This was to be the weekend when I introduced Ella to the delights of wildcamping. We'd been looking forward to spending a couple of relaxing nights somewhere high and remote in the Far Eastern Fells, but the weather's banjaxed that idea:
It's taken several years to get her reasonably comfortable with the prospect of crapping in a hole dug in the middle of nowhere, but the added complication of having to dig away three feet of snow beforehand and then do the biz during a blizzard would probably be too much.
We'd intended to use the Vango Banshee 300 as it still needs to reviewed after being used in anger on the fells, but I think we would have needed the F10 Spindrift in the conditions that have been predicted. The Spindrift in full hoolie garb is twice the weight of the Banshee, add to that the extra insulation and winter metalwork demanded by the conditions and it's clear that the pack-weights would have been too much for her.
Then there's the irony factor - this very afternoon I received another item of kit to test/review... a softshell jacket that's "a perfect lightweight barrier for those cool, breezy, summer trails". That would have been perfect exactly a year ago when the temperatures were over 20 Celsius higher in the Lake District, but this weekend's episode of global... erm... warming demands down jackets rather than WINDSTOPPER® softies.
There's one more window of opportunity about two weeks hence. Fingers crossed!
THE SMALL(ish) PRINT... (updated 23/07/2016)
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Commiserations. I'm in the same boat, although it's just the plans for a daywalk that the weather scuppered, not owt as ambitious as camping! Odd combination of dangerously high winds and probable sunshine all over the country, eh?
😕
@Scott - We do have those dangerously high winds here, possibly because the crash-course of Psyllium Husks that my consultant is insisting that I endure.
Dull skies and regular flurries but no settled snow. All a bit boring really. Perhaps tomorrow will be a tad more exciting? Maybe I should start waxing the sledges and the snow-scooter 🙂
@BG! -
I think I've heard of Psyllium Husks. They're a heavy metal band from Birmingham, aye?
@Scott - It produces regular, consistent shit so you're probably correct in your assumption 😈