Mendip Hills trip 17 Mar 2007

This was my first trip of the year and the plan was to watch the stars for part of the night. Since sunset is around 6:30pm that makes for a lot of starwatching - apart from the clouds....

On the Kit front I left the trekking pole at home and took a down sleeping bag rated to -20. My overnight accomodation of a bivy bag and tarp are quite heavy when put together but it does allow me to watch the stars - something that you cannot do in a tent or a tarp. The down sleeping bag is much heavier than the bag I usually take but was necessary for the conditions (I feel the cold at night).

On the cooking front I tend to have settled on the MSR Pocket Rocket for boiling water. When I am cold I do not want to wait 15 minutes for a hot drink. The weight saving of an Alcohol stove does not compete with the ease of use of the Rocket and the speed of boil. The one thing that I have done is buy some folding feet for the gas canister. This turns the Rocket from a top-heavy monster into a very stable stove.

The plan for this trip was to wander around the Mendip Hills including a trip into Cheddar Gorge which is famous amongst other things for Cheddar Cheese (this is where it came from), the Caves and a small wild population of Muntjack Deer and English Goats. It's a very beautiful place to visit.

My walk was a semi-random affair. At 3pm I had parked the car several miles outside of Cheddar and had worked out a route into Cheddar which would allow me to view the Somerset Levels. Once in Cheddar I decided to walk the road as far as Black Rock and then walk through the Black Rock area into Velvet bottom and then onto the Mendips - which I did

Daytime temperatures where glorious with sunshine and clear blue skies. As the day wore on temperatures cooled quickly and I found the Montane smock really coming into its own.

It was quite liberating to know that I could camp anywhere that I wanted and so I was quite relaxed about time and route. When it's dark I stop... It was after sunset when I made camp - a small grassy spot facing east (ready for the sunrise). I didn't hang around too much and hopped straight into my sleeping bag and set about cooking some noodles. Once they were eaten it was lights out and watch the sky.

Overnight wind and rain moved in. The bivy did its job and the micro-tarp withstood the rain and wind very well. The home-made micro-tarp I use is just big enough to give me a wind and rain free area around my head and somewhere for the cooker.

In the morning it was still cold at 8°C and the wind was strong (> 40 Knots). I didn't hang around to cook any breakfast but just threw everything into the pack and started walking.

Overall the trip was a success. Adding a micro-tarp to a Bivy bag does make the accomodation a little heavy compared with an ultralight tent but it does allow me to set up camp anywhere even if I cannot pitch the tarp.

The down sleeping bag was far too warm initially but by the end of the night - with the wind and the rain and a little venting it was still comfortable.

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