I had been planning a wild camp for the 10th of Feb and checking the weather reports constantly leading up to the day. The forecast had predicted a bit of rain, wind and snow with temperatures around -3.
When the morning of the camp finally came, I geared up and set off.
I wanted to camp on a summit and planned to bed down around Slieve Loughshannagh. With winds predicted to blow from the North West during the night I was hoping the Mourne wall would provide a bit of shelter.
I arrived at Meelmore lodge around 2pm to take benefit of the free parking provided, and headed for Meelmore itself to start things off.
It was fairly warm on the way up with the temperature starting to drop a bit when I approached the col between Bearnagh and Meelmore
The views of Bearnagh were nice on the climb
When I arrived at the top of Meelmore, there was quite a bit of snow built up around the stone shelter and I decided it would be a good time for a coffee, I even used some snow to save on water.
As I was boiling my water, the rain started and I donned my waterproofs. I drank up and set off towards Meelbeg. (With hind sight, I should have made camp here. The wall would've provided the shelter I needed and I was bone dry at this point)
The descent of Meelmore was fine but the ascent of Meelbeg was a bit tough as the snow was slippy at one side and the grass was even worse on the other. I just took it easy and used my hiking poles as support (I'm assuming crampons would've been a good option here) the rain was steadily coming down but I was still relatively dry.
I was now looking up at Slieve Loughshannagh. The rain hadn't let up and I discovered that my waterproof trousers had started letting in water around the front where the seams had started to fail. I was a bit tired at this point which is unusual as I'm normally fine with this amount of hiking. I put it down to the conditions and the weight of my pack and clothes 'helpfully' collecting water for me!
The ascent of Slieve Loughshannagh was a right pain even though it's a normally straightforward climb. The conditions made it really tough on the calves. The rain was heavy with a bit of sleet mixed in at times.
Once at the top, I scouted around for an area to pitch. I got my tent up relatively quickly and unclipped half of the inner to keep separate areas for wet and dry gear. I decided to have a rest, get something to eat and weigh up my options.
Excuse the mess in this pic, I didn't really care about housekeeping then
I was warm in my tent and it was coping very well with the conditions outside as expected. I stuck on some noodles and proceeded to check the weather again to see if anything had changed since I set off. The conditions expected was for snow, lighter wind than I had planned and a temperature of -4 (-11 wind chill).
I had brought a down sleeping bag with me as I expected the cold, windy weather. I was caught out by the sheer amount of rain and the fact that some of my gear let me down (which happens sometimes). My sleeping bag was in a dry bag so was perfectly fine but I decided that that was the way I wanted to keep it and that I wasn't going to risk damaging my bag for one night in wet conditions.
With that decided, the next thing to do was to plan my route back to the car. I knew the conditions were going to be fairly bad and it was dark now so instead of heading back the way I came or skirting around the bottom of the mountains back to the Trassey track, I planned to head straight down to the col between Slieve Loughshannagh and Meelbeg then head further down following the river to Fofanny reservoir. Once there, I could walk on the main road back to the car. It was a similar distance but in my opinion, a lot less risky.
Fed, watered, rested and toasty warm, I packed up inside the tent and waited for a break in the weather. At 8pm, I made my way down. It started off ok but the rain had changed to hail. Once at the col, it started snowing. I took a left and followed the river to the main road. I was soaked through but my spirits were high
Once on the main road, I started walking the long, boring, uneventful but safe route back to the car
When I reached the car I stripped down and sat for about 20 minutes before starting the hours drive home.
Thinking back, there are a few things I would've done differently although hindsight is a wonderful thing. If I knew the rain was going to be so persistent, I would've pitched on Meelmore. I also would've brought my synthetic sleeping bag because I could just throw it in the wash the next day.
Just a few pointers: I have a good deal of experience in night time hiking. I know my skill set and most of my equipment was more than capable (obviously from reading above, my waterproof trousers failed). I also knew that if things did get hairy then to hell with looking after my sleeping bag, it would've been used if needed. I had plenty of equipment and supplies, my wife was informed any time the plan had changed and I was absolutely in control the whole time.
Here's a pic of my tent drying out the next day. Hopefully I'll get to spend the night in it very soon!
Heggs