Christmas Dinner and Camp 2015

[RedLeader]

Yep. I held off posting a forecast because every time I looked it was different. Earlier in the week it was dry sat afternoon / evening with heavy rain coming Sunday afternoon. Now it's heavy rain sat aft / evening and sun on Sunday 
Though it seems when it's not wet it's windy and when it's not windy it's wet. Typical Northern Ireland weather

From Thursday or so we should start seeing more accurate rain radar pictures.

Will a plastic sheet suffer the fire beneath it?

Every time I check the forecast for Saturday it gets worse [emoji97] [emoji97] [emoji97] [emoji36] so it's definitely tarps if you have them, I'll also bring a huge black plastic sheet to sling up high above the fire as there's nothing as bad as a wet roasty[emoji571]

[Glenn B]

I think if we get it high enough it should be fine it's just to try and keep the worst of the rain from the  fire/qrub.

[RedLeader]

Important Update 2
Okay guys. As the week's worn on the weather forecast has still continued to worsen. Now it's looking like wet all day and potentially fairly windy into the bargain. Usually with this sort of situation we'd decide on the day what to do but there's expensive food to be bought and people need to know how much to bring.

So....

There doesn't seem to be a general want to cancel but Annalong seems risky and a reasonable dander from the car if anyone needed to get back quickly so with that in mind we're going to move the whole shooting match to the forest by Fofanny Reservoir. I don't have the absolute final details, watch this thread, but at Fofanny we'll be much closer to the car meaning bringing more serious gear is easier plus in the event we had to, the cars are close enough to bail to.

So reply with your thoughts, if nothing else please respond to these two things:

• The Xmas dinner is moving to Fofanny Reservoir, more details will follow
• Anyone who isn't coming please reply asap so we can be sure of numbers and no-one ends up buying food that wont get eaten

More to follow...

[seanbranagh]

Works for me. I am still in.

[Glenn B]

No bother I'll be there.

[Dowser]

I'm still planning a dander up 

[seanbranagh]

Looking forward to it, should be an interesting camp... 

[whoRya]

Could be an eventful one, I'm not going to miss out on it.  Is Sean ever gonna have a night in the Mournes without taking a beating!

[seanbranagh]

Could be an eventful one, I'm not going to miss out on it.  Is Sean ever gonna have a night in the Mournes without taking a beating!

We have to have the bad days so we can appreciate the good ones 

[phil_b]

Yea, still suits me. Was just checking the weather with Saturday in mind, 45mph winds and heavy rain most of the afternoon/evening. I just reproofed my coat and boots and took all my camera gear out of my rucksack in preparation! Fofanny is actually closer to me coming from Newry direction.

[phil_b]

Another thought, now close to the cars will the camp be? I have a few thousand bags of well dried firewood here and can bring 5 or 6 in the boot if it isnt far to carry. I think I have an old barbecue wire grill if we need those.

[seanbranagh]

I think I may be wearing a plastic poncho over top of my regular outer shell. I have a North Face Hyvent jacket and I have found in the past that even when reproofed it is still only keeps out driving rain to an extent.
It will be full waterproof trousers, Goretex boots and gaiters on the bottom half too.

I have only ever driven past Fofanny Reservoir but looking at the map it appears the forest is right beside the main road and the parking at the dam.

[RedLeader]

Update 3

I've only camped at Fofanny once when we did the Mourne Way (or half of it ). I Can't for the life or me remember how it's laid out. I'm pretty sure where the forest meets the reservoir there's a good bit of flat space, I'd guess that's the best spot. If anyone has any more specific information feel free to chime in. If anyone has any pics of the area then please post them.

There  are 3 car parks close by, all marked on the map. The most northerly is Meelmore which has secure parking, the other two are just normal unlit areas but considering the weather, I'd expect the weasel thieves would be at home tucked up with a warm Buckfast. Again if I remember correctly, the time we were there Shamara just parked at the side of the road just above the forest. There are access roads around Fofanny its-self but no actual public car parks. Even if parking at any of the car parks it should be possible to drive right to Fofanny and drop off gear, so maybe a few bags of logs / fire logs might be possible and save rootling around for deadwood.

Google maps route from Newcastle
https://goo.gl/maps/7EHmJe1aiTD2

[phil_b]

Was just checking Google earth out myself. There is probably room for a few cars at the accesss road into the dam though there seems to be a gate 30 or 40 meters in. That would suit me as a am only there for a few hours.

[specimanYak]

I'm still in, and looking forward to the change in location.