June BAM

That was a good one!

My June bams tend to be something notionally related to it being midsummer but I figure my forthcoming ride on the inaugural North Yorkshire Moors 300 will cover that so I went with something fairly straightforward. Yes another Friday evening bivvy after another hectic week at work....

In any case after the labours of my May bivvies I fancied something easy so after tea I packed up for a leisurely pedal away from the house and up into the hills above Glen Eagles.

My destination was Steelesknowe which is 500m high so not the biggest bump hereabouts and fairly easy to get up thanks to a windfarm track. It was looking like it would be the last dry night for a while so a breezy hill top seemed a fine spot to head to. I've been up here a couple of times before so knew roughly what to expect with an idea I could kip behind the stone wall that passes near the summit. But when I reached the trig point and noticed the close cropped grass surrounding it, I figured this would be ideal.

And it was! Looking north to lots of hills from the Trossachs to the Cairngorms. Fatbike for no other reason than it's got gears and I was after some leisurely twiddling.

There were actually a few big clouds around plus I'd heard a rumble of thunder over the Forth valley as I was pedaling away from the house. But 'twas all dry where I was. Again! I sat with my back to the trig pillar watching all of this. The stiff breeze was quite cool but heat radiated from the concrete, having been in the sun all day. A couple of beers helped with view appreciation.

Fine sunset. 

I'm really liking these dry bivvies. No tarp needed and the breeze kept the midges away so success all round - my fifth night in bivvy bag only this year. 

Finally it got cool enough to retire to the bag. I finished with some fine whisky and a read of my book as the light slowly faded. It only seems a few weeks since I was cowering under my heavyweight quilt from -6 degrees on my January bivvy, and now here I was a few hundred meters higher feeling slightly warm, despite having the lightweight one.

After a reasonable sleep interrupted by funny noises from the nearby wind turbines (which all knocked off about 3am) and a deafening skylark led dawn chorus; I woke to lifting cloud from an inversion. I'd deployed the mozzy tent in the expectation of the dreaded midge but a breeze had sprung up so breakfast was a leisurely affair as I watched the sun come out and views re-appear. 

I got going eventually, had a nosy along a trail which headed for the next trig pointed hill along, until it disappeared into the tussocks; then headed home via various oft used trails. I've not used the fatbike since January but with it's shiny new Jumbo Jims fairly flew down the Ochills standard grassy and lumpy trails.