleeping bag (Cumulus Ultralight 350), and pulling my down jacket over my torso, and leaving my fleece-lined jacket over my lower body. I pulled on my warn cap and noted that the air inside the tent was much warmer than outside.
There was nothing interesting on the radio, so ate some peppered salami, drank some malt whisky and switched off the light and listened to Nature. I moved the Silva ADC device onto the groundsheet beside me. That would give me a shock in the morning.
I awoke twice in the night with a cold nose, so turned the cap around by 90° so that an earflap covered my nose.
Morning
With no fuss, it was morning. It was also –4.9°c and not quite 8am. Opening the zip on my sleeping bag, the cold quickly drove me to suit up – we’d see how good the Furtech trousers would be today!
Yes, there is an Akto in this photo
Filling the Camelbak from the stream, I found that the drink nozzle was frozen. This is the insulated version too. We had had problems with the crew-in gas canisters before, but was pleased to see that the Blackfly 4 worked well. However, I didn’t put it on a stone, and was using the Honey Stove separately, so it fell over as the frost in the ground melted. Twice.
Breakfast
Display reads –4.3°c
Leaving no trace
Any embers were doused with water, and scattered into the stream.
As I knew that there would be soot, I had carried in a ziplock bag to prevent it from making a mess of my kit.
Duly wrapped inside the pot-cozy, whilst the Honey Stove was back in its pouch.
I’ll do something about the fire starting kit, cutting the Maya sticks into shorter lengths, taking the small blue container of vaseline, pack enough cotton wool balls, and store it all in a lightweight, waterproof container, along with a knife that will fit there.
Everything was packed away and the ground checked for any tell-tale signs of my passing.
Hiking out
Low cloud gave glimpses of the mountains beyond. About 6 people had ventured past, and I would see two more before reaching the car.
South towards the Linn of Dee.
Looking back north up the glen.
Like some gate-keeper, this tree always freaks me.
A final parting shot from a great night out – a small party of deer were lurking near the car park.
Thank you, Nature. Shame out the cap, and the buff cravat.
Extras: SnowClaw (just in case), Alpkit Filo jacket, Extremities cap (apparently it is called a “Took” hat). Smartwool liner socks worn under thick Ultimax socks.
Things to do: cut Maya sticks in half. Replace batteries in headtorch. Protect Camelbak from cold overnight (by the way, my Silva measured –24°c in my freezer on Sunday). Water had frozen on the filter of the Aquagear, so that needs watching too. Look into a separate camera for video clips – maybe my old Sony stills camera.
New gear that made the grade and will be with me again: Furtech trousers, Lowe Alpine briefs (xl-w-noir), Honey Stove, Blackfly 4 (using a stable base).
New gear that didn’t make the grade: PossumDown Gloves – toasty, but left tickly fibres on my rough manly face. I also couldn’t operate camera whilst wearing them. My normal Mountain Hardwear “powerstretch” liner gloves will be staying with me.
Getting on with my life and thinking about things.
