I woke up on my birthday on Thursday to a dusting of snow, about as much as we are going to get the way things are going. Compared to the deluge we had last year and the skiing fun it lead too this was a dead loss. The hills looked much whiter but I was stuck in the office until Friday afternoon by which time the weather was to turn mild so removing any chance of a snowy bivvy this winter. I was determined to get out however and do a birthday bivvy. The plan was to eschew TLS and go for a luxury one with plenty of food and drink and the opulence of the Deschutes. The weather forecast was looking a bit damp but I should be able to get pitched up before the rain started.
Friday started perfectly with clear skies and a hard (-6) frost but by the time I'd knocked off for the day the temps were on the rise and the snow rapidly receding. I figured a shortish jaunt out to a site I'd scoped out on my January bivvy so I didn't have far to go with the food and drink load. Alarmingly the forecast was suddenly going on about high winds however I knew my spot would be plenty sheltered so I pressed on. After an easy run round a few cycleways I hit the hills and snow - much more than at home and still quite firm underneath, meaning it was nice going instead of the predicted mud bath. Perhaps I would get to do a snowy bivvy after all! I Should have brought the fat bike I suppose but the Jones' 29 x 3.25 boots kept the plot on the straight and narrow, even on a few patches of suicider ice...
More snowy trail took me to Dunning glen and then up the road a ways into Glendevon forest, my destination. There was still plenty snow around but the woods on the flanks of Fanny Hill were sheltered and so clear. Of course what had looked like pleasant woods with plenty of space between the trees to pitch up in the evening sun of two weeks ago now looked dark, tangled and bumpy. I kept on and after a bit of nosing around found a good spot in a gap between trees. By this time the wind was rising and cloud building but being in amongst fairly young trees it was sheltered and (hopefully) there was no chance of one landing on me in the night.
The deschutes went up easily and I got in just as the first spots of rain came on. It nearly went horribly wrong lighting the soto petrol stove, which I'd brought purely to get some use out of it, as I'd forgotten that it tends to be a bit exciting on first firing up and came very close to burning the tent to the ground. Then I managed to lean on the water bladder hose mouthpiece and created a nice puddle in the bivvy bag. This was mopped up with my jacket to the accompaniment of much teeth grinding and finally I settled back with a beer, my book and the prospect of a fine feed.
Reading material was Joe Tasker's somewhat grim tale of the failed attempt to climb Everest's south west ridge in winter. Reading about their precarious camp 2 on a narrow shelf in a tiny box tent at 25000 feet, trying to cook and maneouver two bods about with the wind blowing to 100 plus mph and temps ranging from -30 to -40 made my situation seem fairly pleasant. The wind was blowing strongly now and there were many big gusts but all was calm down below. What a fine way to relax after a hectic week.
I crashed out eventually and had an interrupted night sleep thanks to the sound of the wind blasting away and the regular deluges of water being dumped on the tent by the trees. A couple of beer induced loo visits required full water proofs but the rain went off in the early hours and I slept quite well thereafter. At a leisurely hour I got up and drank lots of tea, ate pancakes and contemplated my onward moves.
By the time I got going there was a hint of the cloud breaking so I figured on a few trails before heading home. A pleasant hour was spent riding single track round the woods, often on quite dry trails that were used by the Scottish Enduro club a few years ago but clearly haven't been used much since. The more regular trails were somewhat boggy but its about time I made proper use of the 'duros. Back over to Glendevon with a stiff headwind led me to a fairly sheltered climb up through the woods above Glen Quey. My time in the hills concluded with a lengthy splosh through the path from Commonedge Hill to Seamab and the steep trail down to Muckhart. On the way home the rain came on so I figured I'd made a good effort to get out - my first wet bivvy of the year and I suspect there will be plenty more....
Well I suspect that's the last chance of a snowy bivvy for this winter, hopefully I'll be able to grab one at the end of the year. March next and spring....
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