Bivvy a Month 2021

[RIP]

Some good scenes there... enjoyed the missing bridge and security gate . Nice bit of random bivvy siting too.

Cock Inn indeed....

[shutuplegs]

Thanks both. Hand on heart, I can’t say I fully recommend the pineapple Jaffa cakes, they were ‘ok’ once the brioches had run out

[Bearlegged]

They're the work of the devil. Same goes for all the other non-orange flavours they've tried.

Doesn't stop me eating whole packets in a single sitting mind you...

[RIP]

Strong words indeed.

Er, what are the other flavours?

It's like the 'Nesquik' question I posed a while ago - who can remember the most flavours, without looking them up....

[shutuplegs]

I could be making some of these up here but:
Strawberry
Cherry?!
Lemon
Lime, (Halloween?)

[Bearlegged]

Cranberry comes out round about Christmas.

[RIP]

Well they sound alright actually. Why should the devil get all the fun flavours eh? I mean if it had been banana (NASTY) fair enough. I'd like to try a cherry one if anyone has one and is happy to post it (in a padded jiffy bag obviously, I wouldn't want a flat one).

[MuddyPete]

Thanks both. Hand on heart, I can’t say I fully recommend the pineapple Jaffa cakes, they were ‘ok’ once the brioches had run out

Same with "mint chocolate orange" After Eights: sounds like perfection, but the reality is a bit .

[shutuplegs]

in a padded jiffy bag obviously

A Jaffy bag one might say...?

[shutuplegs]

I caved and googled it, lemon and lime are combined, fair enough, basically 7UP.

There’s also passion fruit. I’m not sure where I stand on that after the pineapple episode.

[Bearlegged]

Oh gawd, I'd forgotten about the passion fruit.

[RIP]

As Bob would say, this has "gone weird" . We've gone and turned the BaM thread into the Cheery Friday thread (*) now!

(*) which I'm going to do my very damnedest not to post on today.

[RIP]

Oh gawd, I'd forgotten about the passion fruit.

Now look what you've done 'Legs. You've turned Chris into a banshee or a zombie or whatever they are. Traumatised he is.

[shutuplegs]

Oh gawd, I'd forgotten about the passion fruit.

Now look what you've done 'Legs. You've turned Chris into a banshee or a zombie or whatever they are. Traumatised he is.

I had better keep the rumours of a banana flavour under my hat then. Thanks for the warning Reg.

[ScotRoutes]

May BAM complete.

Bit of a weird one this. Normally I decide I'm going on a bivvy then decide where I'm going to go. This time it was the other way around. I'd discovered a new viewpoint in the area recently. It's not far from home and I'd looked at it on the OS map a few times but that showed the wee summit completely forested. After discussing it with a mate, he'd headed up for a gander and took some great photos. I've since been up twice - once on foot and once on a bike. I found a couple of potential bivvy spots to try out so with a decent break in the weather I decided last night was the time.

On my previous visits I'd worked out that the top of the hill is regularly visited so made sure I arrived late. Having said that, at this time of year it's light till after 10pm so arriving just as the sun was setting worked out fine.







On account of the weather forecast I'd not bothered with a tarp so after inflating the mat, rolling out the bivvy bag and stuffing the sleeping bag in I was already all set for the evening. Nothing for it than to have a beer I guess.



It was very still, the noisiest thing being the constant drone of bees. I don't know what they were searching for as there is very little flowering under the tree canopy at the moment. After a while, as darkness fell and the air got a bit chiller, even they stopped and soon all I could make out was the intermittent chatter of ducks on one of the lochs below.

As it was getting chilly, I also slipped into the sleeping bag, staring up at the sky. It was around 80% cloud cover but I caught sight of a meteorite almost instantly.

Before long, I'd nodded off, waking up a couple of hours later to turn onto my side. I noticed that the clouds had been swept aside and all the stars were now out.

At 4:05, I was woken by a combination of increased daylight and a cuckoo announcing its presence.



For those not familiar with the Highlands and following the HT550, it was already light enough to ride without lights. However, I was in no such hurry so turned away from the light for another nap.

By 5:45, the sun had risen over the Corbett of Meall a Bhuachille and was shining directly into my little camp spot. What's more, it was reflecting of Loch an Eilean below me so it was like getting a double dose of radiation. That was it then, time for breakfast. Stove on for coffee accompanied by porridge bars.



Still aware that I wanted to be away before anyone got up, I decided to stretch my time a little. As I'd sat there, the day had sort of woken up. Noises were returning; the bees were busy again, the chirruping of wee birds, the song of a blackbird and more of those bloody ducks. Lots of gentle, soft noises. Then there was this harsh, scraping noise right behind me. I turned around to see a red squirrel run up a tree about 3 metres away. I could hear his claws digging into the tree bark and a little squeaking noise from his mouth as he ran up. The cuckoo turned up again too, so close I could hear it breathing in between each Coo-Koo sound.

Still in my bag, I lay back for another spell of quiet contemplation. So many of my bivvys are in places much more "spectacular" than this and yet they are often quite dead to the human eye and ear. This place was absolutely alive and I was just enjoying listening to it all.



Eventually though, I thought I'd best make a move. I didn't want to be hogging the viewpoint if other folk arrived. Not having much with me it didn't take long to pack up and I detoured back via Loch Gamhna and Loch an Eilean trying, unsuccessfully, to get a look back at my camp spot.





That one was definitely very good for the soul.

5/5 and 54th consecutive.

[fatbikephil]

Nice one Colin, what a great spot. I believe there have been sightings of wild moggies in that area

[ScotRoutes]

It is at the top of Creag a' Chait

I'm going to wander up to the crags on foot at some point. Couldn't see any sign of a path up from the loch so it'll be bushwhacking.

[Bearlegged]

Perfect.

[redefined_cycles]

May BAM in progress. With Luke Lune Ranger.

Tis been lovely and wr even had a raging river crossing.
Pics to come... 5 of 12 done (doing)...

[Charliecres]

This place was absolutely alive and I was just enjoying listening to it all.

[benp1]

I like those sort of bivvys. I often pack up my kit and sit there just enjoying the moment. Then no risk of grief if other visitors turn up

[sean_iow]

Realising I've got a lot of busy weekends coming up I decided on a school-night bivi to make sure I ticked off May. On a run last week I'd used a new bit of single track that cuts along the boundary of some woods. As there is no car parking near it (busy main road) I knew it would probably only be used by mtb's passing through. There are also no other main paths into this bit if the woods so it looked ideal for a bivi.

Headed out after dinner, up over the downs, and was soon there. I'd passed another likely looking woods on the way but there have been fly-tipping issues and it says there's cctv so I might leave that one.

It was dry but the forecast was for rain between 23:00 and 07:00 so I took the micro-tarp and waterproof bivi (packed the right one this time) and was there in well under an hour. Turned off the narrow path onto an even less used one and then off that into the fir trees. I was tucked up in bed in no time.



The rain did eventually arrive but I'd managed to get the tarp on the right side so stayed dry. My watch says I had 4 hours of deep sleep (out of the 7) which is an hour more than at home. I did wake at 4:30 when it was getting light and the birds had got up but soon drifted off again. My view in the morning



Two things of note, my chain is as slack as it looks, it's not an optical illusion, and what has happened to the bark on that fallen tree? As I had to get to work I couldn't lay there there pondering what had happened to the bark, although it was clearly playing on Ralph's mind



I had to get on, so got up and back into the cycling kit. The rain meant I'd be packing up wet kit, no time to wait for the rain to stop



The tarp had gone a bit slack overnight once it got wet but luckily there was no wind. I'd not brought a stove so breakfast would be ITT style, I'd had similar on the HT550 from the garage in Ullapool



It was actually quite tasty and I'd be in work soon enough for coffee and breakfast 2. As I ate it I wandered off to check out my surroundings, something had caught my eye



Upon closer inspection



Which solves the mystery of the missing bark. I also picked up their rubbish for them



But as this was the only bit and there were no fire pits I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they didn't know they'd dropped it. It's quite a good spot, only about 200m from the road but the cars were barley discernible. Next time I'll bring the camo deschutes and the stove and go on the weekend so I have more time in the morning. Packed up and on my way I was at work for 07:20 which gave plenty of time to hang the tarp and bivi bag in the bike shed to dry and hang the sleeping bag and mat in my room to air

5/12 this year.

[RIP]

Very nice. Mmm I'd wondered about the bark too before you mentioned it. Giant beaver maybe? Erm. Reckon there's some scope for a tarp made out of bark?

[sean_iow]

I was pleased to see it was harvested from already fallen trees and not the live ones. In the light I could see there were quite a few leaning trees about, luckily I'd not pitched under any of them.

[redefined_cycles]

May BAM done and my first multi nighter. Pics can be seen here and thanks to Luke for organising it...

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19895

I did say before that 5 of 12 in progress...

But now, 5 of 12 done. Just 7 months left. Surely it can't be that hard right!