Today’s Photo
After a rainy start – it dried out and brightened up.
Llyn Brianne Reservoir
Click on the image for a larger version..
Travel
Brecon Beacons 3
Rhandirmwyn Campsite
There is no mobile coverage at all at this campsite – so no overnight blogging.
We got the tents up and sleeping gear laid out before the light rain set in. I cooked my meal on my titanium meths stove using my titanium mug with lid, to keep the rain drops out. I put the burner just outside the tent door, where it got some shelter but did endanger the tent.
Sausage mash and onion gravy
gone!
The Richard’s cooked on gas under the shelter of some trees.
Here is RAP’s fajitas.
RKW had chilli sausage with cous cous – with burnt bits as he had the gas up to high and did not stir the sauce enough – but it tasted fine.
This was followed, for all of us, by chocolate and bottled beer by the river.
We had some dry weather but by 8.30pm the rain was heavy enough that we retired to the tents.
10Ah Power Bank Charger
This was a new item of equipment for this trip – this battery pack should give me about 4 to 5 charges for my iPhone, allowing me to use it for extended periods away from mains electricity.
It is about the size of a small external hard drive – I am storing it in a light padded case that used to hold such a drive – and weighs about 250g, so it is convenient for carrying on lightweight backpacking trips. For extra protection I plan to use a Aquapac 100% waterproof case.
The Power Bank is easy to use – I charged it, overnight, using a charger I had in the office that came with an HTC phone I no longer use. The Power Bank does not come with a charger. The Power Bank has overcharge and shortcircuit protection. If you press the power button four LEDs light up indicating how much charge remains in the unit.
To use plug your your device in using one of the supplied plugs and USB cable or just plug in your own device USB cable – I used an extendable iPhone/iPod cable.
I have used my iPhone all weekend and have charged it using the Power Bank – as I am writing this I have it plugged in charging/powering the iPhone – and about 50% of the power remains.
The phone usage was much higher than on a backpacking trip as I was online, reading from and playing music via the Bluetooth and car audio system for much of the car journey – and I used the iPhone in the tent last night again to read an ebook, play “Pocket Planes” and listen to an audio book for a longer time than normally because of the rain.
With normal backpacking use and careful power management on the iPhone this charger should allow me to be away from mains power for four of five days, including charging my iPod. To get a better estimate of the charging capacity I will test it when at home.
Brecon Beacons 1
Here is the view from the car – on the way to Wales – which is a place known for it’s rain, but when we were checking the weather map last night it looked better than the north! Norfolk looked drier but as we wanted to photograph mountains, Norfolk wasn’t an option.
And why not not the north of England – click here.
So the plan is to camp and day walk – the rucksacks were packed so we are camping with the equipment we would have been taking up on the hills, but we are going to stay on a site with showers and toilets. At the moment we are heading to Brecon and from there onto Pen y Fan – I’ve got my waterproof case for my iPhone with me so I should get some photos.
The Brecon Beacons not The Lakes
We have had a last minute change of plan – we are now going to South Wales rather than the very wet Lake District. The sunrise is over Washingborough as we were leaving.
The Brecon Beacons not The Lakes Read More »
Overnight trip to the Old Man of Coniston
Next weekend I am planning a backpacking trip to the Lake Dustrict, with a couple of friends, to walk up the Old Man of Coniston with an overnight camp – depending on the weather. (Click on the map for a larger version).
The main reason for going away is to spend the weekend taking photographs – so we are taking a tripod with us and I am going to try my hand at some video on my iPhone. I have a bracket to mount my iPhone on a tripod.
This weekend I have been sorting the gear.
- I will get to try out my second inflatable pillow!
- I am going to take my MSR Pocket Rocket stove with a 100g cannister – I have not yet used it on an overnight trip
- I am going to test using a Molle water bottle pouch to carry my lunch and brew kit – fixed to the hip belt or compression strap on the Golite Jam2
- I am going to pack the titanium meths stove and 50ml of meths in the Molle pouch – for hot drinks whilst walking
Food for the trip
We are going to start walking after lunch on the Saturday
Saturday
- On the trail dried mango slices and salted cashew nuts
- Instant white coffee – I can make a brew whilst waiting for the light to change for that perfect photograph
Evening meal
- Smoked Sausage
- Tortilla x3
- Onion Gravy
- Instant custard and chocolate chip cake
- Tea
Indian tea (with milk and brown sugar) wafer biscuits
Hot chocolate, wafer biscuits
Sunday
Tea and biscuits whilst still in my sleeping bag
Breakfast
- Cereal bars
- Breakfast biscuits
- Crackers and jam
- Apple flakes
- Tea
On the trail dried mango slices and salted cashew nuts
Extras
- Boiled sweets, apple flapjack bar
- 2x instant peach teas (use hot or cold)
- 15ml of dried milk 2x sugar packets 2x pepper packets 1x salt packet 1x tomato ketchup sachet
- 1 oz Southern Comfort
- Tissues
Emergency Food – Glucose tablets
Water
- 1l in my CamelBak for the walk – this should be enough for both days as we are not walking far
- 1.3l for evening meal
- 0.7l for breakfast
- 0.9l for extra cups of tea and cleaning
I am going to store some water in the car so I can drink before setting out and on my return.
Let’s hope the weather is good enough!
Overnight trip to the Old Man of Coniston Read More »
Two Night Trip
I had been planning a two night trip further afield – but the variable weather and the unseasonably low temperatures meant I changed my plan to a walk to Woodhall Spa. (I have been walking for about 30 minutes, as I write this, it was cold and grey when I set out, it rained, the sun came out, it rained and now it is grey again!)
I put my iPhone in the waterproof case at the start of the day, to protect it, so I can use it as a camera for those bad weather photos and so I can write this blog as I walk – wiping the rain drops from the screen so I can read what I write.
The plan is walk to Woodhall Spa campsite from Bardney using the Viking Way – tomorrow loop out around Horncastle using the Viking Way and other paths – then Monday back to Bardney on the Water Rail Way.
Two days food, extra fuel and some spare clothes has added to my pack weight – the starting load complete was 12kgs. One thing I do need to manage is the power consumption on my iPhone – so I have disabled the 3G and data function, whilst walking, to conserve power and no movies tonight in the tent – I also plan to turn on flight mode over night.
It has now hailed on me.
The path has been very muddy in places particularly two stretches that go through cow fields. I found a convenient bit of low wall for lunch – but sitting still I got cold very quickly – so lunch was a quick stop.
I got the tent up in the dry.
I have my new inflatable pillow with me – as I do not have enough spare clothes with me to make a decent pillow. You can see the two days worth of food to the left – the milk I got from the campsite shop.
Here you can see how useful the small tarp is for giving me somewhere outside the tent to sit – and my sleeping bag in the stuff sack makes a useable stool.
A pitch right by the lake in among the trees.