Bivvy a month 2020.

[JimmyG]

I left it a bit late but managed to squeeze in February’s BAM on Thursday/Friday. I headed along the coast into East Lothian to a wooded area behind the dunes at Gullane Beach and my fat bike was the bike of choice for the sandy trails and beaches I’d encounter on the route. A cold westerly tailwind propelled me along on the outward journey but I was already dreading the return trip next day into the teeth of what were forecast to be even stronger winds. On arrival in Gullane I enjoyed a couple of beers in the pub before reluctantly tearing myself away from the warmth of the log fire and heading out to set up camp. I found a nice, sheltered spot and settled down to a good night’s sleep. As predicted, next morning was sunny but cold and the westerly wind was fairly whistling along. After 'breakfast in bed' I packed up and headed east along the beach (nice tailwind again - Enjoy it while you can, I remember thinking to myself) to check out a couple of smuggler’s caves I’d read about. At first sight, both seemed like ideal bivvy sites but I then noticed the incessant dripping of water from the roofs that would rule out the chances of a restful night. Maybe less of an issue in drier weather, of course, so I’ll definitely be checking them out again later in the year. Anyway, I finally had to bite the bullet and head west, enduring a serious trial by headwind as I plugged my way homewards. Not much fun at all but the two coffee and cake stops relieved the monotony for at least a while.

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

[BigdummySteve]

Live bam in progress! After a rather ‘interesting’ ride across Dartmoor I’m currently in residency at Foggintor quarry......it’s rather fresh. Large rocks on all pegs and hope for the best.

PS if you don’t hear form me let the records show that BDS completed a run of 38 bams and even on a night such as this was not swayed by the offer of a £15 bunkhouse

Progress report.....:left hand guy attachment point is still attached to guy rope

Sadly not to my tent, may have found the limits of my beloved telemark.

2/12

My BAM started out great, early finish got me to south Devon earlier than expected. The weather was good enough to eat my fish and chips sitting on the harbour.
Unfortunately the weather forecast was steady getting worse, still what’s the worst that could happen, I’ve sat a good few storms in the telemark (RIP)

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I made a tactical alteration to the route the Dave sent me, I started from Ivybridge giving me an easy ride back in the morning. It was raining heavily now and the wind was winter event level and beyond.



Obviously the thing to do was get off the road and onto the moors proper, The two moors way had become a river, the double track was completely flooded and in places running fast, I slogged on sometimes up the bottom bracket.









Eventually the route left the flooded track, here navigating became pretty hard, if there was a track it was under water and I ended up fording some fast flowing streams up to mid thigh.
Eventually I hit the road again and made good progress through what appeared to loverly Dartmoor scenery, most of the time I could only see 50yards!

At Princetown I popped into the Prince of Wales for a couple of pints and some food, really nice pub with friendly locals. I was offered the bunkhouse for a mere £15 but resisted the temptation and headed for Fogginton quarry, the idea was to get down out of the wind but being dark and with low visibility it was frankly dangerous so a settled for begin an old quarry building which initially did the trick.

Approaching midnight the wind went mental, it wasn’t like being hit by gusts but more like sledgehammers, instant punches at extreme speed from random directions. By now I was getting a bit worried, the intensity went up to insane, although I’d pegged the skirt of the tent to prevent lifting and plonked rocks on the guy pegs it wasn’t enough.
The left hand guy point ripped away first, now I was holding the pole into the ground with both hands (bruised from the impacts) and even using my feet to support the middle.
Obviously this wasn’t going to end well, at 02:30 despite my efforts the pole snapped, I caught both ends in my hands and was considering how to splint it when the next impact delivered the coup de grâce, ripping the fractured pole from my hands one section came through the inner and the other punctured the fly. The next took advantage of this to split the fly from top to bottom. Within seconds all hell was loose inside. The inner floor was flapping throwing stuff everywhere and there was quickly an inch of water inside. Bag and all clothes saturated, I quickly stuffed everything into my seat pack and pulled on some soggy socks and boots.
I packed the remains, leave no trace folks and walked out. My options were limited, even if I found shelter my insulation was gone, the wind had dropped almost straight away after the carnage so I opted for a 3am 25mile ride back to the van, a bit of pace getting some heat back into me.

Mental, I really should have canned it but.....
Lesson learned, if I’d opted for the bunkhouse I’d not have wrecked a good tent and I could have got into some serious bother being on my own.

Numpty.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0vJC3-g ... oor_Forest


https://share.icloud.com/photos/0n87H39 ... #Ugborough

https://share.icloud.com/photos/05vm51p ... _-_Harford

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0FFEGjK ... kfastleigh

[Mariner]

Mental, I really should have canned it but.....
Lesson learned, if I’d opted for the bunkhouse I’d not have wrecked a good tent and I could have got into some serious bother being on my own.

Chapeau - proper adventure I would say and shame about the tent.
How do you think a bivvy bag would have coped with the conditions?
Not in terms of comfort but from a survival point of view.

[RIP]

Blimey Stevo, top drawer effort. Reckon you take the doggedness trophy there (not dogging trophy, although the conditions would've made that an interesting sport). Going to call you the Hero Of The Telemark from now on.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Mental, I really should have canned it but.....
Lesson learned, if I’d opted for the bunkhouse I’d not have wrecked a good tent and I could have got into some serious bother being on my own.

If you don't do stupid sh1t, you'll have nothing to smile about when you get old

[BigdummySteve]

Stu, I owned a LC enough stupid to last a lifetime, shame about the tent but it was ‘invigorating’ the ride back was also fun
Hero of the telemark, I like that reg. In fact I would like to be known as H.O.T from now on

Bivvy bag? Would imagine I would have died by own hand long before the weather got me

[BigdummySteve]

In all the excitement I did have time to reflect on some new bike stuff, charge spoon at £20 my arse liked it a lot! RRP pro fender also worked very well and although attached with zip ties is extremely solid, obviously now I’ve fitted it it will finally stop raining Revelate ranger frame bag is also a winner, with its flared nose it’s very spacious and come summer could possibly fit everything I need in it.

[Dave Barter]

I'm sort of glad but sort of not that I couldn't make it. Well done Steve!

[BigdummySteve]

You were there in spirit, as I left I looked at my top tube stickers for inspiration “what would sweary Dave do?” Obviously the answer is ‘ rebuild a database’ thankfully I also had a stop being soft sticker as well, I’ll be ignoring that in future.

After doing the divide in 20 days you haven’t anything to prove, close escape I reckon.

I’ll be back for another look when I can see some of the route.

[SeannyD]

Didn’t get out in February, work and life in the way Start again late March.

[TrepidExplorer]

What a rush of "last weekend in February" posts. I wonder why?

If I'd actually realised it was a leap year I might've delayed last weekend.

[Dave Barter]

You were there in spirit, as I left I looked at my top tube stickers for inspiration “what would sweary Dave do?” Obviously the answer is ‘ rebuild a database’ thankfully I also had a stop being soft sticker as well, I’ll be ignoring that in future.

After doing the divide in 20 days you haven’t anything to prove, close escape I reckon.

I’ll be back for another look when I can see some of the route.

Actually we were retagging an entire website for screen readers. It was joyful

[summittoppler]

I'm out. Didn't get out in Feb. I was going to brave it last night but ended up having a pub lunch with the Mrs, had a couple of Stella's and ended up having quite a few more!

[Bearlegged]

The classic combination of crap weather and life getting in the way meant that I needed the leap day to fit in a last gasp dash for a night outdoors. It was already dark when I left home, and the blue skies of earlier in the day had been chased away by Jorge, who brought squally showers with him. Unsurprisingly, I didn't bother taking any pictures of the outward journey, which was dark, wet, and (once out of Sheffield's sheltering basin) gusting up to 50-odd mph.

Once I'd found my ghetto bothy however, I was able to relax with some instant rice (katsu curry flavour, not as bad as it sounds) and a beer (a rather uncomplex chocolate stout). The morning broke, a pale orange glow rising over the moors. The wind still whipped around my shelter, but now it would be a tailwind speeding me homewards. The clouds had blown away, leaving a low sun casting its pale glow over frosty grass, icy puddles, and the last remnants of the week's snowfall.

What a way to clear the mind.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9M-lCNFBdB/

2020 BAM 2/2
2020 total bivvies 2
Current streak (months) 15

[Raggedstone]

2/2 Like a lot of others it was touch and go wether I was going to get out supposed to be moving next weekend so no time for an adventure the stars were out Thursday evening and forecast said the inevitable rain would be arriving about 9 Friday morning so I packed the bike and headed of up the hill they named after me ! I got the bivvy bag out and settled down on the frosty grass with a mug of hot chocolate then slept ,dozed , got up for a call of nature went through the process again until 5 .30ish to be woken by the early arrival of the rain so packed up quickly and went home for a brew . Accumulated mileage for the last 3 BAMs less than 30 miles hoping there may be a golden opportunity in march .

[PaulB2]

Actually we were retagging an entire website for screen readers. It was joyful

Eww, I've had do that once. My brain was dribbling out of my ears by the end of it.

[Lazarus]

Sneaked one in a day early this month[ 28/02] - so not quite last day of the month.

Weather forecast was biblical but i managed to escape most of it, as it was only drizzling by 1 am , before sheltering in a secluded forest - that i was aiming for to be out the worst of the weather. Woken up by some heavy wind and rain but the nicely sheltered spot did its job and it was a drama free overnighter

Barely worth the write up given the adventure up there

[JimmyG]

In marked contrast to last month when I’d left it to the last few days, I’ve got my March BAM in early. On Sunday the 1st I joined the Highland fat bike crew again for one of their regular group rides, near Forres on this occasion. Afterwards I headed south to Aviemore to refuel on venison burger and chips (and to purchase a bottle of red) before heading out to Rothiemurchus Forest for an overnighter. Inspired by ScotRoutes’ (*) trip there a week or so previously, I decided to head for Utsi’s Hut in the hills above Loch Morlich's southern shore. I hadn’t been to it before but armed with the grid reference on my GPS, I set off in its general direction. On some of the uphill sections the snow was very rutted in places, a mix of walkers, cross-country skiers and bikes, and had subsequently frozen. I found it hard going at times but eventually ended up in the general vicinity of the hut. Having looked at pics of the hut and read various reports, I’d mistakenly got the impression it would be sitting right next to the main track. However, this proved not to be the case and it took me some searching before I finally found it amongst trees, perched on a slope overlooking the track. For what it’s worth, I discovered next morning that it is plainly visible in daylight. In case the hut was already occupied I’d carried in all my bivvy kit (tarp, etc.) and I’d even been kidding myself that I wouldn’t mind if I had to sleep alfresco in the end. Yeah, right! Needless to say, on arriving to find it was unoccupied I was mightily relieved and it was with great pleasure that I battened down the hatches, got the candles on and set up for the night. Oh, and the Chinese instant noodles, John West fridge pot tuna and red wine certainly went down a treat. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in this cosy, atmospheric little hut. It was a bit of a wrench to drag myself away but I’m sure I’ll head there again sometime. Ending on a positive note, daylight allowed me to the pick the best line on the downhill stretches, making the return trip to the mother ship much easier and quicker than the previous night’s trudge.

* They say that ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ so thanks for unwittingly giving me the idea Colin

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

[ScotRoutes]

It's such an a.w.e.s.o.m.e wee place. I'm not a spiritual person but there's something about it....

I must have passed along that track a dozen or more times without ever noticing the hut. Easy once you know where though

[JimmyG]

Couldn't agree more Colin. Definitely a special place.

[fatbikephil]

Guess I better go and check it out sometime

[JimmyG]

You’ll not be disappointed Phil

[JoseMcTavish]

Time to put my belated reports in as usual! January was a last night of the month affair, setting out late and not going too far on my dodgy knees. A pleasant night in the hammock at relatively mild temperatures. The tarp was only necessary for about 10 minutes whilst I was packing up my kit, before exploring some little trails through Kingshill Wood on my way home.










http://highlanddrifter.com/bam-2020-january

[ScotRoutes]

Panniers!! Burn the heretic!!!!

[RIP]

A rather novel form of "under floor[hammock]" heating though.