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• Mournes Summit Bivvy: January 15, 2011 - January 16, 2011

[LandyLiam]

Was very rough up there, whoever has stayed is a brave man. I had couple of hours to spare so I dropped Lenny back home. I found it very windy coming down as well, couple of gusts did manage to blow me over, found chucks quarry house as well, checked inside in case he was there but it was empty. If I get up early tomorrow morning and its dry then I might pop up for breakfast!


Edit: didn't wake up in time :'( at least this morning looks nice and dry for them, still just as windy though

[Drongo]

Was very rough up there, whoever has stayed is a brave (reckless) man.

[LandyLiam]

Sure the weather was so nice that Dowser walked up in his t shirt !!!

[andy1984]

haha fair play to anyone who is camping up there tonight, it must be wild!! respect 

[LandyLiam]

some pics


Lenny doing some warmups? not sure what dowser is doing naked behind his car 



small mountain, or far away mountain?






MikeD



Dowser topping up with water



A very wet t shirt, at least he's wearing one



Dowser gets the message that summit camp has been abandoned and to heading for the saddle now



looks so peaceful, should have taken a video of this instead then you would have seen the wind and the rain

[MikeD]

Great night, real struggle battling against the weather getting up melmore.

Feet totally soaked until bedtime!

Down jacket soaked! Red leader let me sleep in his tarp as mine ripped !

Great campfire and music, cigars and a few drinks.

Was really great to experience such terrible weather!

Though my hands were pure white in the morning and totally numb!!

I will never tarp in the mournest again, its just too windy !

[Dowser]

Awesome trip guys... I'm soooooooo glad I gave strict instructions not to wake me... I got the lie in that I've been dreaming of and it was nice and sunny whilst I was packing away my kit.  Who's the joker that left a full fire log behind..?  Poor Chuck was going to have to eat it or had to carry it back down the hill to abide by the "Leave no Trace" rules.  He did decide to carry it down the hill because he'd already had a good breakfast 

I woke up totally dry, from head to toe, which was surprising since it was like standing under a Waterfall round the campfire for most of the evening.  I was also full of energy and ready to tackle the two Summits, Meelmore and Meelbeg.  I was pleasantly surprised to discovered Chuck had stayed behind too, so him and I went and conquered Meelmore together, and it was brill.  Winds were really strong at the summit and could very easliy have blown you off your feet.  I then headed back down to the saddle to meet Foreman, who was busting to tackle Meelbeg with two of his kids.

All in all, another great outing.  Extreme conditions, which was a brilliant test for my kit, and great music, booze and chat around the campfire.

Also really chuffed I got to visit the Summits of Meelmore and Meelbeg... That was a first for me!!!

I'll post a few pics later this evening... Right now I need fed!!! 

     

I will never tarp in the mournes again, its just too windy !

I came to the same decision a while back Mike... If it's calm it's a nice luxury to have, but winds over 30mph its just not worth the hassle.  A good bivvy bag and a nice hollow to climb into, or wall to cling too, is just perfect and it also means you can camp anywhere, and I really mean anywhere.  A summit would be no bother in any weather!!!

[Scribble]

Was very rough up there, whoever has stayed is a brave (reckless) man.

Reckless I'd say respected  


Sounds like an excellent night had by all ,

[Matthew]

I had a great night with all of the usual suspects. It was a great test of all my gear. Tent performed well and was surprisingly stable in the very windy conditions. I had only one repair to make during the night when a piece of elastic snapped but it was easily fixed within 2-3 mins.

On the negative side i forgot a fork, oops.

I was never as glad to get to the car and meelemore for a feed.

Matthew

[Dowser]

Slieve Meelmore - Slieve Meelbeg Saddle Bivvy pics as promised:

I'm too tired to put captions on right now... I will put a few on tomorrow so you know who and what you are looking at  

[twentyclicks]

Lots of fun, and a good test of gear as has been said!
I cut through the wood at the ice house and went over Commedagh via Shan Slieve.  It was mental at the top: the wind felt like it was sucking the eyeballs out of my head.  Compass all the way.  Followed the wall down to Hare's Gap, then contoured Bernagh, losing and finding the tracks a number of times.  Overshot the style by about 50m, but finally found the party around 10:30pm

My house is now full of drying and dirty items.  My jacket was brilliant, earplugs worked a treat as always, and the sleeping bag kept me cosy despite being soaked with a soaked man inside.  Other than a 70mph white out, I don't think the Mournes can get more extreme (well, maybe if there was thunder).

Thanks to Dowser for the hot chocolate, RedLeader for the music, and MikeD for the lift back (and to work) 

[whoRya]

I must say on Saturday night I wasn't the least bit jealous, however those are often the trips you remember with the fondest memories.

Well done lads (and lassies?), respect is due.  Funny how you always seem to have pictures from the the start of the night and the next day, but seldom anything from when the corks are popped.  Perhaps that is better

[RedLeader]

Great trip guys! I think leaving earlier in the day and coming up behind Meelmore meant Me, Matt and Jonny missed some of the worse weather. It was blustery at the lodge but then quite a pleasant hike until we got up to Pollaphuca / Bearnagh Slabs, then out of the shelter the rain came on and the wind increased significantly. I still think we could have bivvyed fine on the summit as the converging walls provided quite a bit of shelter but there was no chance we were getting pegs driven in for the tents.

Once we dropped down to the Meelmore/Meelbeg saddle and got settled I'd a great night and the usual awesome craic round the fire. Finally got a proper gear test for the Rab Storm bivvy, Mountain Equipment Ogre jacket, Primus Gravity 2, Tibetan pots and DPM tarp all of which performed admirably. Next time though I'm binning the tarp, it's not really necessary if you have reliable bivvy bag and is really not worth the effort in really windy conditions.

The real props go to Chuck, Craig (twentyclicks), Tim and his chum who came up late - you guys are hard as feckin' nails....

[andy1984]

Looks like you all had a interesting night! Fair play for sticking it out, you must have been soaked through!! 

I came to the same decision a while back Mike... If it's calm it's a nice luxury to have, but winds over 30mph its just not worth the hassle.  A good bivvy bag and a nice hollow to climb into, or wall to cling too, is just perfect and it also means you can camp anywhere, and I really mean anywhere.  A summit would be no bother in any weather!!!

How do you stay completely dry when just sleeping with the bivvy without a tarp? I assume you have to leave a hole open to breathe!!?? do you just turn this facing the ground?

On the breathing point, how much to you guys seal the tarp up, i have one with a draw string so it doesnt close completely but it suddenly occured to me that you obviously have to leave it open to a point to not sufficate!!?


Andy

[Dowser]

Looks like you all had a interesting night! Fair play for sticking it out, you must have been soaked through!! 

I came to the same decision a while back Mike... If it's calm it's a nice luxury to have, but winds over 30mph its just not worth the hassle.  A good bivvy bag and a nice hollow to climb into, or wall to cling too, is just perfect and it also means you can camp anywhere, and I really mean anywhere.  A summit would be no bother in any weather!!!

How do you stay completely dry when just sleeping with the bivvy without a tarp? I assume you have to leave a hole open to breathe!!?? do you just turn this facing the ground?

On the breathing point, how much to you guys seal the tarp up, i have one with a draw string so it doesnt close completely but it suddenly occured to me that you obviously have to leave it open to a point to not sufficate!!?


Andy

I use an Army Issue Bivvy bag and it has quite a large semi circle shape that you are normally meant to use to lie with your head on.  In really wet weather I turn the bag upside down and pull the big semi circle down over the other part and it forms a good canopy.  Bit hard to describe here but I will take a photo of the bag later, after work, and post it in this thread.  You can then leave a bit of a a gap for air flow but the rain does not get down into the bag.

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