July 2018 – Bushcraft Days

July 17, 2018

Lowland Expedition Leaders – The 2018 Crew

Moving onto March of this year in my scramble to catch up on my blogging backlog, found me once again, involved in training our Sea Cadet instructors in becoming Lowland Expedition Leaders (LEL).

The weekend was based at TS Black Swan – the Sunbury & Walton Sea Cadet unit on the banks of the Thames. After lots of the usual admin there was plenty of adventure training lessons to be gotten through. We try to get all the basics like Legislation, Health & Safety and Kit covered in class before heading out for outdoor sessions.

Students learn all about tents and stoves in a very hands on way. They need to learn fast as they are expected within a couple of months to be teaching these subjects to cadets (under supervision though).

From the start we like to get the students practicing their teaching skills. In pairs they were tasked with giving short lessons in subjects such as map and compass work. I was particularly impressed with the cardboard compass they produced to teach everyone about its different parts.

Much of the rest of the time was spent out and about practicing the use of maps and compasses on the North Downs. It was a much cooler time of the year as you can see from the pictures below – a time of year I find far more comfortable in comparison to the heat we are currently facing – as I write this in mid summer.

Here is to some cooler times soon (I am Scottish) 🙂

Cheers

George

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018

Nottingham Nights

Work has brought me to Nottingham tonight. So I have decided to post using only my phone for a change. Not easy but worth a try I think.

The evening has been warm and it has been great to visit old haunts for me like ‘Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem’.

The canal always offers a picture or two. Having worked with Crisis for the last 22 years I got a feeling that the shoes I spotted on the toe path had a story to tell, what that story is I will never know.

Further along the the canal as I bimbled along it was all lit up by flashing lights – on closer inspection there was a real ‘mosaic’ feel to the whole moment.

Just before hitting my hotel a few more moments opened up for me including brooding skies, old & new signs, and a relaxed bunch of geese settling for the night.

Cheers

George

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018

A Mountain Mooch – Carnedd Llywelyn Re-visited – Day 4

Day 4 of our North Wales trip last February with my Sea Cadet friends found us once again on the slopes of Carnedd Llywelyn. This time we were joined by a number of newer instructors looking to get a taste of the mountains.

We started off doing plenty of nav work and re-visited Jacques ‘Peaks in Peaks’ art work – unfortunately one of the peaks had subsided in the time we had been away 🙂

Once we had gone over the summit of Pen yr Helgi Du we enjoyed a great scramble down, along and up the ridge of Bwlch Eryl Farchog. The views were stunning and everyone got the chance to test themselves out.

Once up onto the slopes of Carnedd Llywelyn we stopped short of the summit due to the snow and sheet ice. There was though a fantastic temperature inversion to observe all along the horizon and the summit of Tryfan could be seen just poking out of the low lying clouds.

We had a relaxing walk back off the mountains, passing by Ffynnon Llugwy reservoir where Graham managed to allow his Bothy bag to roll down into it – after a slight ‘dip’ it was blown back to the side for him to retrieve (all in the video below).

Cheers

George

July 4, 2018

A Mountain Mooch – Llyn Geirionydd – Day 3

Some days are just meant for relaxing – Day 3 of my Mountain Mooch in Snowdonia was a thoroughly relaxing affair – The Snowdon Horseshoe did tire me out a bit the day before so all I wanted was a stroll and some hammock time.

I set out for Llyn Geirionydd on my own (everyone was doing their own thing on this day) with my rucksack packed with sandwiches, cameras and my hammock.

Llyn Geirionydd is a stunning lake and thankfully had some nicely spaced trees to relax and watch nature go by. I did take a stroll around part of the Lake and tried to capture some of the colour that was around. It was late winter with little new growth happening but still enough to keep me happy.

Feeling relaxed and renewed I headed back to camp to await the arrival of the rest of our group.

Cheers

George

July 2, 2018July 16, 2018

A Mountain Mooch – Snowdon Horseshoe – Day 2

Day 2 of my winter trip to Snowdonia found me with Jacques on the Snowdon Horseshoe. We struck out early with a mind to tackle the horseshoe from the Crib Goch side first.

The day was slightly overcast to begin with and there was a smattering of snow high up.

As it was early there were few others around as we ascended Crib Goch. The wind was negligible however you had to watch out for the sheet ice.

I do love scrambling along the edge of Crib Goch – especially when you have good vis from it.

We were soon up onto Snowdon itself and as usual (well it is for me) the clag was right down. There was a small group of climbers sheltering in a bothy below the summit and from the laughs they sounded to be having a good time.

After a short break we headed off down the Watkins path before veering off down to West Peak. It was crampon time here as the snow was pretty hard packed here – one of my crampons kept coming loose so I think a new pair are in order.

The weather really cleared up for us as we motored over West and East Peaks. The views were spectacular and we were even spotted someone para gliding around East Peak.

Coming off the horseshoe I was knackered however I was so glad I took up Jacques offer of a trek round the horseshoe once again. In the right weather and with the right kit it is a cracking day on the mountains.

I put together this short video of the day.

Cheers

George