Re: Worse year ever for camping?
- From: "Peter Sheppard" <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:57:01 -0000
Is it just me or has this been the worse camping year for ages?
Every single camp this year I have come home with wet tents, every
single bl++dy one!!!
Mixed bag really...
Jan - Brecon Beacons (indoor) - lowish (700m) cloud, and bitter howling wind
Feb - Hastily arranged "snow day" in the Beacons as soon as we saw the weather forcast on tuesday for the end of the week. Lashing it down with rain by the weekend.
March - Went climbing, got sunburned.
April - Network Gathering at Great Tower... jumping in Stickle Gyhll was a welcome relief from the heat...
Still in April, took the ESU to Snowdonia, never seen so far from the top of the Glyders - only a few bits of fluff in the sky
May - first bank holiday - River Wye Cruise - still warm and sunny
Centenary Camp (from Sat 26 for the rest of the week) - oh dear... heavy rain, wind, leaking tents (not mine), replaced nylon tents with canvas during the week to try and keep the explorers dry (the cubs and scouts were in canvas anyway)
June - and a weekend later - Islwyn Kayak training - ridiculously hot and dry again, was tempted to "accidentally" fall in the pond, it was so hot...
June - end of - D of E Silver training - was going to do Ystradfellte (waterfalls near Neath), but it was so wet we decided not to chance the little darlings getting washed away, and they got soaked to the skin walking through local woodland instead, and probably learned more about getting totally lost!!
July - a weekend later - Indoors in Snowdonia again - perfect walking weather - warm but not too hot, dry, and not too much sun - cloud was within touching distance, and lifting all the time we walked up the Glyders, giving the kids great views from the top (and the sense that they'd achieved something and it was worth it), then descended onto us very quickly as we were walking back down, showing them why they need leaders who can actually use a map and compass!
July/August - WSJ - soaking wet start, mud everywhere, then baked solid for a week or so, rain near the end to loosen everything up again, then dry the day IST departed
My D of E Gold the few days after that - kayaking down the Severn - started nice and warm, but by the Tuesday was that miserable drizzle that just finds it's way through anything you try and put between you and it!
September - Gilwell Reunion - Little bit of rain, but apart from that it was warm and dry again
September (end of) - AWESOME (Wales ES camp) - dry for the most part, but cooling down now
October - Area Incident Hike/Expedition - Much colder, ES complainaing about lack of sleep due to being cold (they are supposed to be self-sufficient in their groups for this one, so no leader help in planning kit lists/menus/food buying etc)
This weekend just gone - Nice day scrambling on Saturday (Jack's Rake), with the mist moving out just at the right time for us to get on the Rake itself - but followed in the evening by torrential rain and wind, but all clear for a blue sky day by the morning!
Lots of the above are of course recorded in pictures at http://www.nolimitsesu.org.uk/gallery
Still got at least two, maybe three or four camping weekends left for 2007 (depends how cruel the other ESLs are feeling, and whether we organise a survival camp in December), and my predictions... it's going to get a lot colder, less rain, and quite possibly (hopefully) some snow (mid to late November)! Rain over Christmas/New Year though, I expect :-(
Pete
.
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- Worse year ever for camping?
- From: Stephen Rainsbury
- Worse year ever for camping?
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