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ramblers, ugh. preferable to walk solo and fall in with others occasionally. alternatively if the alps are your thing, join a mountaineering club, there's always a beginners section that's more walking/scrambling biased. or, if you really want to go on a trip, i hear good things about colletts
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Is this also the hiking/backpacking/camping thread? Can I join in please?
I am thinking of getting some trail runners for walking in. I have Asolo TPS boots but they're unnecessarily heavy for groomed trails in summer. Summer pack weight for an overnighter is 5-6kg so no ankle support needed, right? What should I be looking for? I see some trail runners are advertised as waterproof (or shower-and-wet-grass proof)... I am not sure what I think of this.
Anyway, thank you for reading, here are some photos of nice places I've been recently:
Going up to Big Hut, Rock and Pillar Range
Somewhere on the Routeburn Track
Devil's Staircase, Silverpeaks (Jubilee Hut is on the first clearing to the left of the river valley. The second valley to the right contains an cave that some awesome chaps built a sleeping platform in)
Yours truly in full park ranger regalia, on Swampy Summit. The westernmost ridge of the Silverpeaks is in the middle-distance and the farthest range is the Rock and Pillars from the first photo.I have some absolute stunner photos but they are all on film. I will get around to scanning them all one day.
Today I also bought some Icebreaker merino boxer shorts. They were thirty quid down to a tenner, presumably because they're XXL. Strangely they fit me perfectly, I suppose they're sized to be tight for that killer bulge.
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Another good trip last weekend - Matukituki Valley in Mt. Aspiring National Park (NZ South Island).
The first day was an easy stroll along the valley under headlamps, lots of 6-inch creek crossings (gaiters and leather boots essential unless you like wet feet), reaching Aspiring Hut (massive 1940s wood/stone hut with 38 bunks, flush toilets, gas, mattresses) at about 11pm. The next day we wandered up the valley along the Matukituki River, taking a leisurely lunch and getting bitten by sandflies:
After 2 hours we reached the turn-off to Liverpool Hut which is about halfway up Mt. Barff, opposite the Bonar Glacier and Mt. Aspiring itself. It's a steep, rough track with lots of climbing with hand-holds above your head, and it gets harder above the treeline.
The hut is sited just above the treeline (the track sidles away from the hut until it reaches an exposed ridgeline a good 50m above it, then descends back down) and has amazing views in pretty much every direction (Mt. Barff and Mt. Liverpool on this side of the valley, Bonar Glacier, Mt. Aspiring, Mt. French, Mt. Avalanche and Rob Roy on the other). We went for a walk but were stopped pretty quickly by some icy traverses (did not have ice axe/crampons with us).
Woke up to this the next morning. Went on a foray at about 9am and decided the rocky sidle that was difficult the day before was now impassable without ice tools, so we sat around the hut waiting for it to melt. Not a bad day. We went down at about 4pm, and got back to the car park at 11pm or so.
The 'road' back almost destroyed my poor city-slicking 2WD car so I may end up purchasing something a little more rugged. Hiking is an expensive hobby.
I am a little concerned that when we go back to the UK in a couple of years/18 months' time, we won't be able to do this sort of stuff so easily. I've only done a bit of hiking in the UK but it all seems very sedate and populated compared to NZ. Ultimately I am not too bothered about elevation, but challenging terrain and remoteness are more important. Where should I be looking? What does everyone think of this?
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Scottish highlands and islands, mid Wales, Ireland
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Here we go. Good photos on film - apologies for phone photos.
Day 0.
Packed light.
Two 35-litre packs with 4 days of food, sleeping bags, cut-down foam rolls (which I find comfortable enough), tent, and alcohol stove. Gaiters strapped to the outside in this photo. Took no spare clothes other than merino pyjamas, rain jacket, beanie, gloves, one extra pair socks.Day 1. Drove to The Divide and walked the popular Routeburn Track to the turn-off. Saw scores of Japanese and American tourists on the Routeburn and about two people after the turn off. Camped by a hut which had a rainwater tank. Cold night - slept in everything I had, which meant my pillow was empty (even though I am comfortable on a cheap foam pad, I will definitely be buying a proper pillow before my next trip - I am getting quite fed up of the old 'spare clothes in sleeping bag stuff-sack' and find that it gives me a headache).
Day 2. Woke up to frost on the tent and fresh snow on the tops. Didn't fancy our original route (Steele Creek - a rugged bushwhack with a steep alpine pass at the end) on snow without crampons so we decided to go up and down the Greenstone Valley. No elevation to speak of, but lots of little side-streams, rocky outcrops to negotiate, and incredibly dense native forests absolutely covered in wet moss, a mess of white roots with puddles in between looking like rice paddies. Glad to have worn boots as trail runners would be saturated.
Camped by Greenstone Hut (has water and toilets which is nice):
The Cloudburst 3 performed excellently, is extraordinarily light considering how roomy it is, and has some really nice features like the ability to completely roll back both vestibules for excellent views. It's also 100% bug-proof, although I seem to be gaining some resistance to sandflies. The optional middle pole is too short but they are sending a replacement and a goodwill refund - good customer service. In the night a possum was snuffling around in the vestibule - I flicked my headlamp on, we both screamed at each other, and I instinctively punched it in the face. I then went outside and discovered it had dragged a boot and a water bottle out into the bush. It was still sniffing around the tent so I gave chase, but that did not deter it - I had to put the bags in the hut as it could obviously smell something tasty in them.Day Three. Back up the valley. Looks like this:
Went back to the same hut that night. It pissed it down but tent was fine. Discovered that the possum got away with a whole bag of food, so we had half a dinner and half a breakfast each, and a Snickers for breakfast.Day Four. Short 4-hour day back to the car, fuelled by a Snickers. Coming back down the Routeburn section through cloud reminded us that the whole valley is actually quite high up, some 700m above sea level. Ate a tube of Pringles in the car, followed by a lamb pie in Te Anau, a sausage roll in Gore, steak for dinner, and then steak for breakfast. Picked up a hitchhiker on the way home - as usual a charming and intelligent European student.
Bought some Montrail trail runners in a sale yesterday. 350g each compared to 1100g for my Asolo boots. Should be miles better (ha) on smooth trails.
Looking forward to nursing my parents along the Routeburn track come April.
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We have sit-stand desks. I stood a lot a first but now that the novelty has worn off almost everyone is sitting. A quick visual survey of the office shows 1 stander and 24 sitters.
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Posted by
@hippy
^ If you'd like to know what a typical group is like, I can tell you many, many tales (ex-ramblers employee). Ramblers, generally, make cyclists look like a friendly bunch, and I say this as someone who was ridden into on my commute this morning.