A Winter Micro Adventure. As a keen outdoorsman, when indoors I often like to read outdoor blogs and trip reports, I also enjoy writing so here is my very own attempt at a trip report! As the week days passed with glorious cold, bright and calm conditions and temperatures reaching minus 9 celsius I began preparing in my head a trip, a trip to practice some winter skills and soak up some of what wild spaces have to offer, both physically and mentally. Keeping a close eye on the weather forecasts, mountain weather and avalanche information services for the Cairngorms, conditions began to show change for the weekend, winds reaching gales on the high plateaus and minus 20 celsius wind chills. My focus switched to a vast area of upland wilderness closer to home, a place I know from experience that I was unlikely to encounter any life except wildlife, perfect! In my usual planning method I wrote a trip specific kit list and began laying the equipment out whilst crossing off the list, in winter forgetting an item of equipment could have far worse consequences than in summer, so double checking was next. I plan to post a kit list here soon but the equipment to go on my back for the trip covered shelter, including emergency shelter, sleeping bag and mat, navigational gear and maps, head-torch, stove, food and water, much of which would be collected on route, water weighs 1kg per litre, first aid kit, spare warm clothes and my usual utility pouch that includes spare batteries, a means to light a fire, a small fixing kit and some paracord. Also on this trip a lightweight telescopic snow shovel got strapped to the outside of my pack, this as I had suspected was to prove to be worth many times its weight in gold! Saturday morning arrived and after leaving the all important route information with my family I was dropped off at the start of my hike, I stood alone at the start of a long forest trail, just me, my pack and my knowledge, no footsteps lay ahead of me in the powdery snow. The hike began uphill and the initial pace was a little hard to settle in to but soon a rhythm was found, only broken to stop and study animal tracks, each telling a story, some played out very recently. Upon reaching the edge of the forest the wide open snow covered uplands stood before me and a cold wind swirled as I left the shelter and all that is possible in the woods. My journey took me along a trail that follows the River Fiddich, as I gained height the snow became deeper, fortunately most steps were supported by the frozen crust, only occasionally breaking through, my thoughts turned to my snow shoes that I decided not to carry! As the sun broke through, creating a glittery magic surface to the pristine conditions, I decided to settle for some lunch, this was to be sandwiches and a brew, I was able to dig a small hollow to give shelter to my loyal Trangia stove, for those unfamiliar, a Trangia is a Swedish meths stove with nothing to go wrong or break, when conditions are very cold they may need priming, warming the fuel, but these are made for cold conditions. After a warming brew, sandwiches, some chocolate and nuts I had calories to burn and moved on, the trail narrowed and the snow deepened, by now crossing drifts where the volume of snow had not formed a crust, I made my way round the deeper five foot deep drifts and sunk each step in to the tops of my gaiters. With conditions making for slow going and the windchill calculated around minus twelve celsius I found myself to be falling short of my destination for that night, the plan was to cross the mighty Corryhabbie and navigate down to the woods, a journey I was now facing in poor light fading to dark, the thin waxing crescent moon was to offer minimal light that night and despite carrying a head torch I was also feeling the strain of carrying an overnight pack through deepening snow. As I stood one third of the way up Corryhabbie in very exposed cold conditions with light fading, two different parts of my brain began a debate, my adventurous side said cross the hill, make the three mile journey to the woods, the shelter, light a fire, warm your bones, whilst my sensible side, (a side I find myself listening to more and more as I age!) said you are tired, its a big climb, its getting colder, dig in here. Through careful preparation digging in was indeed an option for me, I knew the terrain would be very exposed and remote, and fortunately this debate in my head was being carried out standing next to a deep well packed snow drift. As my logical self began to win I reminded myself to play safe as poor decisions can easily be made in the cold, early hypothermic symptoms, all the while my snow shovel gleamed at me in the last of the suns rays. In no time I had dug into the drift an area plenty large enough to accommodate my sleep mat, rucksack and a raised cooking platform. With the entrance facing perfectly out of the wind, it felt good to get out of the now strong freezing winds that had become exasperated by the sun setting. I placed a lightweight tarp over the top pushing the edges in to the snow on three sides and using the shifted snow to weigh these down. I had effectively created a snow cave! Crawling inside the relief from the wind was instant, reinforcing the basic skill and importance of creating a shelter as an essential wilderness skill in any environment. Soon I was cooking chicken tikka with rice and the warmth of the stove raised the mercury to plus twelve celsius, a whopping twenty four degrees warmer than outside. After natures calling, and a perfect unpolluted viewing of the night sky constellations, I made a hot chocolate and whilst warm climbed in to my sleeping bag. Getting in to your bag warm is a very valuable tip for a good nights sleep, the correct rating of bag will then trap and hold the warmth you generate. I was in my bag shortly after seven and it occurred to me how Saturday nights have changed from adolescent years! I fell sound asleep with appreciation of calm warmth whilst the wind whipped wildly around the hillside, my last thoughts of a red deer stag crashing through the roof of my peaceful shelter to join me unexpectedly. Oh, the mind when given time to think!! I woke at 7am and once again fully appreciated my shelter after a warm nights sleep, I soon had a cooked breakfast and large mug of coffee on the go, keeping the stove going to melt snow and replenish my drinking water supply. After breakfast I packed and carefully checked I was leaving no sign of having been there, the snow cave being all that remained would disappear with thaw or more snow, perhaps providing temporary shelter to wildlife in the harsh winter environment, I had seen a number of red deer, grouse, two mountain hare in full white coats plus tracks of field mice, voles and stoat. Sunday then commenced with the uphill crossing of Corryhabbie, I soon abandoned the difficult going on the track that was filled with deep drifted snow and walked on a bearing as the crow flies right on to the summit cairn. The horseshoe shaped cairn offered no shelter as the normal sheltering structure had completely filled with snow. After taking in some wonderful views I folded the map to the next leg of the journey, across featureless wide open snow covered terrain and took the next bearing to walk on, after reaching several attack points and re-setting the bearing I could see the woods on the Glenlivet Estate, however the pathless terrain was tough going and the beginning of a thaw broke down the structure of the snow making for some deep wading, I considered that I was effectively doing the scenic version of ten thousand leg presses!! Reaching the forest track shortly after plunging my left leg groin deep through the snow in to a freezing bog reminded me of staying focused, especially when the goal is in sight. I love the woods, I loved them all over again as I felt very glad not to be on the hill in freezing winds with one soaking wet leg! Here I could light a fire if I wished, and my next move would have consisted of just that had I been staying out for another night, instead a rather easy downhill, on firm ground route was all that stood between me and my pick up point at Allanreid. It was good to see my wife and daughters, legs aching I climbed in to the car to hear all about their visit to Shrek the musical, they clearly had a great time and lots of questions for me too. When the weather warms I shall be sharing more of my love of wild places with them in the form of some wild camping. Hopefully one day my children will have the ability to make winter trips, a season when mistakes can have very real consequences but also when wild places are at their most beautiful. Thank you for reading, please leave a comment and help me build my page. Warm Regards Alan.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 15:00:09 +0000
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