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| Looking towards Ennerdale water from Low Gillerthwaite Field Center, Crag fell covered in snow |
So my first real camp of 2015 came today although not strictly a wild camp as such.
Rather a friend of mine decided he wanted to get into this "wild camping" lark after listening to me waffle on about it for years and also as a means to get out and shoot more astrophotography, so after talking him into spending a few hundred pounds on some basic (but solid) gear we decided on a camping trip in a relatively safe place to test his gear.
He's also been influenced by several modern wild camping heros and their associated youtube channels, and I don't blame him, they are all very good and so he couldn't wait to get to it.
We decided on camping at Low Gillerthwaite Field Center its campsite facilities are basic with a toilet and a small kitchen which campers have limited used of, but its more than we needed.
(apparently the website states that for a small fee the kitchen facilities can be used, theres cooking equipment and a range.)
I believe there is usually hot water available but for some reason at this time it wasn't available.
A link to their page is available here www.lgfc.org.uk
So we set off around lunchtime, Mr Tear picked me up from my house and we headed to bowness knott car park.
Low Gillerthwaite Field Center is about 2 miles or so from Bowness Knott car park along a gentle if somewhat twisty gravel track, Car access is limited as we found out because as we arrived we promptly opened the gate to the track, drove down to the field center and was promptly (but nicely) told by the warden that car access is not allowed unless prior arrangement with the ranger is made , so we hastily unpacked our packs and drove back to the carpark and then walked back to the field center, a nice amble that took about 35 minutes.
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| OS map of area we visited |
The current warden was away on holiday so a stand in was present, a nice enough chap who somehow guessed we were dark sky photographers (which was weird as other than a tripod we didn't say what we were up to in the area) and he made us aware that the center caters for dark sky enthusiasts from time to time and a couple of weekends were coming up at the end of february and march.
After the warden showed us the basic facilities, we set about making camp, the ground was quite boggy with a little snow here and there in areas so we set up behind a wall on a bit of raised ground that was fairly flat.
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| Mr Tears Vango Pulsar 300 in the back |
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| My Zephyros 1 |
It took about 15 minutes to clear our little areas and setup the tents, another 10 to setup our sleeping kits and then it was time to get the kettle on and take stock of our surroundings.
The weather at this point ( 2pm )seemed quite mild, there was a little snow on the ground as I previously mentioned and as seen in the pictures and the surrounding hills were topped with it too giving a chocolate box appearance to them, a proper mini mountain range.
To our west lay Ennerdale water and Crag fell, the south is obscured by the relatively unimpressive Ennerdale fell.
But to our east lay Pillar which at the time of arrival lay with its head covered in a snow shower now this is an impressive beast of a mountain, if not in size but in form, craggy, angular menacing yet beautiful.
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| Pillar with its head in a snow cloud |
We could see snow coming down on Pillar and the surrounding fells, little flurries that came barreling down the valley from the lake, obscuring the view, the flurries slowly grew closer and closer until we were engulfed in a short hail shower which painted the surrounding land white again for a short while.
This was a common theme for the trip, small short flurries of hail or snow which we watched approaching from the 'lake' and either ran up along Ennerdale fell and across to Pillar or came at us...sometimes both.
After a while the warden approached and told us we were welcome to stay in the field center room if it got to cold for us (we heard a lot this weekend from people telling us it was too cold to camp or we were crazy for doing it, family, friends, my neighbor who collared me at my front door as we were setting off "You're never going campin in this?" she asked.."ohh haha, you want your head looked at!" she said with a smile.) and now the centers warden couldn't quite grasp what we were doing either. "well if it does get too cold for you the field centers rec room is open to use, i'll wish you well as were off early in the morning, enjoy!" he proclaimed.
But as I said we were here to test kit, and although I was confident in my own gear as I have used it many times in the cold I wasnt sure how Mr Tear's would hold up in the upcoming minus temps the night would bring.
Darkness started to fall and so we decided to have some food, I usually carry a Jetboil and some form of dehydrated food stuff, purely as I see food on such trips as fuel and with weight concerns when hiking ill go for dehydrated meals, noodles, pot mash and protein comes in the form of pouched tuna or salami.
This time however seeing as it was only an overnighter and I wasn't too far from home I took out the old Trangia and did a bit of gourmet cooking..
I say gourmet, it was a pack of uncle bens ready cooked risotto and some steak :)
Short video of me escaping from the hail after cooking supper
As in most cases in winter when the weather closes in there really isnt much to do other than shelter, the weather set in around 5pm along with the darkness, and so long nights spent in the tents are the norm.
I always find it hard sleeping early especially on the first night of a wild camp, I usually take a few movies/ Tv shows /Podcasts loaded onto my phone to pass away a few hours, tonights matinee was a movie I got from Google play "The Grey" with Liam Neeson, I wont spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it but its basically about some men being hunted through a winter landscape by wolves....quite an apt movie considering, because around the time the movie was ending the local dogs started howling and barking in the darkness and the hail had started again, I'm not sure if they are the wardens or the centers dogs but something was spooking them as they barked for half the night.
After a few hours of kip I awoke around 1 am and had a look outside, by this time the temps had fallen dramatically, Im guessing it was at least -4 (that was the forecast) and my tent was iced up both inside and out.
Opening the door was akin to folding a piece of cardboard, but a quick look to the skies revealed it was mostly clear.
I put on my boots and unpacked my down jacket and gloves, got out my tripod and camera and placed its battery in my pocket to warm up a little.
I had to shout of Mr Tear a couple of times who responded with an "uhh?", "The stars are out marra!" I said, and he promptly joined me outside.
"It's bloody freezing!" he said before diving back into the tent to put the kettle on :)
We then got the camera's setup and started taking a few images.
I have to say LGFC and Ennerdale in general is a great place to see the night sky in all its glory, the light pollution is minimal and the surrounding mountains and woodland make great foreground pieces.
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| The sky above Low Gillerthwaite Field Center |
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| Orion hidden amongst the cloud over Ennerdale Fell The orange glow of the Sellafield nuclear plant is the only light pollution to be seen from this location |
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| Looking West, the Pleiades (Severn Sisters) and below and to the right Comet LoveJoy |
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| 5 minute exposure over Pillar |
We managed a few dozen shots before we started feeling the cold, My camera shut itself off a few times it was so cold, that's despite letting it acclimatise for several hours in its dry bag, next trip I will take a temp probe to see how low it gets.
So after an hour and a half we called it a night and returned to our tents, had a quick brew and a snack to keep us warm and grabbed a few more hours sleep.
After a restless night I awoke around 7am, I spent the usual 10 minute winter wild camping ritual of 'contemplating getting out of my bag but really wanting to stay in its warm embrace' before rousing myself and seeing how fast I could get my over clothes, boots and jacket on.....2 minutes flat if your interested :)
I put the stove on for a brew and shouted to see if Mr Tear was awake, he was.
"You dont want to get out of your bag do you!" he said, "It's bloody freezing like hah!" he added,
"worst part of winter camping marra" I replied, "Did you sleep all right like? not too cold?" I asked,
"No I was alright once I got in my bag, them bloody dogs though, barked all night....then that owl started hooting then that bloody cockerel at half four..." he said as he made a cup of tea.
It was quite a noisy night I will admit, it seemed we pitched camp right next to an owls nest im sure of it, and then the center has a cockerel that seemed to be stuck on repeat from about half four until six am....must remember ear plugs the next time we visit.
It had snowed fairly hard through the night but the temps had rose a little and the tents were no longer frozen solid and what snow was left laying around was pretty slushy, so I made my coffee and had a couple of biscuits before packing away the gear and dropping the tent.
Usually after a nights camping your pack weight a bit less, you've ate most of the food you have taken with you, you've also shed a little from using fuel on the stoves, but sometimes, like today your tent is wet and has ice on it and i'm sure it weighed a kilo more, no matter how hard I shook it.
And to make matters worse it now started to snow again which just added to the weight as it stuck to our packs and gear as we packed.
It took about half an hour to pack everything away, we made sure we didn't leave anything behind but our tracks in the snow and some flattened grass and then after a last look down the valley we headed back to the carpark via the now slippery icy rangers track back to Bowness Knott car park.
Overall it was an enjoyable start to what will hopefully be a trip filled 2015, our kits 'mostly' handled the conditions well and we got some nice wide angle astrophotography shots.
Until next time....
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