Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Information => Outdoor News and Events => Topic started by: LandyLiam on May 07, 2011
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I did one of my spontaneous jaunts in the mournes this afternoon as I was in Newcastle again with a couple of hours to spare. So I parked up at Meelmore Lodge at 4.30pm and set off to summit Meelmore going straight up from the style. Now it was very wet and windy (but I knew the rain was to clear very soon), so I had all the goretex on and last minute decided to bring map and compass (I was travelling light without rucksack) as visibility was poor. I already had the tomtom satnav with me as I was doing a bit of geocaching.
So I got to the summit ok in an hour (easy, just keep going up) but on the way down things went a little astray. In the fog I managed to follow the wrong wall downhill, then thinking I could see the 2nd wall I cut across for a shortcut, but I was going completely the wrong way and was heading further into the mountains towards blue lough. After a while I realised I wasn't going down as fast I I should and then I got the map and compass out and realised my error. Now a little panic then sank in. Could I find my way back before dark? I still had a few hours but in my head it felt like I had about half an hour as the fog was so thick it seemed like dusk, worse still I had no torch and no whistle and no phone signal.
Someone at the door, I'll finish this later !
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it was my mum, anyhow, part deux...
So now i was soooo glad i had brought the map and compass, and even had the satnav as a little backup (but the batteries don't last long in it). I made my way back to where the wall should be, soon found it, probably 10 mins later but felt a lot longer, and i saw the stile. The next dilema was looking at the map i was convinced i should go right the way i came but the compass said go left, it turned out there was a wall not marked on the map giving me a red herring. So i went left trusting compass and soon found i was going downhill at a better rate of descent and then dropped below the mist and could see the Bearnagh slabs, i was on the right track home, phew!
So the lesson i learnt:
ALWAYS BRING A MAP & COMPASS (if there is any chance of cloud in the hills)
ALSO BRING WHISTLE & LIGHT (so at least you can signal you do get lost)
i'll upload some pics and a map of route later but i'm off for a well earned pint now :)
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I would still be wandering lost crying for my mum , that would of scared the crap out of me , glad you made back safe and sound ;)
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Number 1 lesson. BE PREPARED.
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Yes i did let the family know my planned route :) but yer man packs more than Lenny in his rucksack ;D
dark blue is the route up
pink is the route i though i was taking
green is route i was taking
(ignore the red routes)
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507meelmore/meelmore_route.jpg)
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Liam, in fairness you probably are always very well prepared for what you do and for years/many trips never need most of what you take. One the one occasion you decided to travel ultra light that's when you do need something! At least you had your map and compass.
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and there was a lot of thunderstorms up there last night :o
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here's a few pics from yesterday
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030796Small.jpg)
as i start out from meelmore lodge it is raining and i can see steam still rising from the wood at the start of the trassey track, i imagine theres still a lot of heat underground
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030803Small.jpg)
despite having done this route a few times i crossed this path i'd never seen before
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030805Small.jpg)
it even had a nice wee bridge
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030807Small.jpg)
it led to a very small quarry round this corner, i was expecting something grander given the size and quality of this path
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030812Small.jpg)
found the summit hut through the mist, rain had stopped by now but was very windy
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030820Small.jpg)
found my geocache
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030828Small.jpg)
map, compass and satnav out trying to figure my next move after retracing my route back to the wall, fortunately i met the wall right at the stile which narrowed down my possible position
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030826Small.jpg)
you can just see the second wall on the left, which according to the map should be behind me !!
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030832Small.jpg)
i soon break through the cloud and welcome the site of spellack
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030848Small.jpg)
view of the burnt bits on the trassey track
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110507_meelmore/P1030854Small.jpg)
the boot wash at meelmore lodge, a handy wee device
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Liam, good write-up and photos. On reflection if you were doing this again in similar circumstances what would you do differently? :-\
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hmmm, well i should really have brought at least a whistle and torch, maybe i'd i've taken the small rucksack and thrown one of the plastic orange emergency bivvy bags in, maybe even my new shellta basha/tarp (and poles to support it), suppose a hat would have been useful too.
here's what i did have, bare essentials for a planned 2hr trip
clothing:
t-shirt
long sleeve top
gortex coat
eVent overtrousers (i was only wearing shorts below)
goretex boots
thin gloves
gear:
500ml water (which i didn't drink as it had been in the car a while and smelt funny :D )
map (1:25000) & compass
tomtom satnav from the car
mobile phone
camera (always useful to signal assistance by using flash but i didn't think of that til i got down)
pack of handy andies (light to carry and useful for "emergencies" ;) )
what i should have brought for emergencies:
whistle
torch
emergency bivvy bag
wooly hat
extra jumper
food (but i had just had a big dinner so i would have been all right)
and most importantly, another person ;D
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I think we are bit spoilt with the walls in the Mournes. But it just goes to show, that even with such prominent features it is easy to get disorientated.
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I've twice made navigational errors in poor visibility following walls in the Mournes. The first time was coming off Binnian, and I was using the 1:50k which is actually pretty poor for details such as walls! It only had one wall marked on the summit of Binnian, which was the Mourne Wall we were looking to follow back down to Carrick Little. In reality there is a wall before the Mourne Wall, which we wrongly followed. Thankfully it took us in the same direction, except we ended up at the head of Annalong Wood instead of further down the track. Because of the poor visibility we had been taking bearings but we didn't use pacing. If we had of used pacing we would have realised the wall was in the wrong place... although it's possible I would have assumed I'd got my pacing wrong and followed it anyway :D
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Sounds both fun and scary in equal measures :)
I would probably have totally depended on my GPS which have had me going 'round in circles :o
I must learn the ways of the compass.