Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: Mourneman on July 03, 2012
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My good pal Lenny who has shown a keen interest in Hiking & has joined me on many a trek this season, asked me to do some basic navigation work with him,ie reading & understanding grid references & basic map,so with that in mind we started out from the trassey track with a mind to climb Spellack,Meelmore,Meelbeg,Loughshannon,Carn,Muck & back along the road back to Trassey,well thats not what happened! :o
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8004/7495116432_3ce3b978dd_c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495116432/)
IMG_0466 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495116432/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
Checking out our route at the carpark,i've cut away all the unnessary parts of the OS125 & tailored it by adding all the lat & lon numbers for a quick referene
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/7495115512_66497446f7.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495115512/)
IMG_0467 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495115512/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
our approch to Spellack,the Met office predicted some hill fog & a rain front closing in around 7pm,but at 9am we were feeling quite happy that we would have most of our walk done before this :o
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7495117764_cb86b4bc42.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495117764/)
IMG_0471 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495117764/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
yes i know it looks like i'am praying & maybe i should have to the gods of weather ::) always time to get a few geocaches
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7495118882_468497f462.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495118882/)
IMG_0477 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495118882/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
as we closed in on spellacks knife edge clif the fog got thicker,the wind got stronger & it began to piss out of the heavens :'( not been a stranger to been in the hills we quickly got the rain gear on & turned to climb the spur leading to Meelmore summit were we hoped to sit out this weather front by drinking tea & bovril
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8152/7495119344_e7f4d91e1d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495119344/)
IMG_0479 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495119344/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
after a while our shelter was in sight
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/7495121390_2e2de0609f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495121390/)
IMG_0495 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495121390/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
using a hiking pole we made a make-shift door to prevent the howling wind & rain from getting to us,now on average i'am on the hills at least two days a week,but the weather today was the worst i've experienced in years,the wind was about a force 6-7 gale with driving rain & hill fog this was indeed an ideal time to do some map reading!
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7495123156_da59aa17cd.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495123156/)
IMG_0520 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495123156/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
lenny reading the map with ease,the mourne wall really makes it easy
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7117/7495120210_e4c8eb4fae.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495120210/)
IMG_0486 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495120210/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8016/7495124730_33edfe8ebf.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495124730/)
IMG_0515 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495124730/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7250/7495121996_72075ee85d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495121996/)
IMG_0503 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495121996/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8166/7495124454_08b8b67c6c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495124454/)
IMG_0526 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495124454/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8421/7495124044_eaf5cd28ec.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495124044/)
IMG_0528 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525903@N02/7495124044/) by anne1257 (http://www.flickr.com/people/79525903@N02/), on Flickr
now back at the carpark & out of the weather lenny was able to master taking a bearing with a compass,first rate lad!
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Well done lenny for not getting lost, and very well done for getting thourgh that weather lads !!
Thanks for pictures.
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Lenny did great, you can still retain your title then John or should I say Mr GetYaLost
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Will i ever hear the end of it ??? Fact 1. I never got anybody lost,I did start off on the wrong trail,which if truth be told,folk do all the time,but mistakes improve technique,my mistake was starting on trail in an mountain range without an OS map,lesson learned,some people lead,& some people follow >:(
Rant over,but Lenny was a joy to teach
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How much did you charge him for the lesson? :D
Have you got a waterproof map case or just use the map itself?
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I bought this 125 OS only a few weeks ago & there's nothing worse than a big map blowing all over the place,so i reduced it's size by half only keeping the inner Mournes,adding major grid references & Lat & Lon number along all lines,makes it really easy & quick,my friend owns a graphic shop so i got him to laminate it for me,so no need for a case,i even held it under a stream yesterday to test its waterproof,now it just a really good tool ! ;D
As for charging ;) for map reading, you're having a laugh! Nothing better that watching someone learn something new ???
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I suppose that makes me Mr gets you fat?
Weather looks like it was rough lads