Wild camping thoughts following my return.

Two weeks on from my wild camping trip and I have just finished putting together my vlog from the trip. Unfortunately there were no images to speak of as the rain didn’t let up all of Saturday and through sunrise on the Sunday.

While I was looking through the footage I asked myself whether or not I missed any moody images that may have been there but I can honestly say that the clag was so thick there was nothing to photograph of any note. The drone images when the rain finally stopped on Sunday were good but the light in the summer is far to harsh at that time of day. If only it had cleared two or three hours earlier the conditions would have been superb! But there is no point worrying about it. As a landscape photographer I know, and I’m sure you do too, that even with the best forecast and potential a lot of the time things just don’t quite line up in time. It’s important to be out there ready though, which takes me to my impressions of wild camping.

I learned a lot from the trip. First of all I’ve improved my map reading skills. I already knew my way around a map having taught basic skills at school but I hadn’t heard of the 4 D’s before and this will prove really useful in the future. I think my guide was a little surprised that I did not want to practise even more but I was pretty sure that, if I needed to, I could sort myself out in an emergency.

I also learned that I need to be a lot fitter! My legs were cramping by the time I got to Red Tarn and, although we were only 100 metres or so from the summit of Helvellyn I was literally shot to pieces. Six months ago I would have got to Helvellyn’s peak and moved onto Nethermost Pike and maybe beyond. However, gear had a large part to play as well.

My rucksack; a 85l giant did not seem big enough for all of my gear but it was a lot bigger than Shane, my guide’s, who had a 60l one. This made the rucksack bigger and heavier than maybe it needed to be. Even though it was big I still used all of the stuff I packed, apart from any medical stuff. but there would have been excess space and excess is not something you need climbing. It also got very wet which meant it got even heavier. The material it was made from was tough but not even slightly water resistant and that turned a 15kg pack into something approaching 20 I would have thought. So, next time I need a sixty or seventy litre pack with a tight fitting rain cover. It fitted well though and advice to keep shifting the shoulder and waist straps meant that my shoulders weren’t too bad the next day.

My equipment can be divided into three groups, clothing and food, sleeping and photography.

The clothing aspect worked brilliantly. I took just enough with me and the dry bags I had it in kept it dry. Keeping clothes dry is really important and not something I’d considered considering the hot weather we had leading up to the trip. I was really well prepared for hot sunny weather but we had warm rain instead. Dry bags meant putting on a nice dry t-shirt before I crashed for the night and this became one of those luxury moments. Things like that we have lost sight of in the modern day where we have everything. I’ve recorded a vlog, which is coming out in October (you’ll need to wait if you are reading this before then!) about all of this but I have no complaints about any of the clothing I took and wore. No savings to be made there regards weight. The food was surprisingly tasty. I’m a fussy eater but actually really enjoyed the chicken tikka and rice, and cooking it wasn’t a chore either. The jet boil worked well enough but was a bit temperamental, research needed there I think, or bring a flint and the water system that Shane had, made by Solomon is definitely the one to go for.

My tent, sleeping bag, air mat and the little pillow I bought from Amazon a few days before I left were all great. The tent was amazingly easy to put up and take down, very impressive design. The sleeping bag was not overly warm and not overly long but does the job in summer. My air mat, which I borrowed was very comfortable surprisingly. I was going to buy a wide one but I may think again on that. And my pillow! What a great buy that was. I was really comfy throughout the night and, although I got a bit of cramp in my neck the next day, this is not unusual for me, I would definitely say that this was towards the top of my ‘favourite gear’ list along with my tent.

Photography was the area that needs some adjustment. I had put my mic system, drone and vlogging camera in an old bag I had lying around with the intention of putting it at the top of my rucksack. Quickly though it became apparent that I would never get it out if I kept it there so I tried to attach it to the side of the rucksack which kind of worked but not quite. To be fair to the bag, it was never designed to be carried that way but it ended up banging the gear about, got soaked and just generally annoyed me. The Nikon Z30 got soaked but refused to stop working even though the lens steamed up behind the front element early on Sunday. An hour in the sun cleared it but I must try and keep this drier next time. The DJI mic system worked well but one of the transmitters no longer has a green charging light on, which can actually be a blessing. The drone, which was a DJI Mini 2 worked fine although the body where the lens cover fits has cracked. The lens covers on all the DJI drones I have used have been a bit rubbish anyway but I’d rather it hadn’t. So, next time I need a better photography bag, maybe chest mounted and hopefully a bit more waterproof. I will put it all in bin liner next time as well. The decision to only take one tripod (which I still hadn’t fully decided upon until I set off) was a great one. A little table top tripod and my 3-legged thing called Billy did the job well. The stabilisation on the Z30 was also great at providing steady footage hand held.

So my final thoughts are positive. We didn’t get any light unfortunately but that is out of my hands. The benefit of hiking somewhere high cannot be stressed enough when I am photographing for a living. Having the summer off is not something that can happen so this skill will enable me to still capture images in the best light. If I did this hike again (which I plan to) being a bit fitter will help, as will the adjustments to my gear mentioned above. Camping also allows me to save a bit of money on accommodation, I can sleep beside the car if needs be as campsites are frequently at the bottom of a trail anyway. Along with a decent o/s map and a compass I’m set! Watch this space.