Walking
Having completed the office move as far as possible, there was an opportunity for a walk.
The Waddington Air Display was on.
RKW Photo
I went with Richard and his photos are here.
walking
Brecon Beacons 4
It was a wet start to the day so I made my early morning tea inside the tent using the MSR gas stove.
Before lighting the stove I checked it was placed where it would not wobble and I opened and tied back the inner tent door. I lit the stove with the valve open only just enough the give a very low gas flow, so it did not flare and only turned it up enough for the flame to be under my mug and not raging up the sides. Even on this low flame it took just over two minutes to boil a mug of water.
Rhandirmwyn Campsite
By the time we got out of our tents and had breakfast, which included fresh brewed coffee, the rain had stopped and the day promised to get brighter.
Towy Valley
Llyn Brianne Hydropower Station, Dam and Reservoir
Brecon
On the journey down we had terrible coffee at a motorway service station – so on the way home we stopped in a layby and brewed fresh coffee for ourselves.
And then we went home.
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 »
A Short Walk
I am going to the Lake District next weekend so I thought I had better get a couple of miles walking in this weekend – so a quick walk down to the River Witham across the fields.
I took a brew kit and waterproof jacket with me and used the Molle water bottle case Diana recently bought me.
The case is large enough to hold a 600ml Sigg bottle, my titanium mug with lid, meths stove, 50ml of fuel, the makings for tea and still have enough room to pack the other small items in my kitchen kit and some food. I strap the rain coat and a sit mat to the outside.
The case can hold a 1l bottle, by using a smaller bottle I can pack extra equipment – the 600ml bottle is enough for two hot drinks. I am planning to use the case when backpacking to carry my lunch and brew kit in, so I do not have to open the main pack when I stop for lunch.
My lunch was freshly brewed Indian Spiced Tea with crackers and spicy lamb kebabs. The kebabs were made from scratch, by Jeremy, last night for my Father’s Day meal. The leftover patties, I took with me, were even more delicious when eaten cold whilst sitting out in the countryside.
click on the above image for a full sized version to see the details
This poppy was in a neighbour’s garden and is in better conditions than the one I photographed on Friday.
All photographs taken using my iPhone 4 – using the Camera+ app. Post processing with Photogene². The post was written on my iPhpone using the WordPress app.