So much for getting a bivvy in early, out on the last weekend of the month again. Which was a shame as I'd missed one clear and cold weekend whilst doing a music thing and last weekend, having been forecast to be similar ended up being mild with rather a lot of suicider ice around.... So it was this weekend or bust. After two fairly blowy storms last week and a lot of rain, I was quite pleased when the forecast switched to dry, more or less, albeit still quite breezy. That said, it felt more like March than January!
And it was a bit of a bog standard bivvy (BSB?) despite various ideas to go further a field. Given the wind a lowland spot was favoured and Devilla forest would fit the bill as I know a couple of sheltered spots. I went with one under a large pine tree and just downwind of a belt of young sitka which would be less likely to land on my head, given the wind. Tarp up, in, fire up soto blast furnace and reheat ex army bag of beef chilli (don't ask). The soto has been playing up, nearly burning my shed to the ground when I was heating up chain wax the other day. I'd swapped the seals and given it a good clean so was pleased that I avoided burning the entire forest to the ground.
Relaxation followed. Annoyingly there was a bit of rain about and my sheltered spot meant it was floating in under the tarp as the wind swirled around. So I dropped it down a bit for more shelter - versatile, see!
Like so....
On waking up the next morning, I discovered that one of the mid panel ties had ripped the tarp when I'd been re-tensioning it, so just as well the rain didn't come to much. Not sure how I'm going to repair it to be honest - I might have to send it off to a specialist.
Any road, my sleep was somewhat interrupted thanks to the wind so I had a leisurely start then pedaled for a few hours round various trails above Dollar, after a fine lunch courtesy of Stevens bakers.
Still breezy but incredibly mild. I think I could have used the 150 quilt it was that warm.... The frost of last week had come out of the ground meaning some of the trails were glue-like, but apart from that, things were remarkably dry given how much water has hit the ground in the last 6 days...
I'm glad I got that one in, as once you start it's easier to continue. February next and the Alternative Winter Event, all being well.
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