Darren has mentioned that he’ll be at the AGM weekend after next, and taking along a number of his stoves for people to have a fondle.
I’ll be there for the whole of the weekend and as I’m camping out of the back of the car for a change I’ll be packing some bits and pieces to play with too. So what would you prefer to see spotted dick or chocolate steam puddings?
The Golite Hut2 had it’s first outing of the year and continues to be a roomy, stable and lightweight shelter. Condensation was a problem but the weather conditions meant anyone using a tent would be similarly affected. As a single skin silicon shelter it's easy to flick almost dry and given that condensation forming nights are followed by bright sunny days it’s an easy matter to spread it out to dry in the sun at rest stops or at lunch. I pitched it with the Trail Blaze poles for the first time and although I had some reservations that the poles might not be long enough (I’d bought 110cm ones not 120cm) this wasn’t an issue.
I took along the travel tap but ended up using it just as a sports bottle. On the first day there were a few horse troughs that I could have taken water from but didn’t need to as I’d also packed a platy bladder. I’m not ready to make the bold step away from carrying water and being reliant on finding water along the way. Not in low land areas yet at any rate.
One disappointing piece of kit was the Osprey GrabBag, one of the range of add-ons that they do that I’d spotted the weekend before. On paper it seemed like an ideal solution; somewhere other than the mesh hip belt pockets to place my camera and it being better padded I could leave the Lowepro case behind. There was also room enough in there for other bits and pieces apart from the camera. The bag is attached to the shoulder strap on the right hand side by a loop and friction slider, a strap then goes across and attached to the left hand shoulder strap by a quick release buckle, of which the male bit is a friction slider. At first I thought I’d found a natty solution for having my camera to hand until I noticed that the friction sliders kept popping off the straps. Adjusting them so they wouldn’t pop off put tension on the shoulder straps and made the bag sit awkwardly. And they would manage to pop off regardless. I struggled with this for two days and gave up. At £12 this wasn’t cheap so I’m going to email Osprey for some advice as I don’t want to dump it into the ‘never to be used again’ box. Or start trying to modify it and invalidate any warranty.
The eye opener was the three pile analysis that I did with the kit list spreadsheet. Apart from the stark reminder that if I don’t watch the grams the kilo’s start piling up, it helped me appreciate the difference between what I think I might need and what I actually used. I carried 590g of stuff that I didn’t use therefore didn’t need (apart from the first aid kit which I’d always pack). Then there’s the marginal stuff, the kit that got used once, this was still 10% of the total kit weight with the waterproofs making up half that. Again apart from the waterproofs, I’m sure if I hadn’t packed the other items I wouldn’t have missed them.
I had chosen to carrying the shelter, stove, fuel and three days food for two, sharing some of this would have obviously taken the weight down but that wasn't the issue; I'd been complacent and ended up carrying over a kilo more than I needed to... (Makes mental note to re-read Beyond Backpacking - again!)
Our progress so far had been embarrassingly slow but we were enjoying ourselves and that’s what mattered. And with another late start it was going to be a hard task to get to Exmouth by the end of the day, so the plan was to pull up short at Budleigh Salterton.
Looking back across Salcombe Mouth
We picked up the coast path using a slightly longer and diagonal path out of Salcombe Regis to make the ascent to the first high point of the day slightly gentler. Dropping into Sidmouth we went on a search for some sun block and a few supplies. Having decided not to queue for an ice cream in Branscome Penny finally got her wish and had one from the shop in town. The climb out of Sidmouth was as previous days although not quiet as severe as others. As you progress along this stretch of coast the rock changes from limestone, to greensand to sandstone and the colour of the cliffs change accordingly.
High Peak
Over Peak Hill, the first bump in the coast of the day, brings you to Windgate. (I’m guessing it gets it’s name from the fact it sits between Peak Hill and High Peak and as acts like a funnel in the right weather conditions.) After High Peak the path drops and adopts a more gentle rolling way along the coast. We passed the campsite at Ladram Bay and was glad of yesterday’s decision not to press on; it was an ugly, over crowded piece of real estate that we couldn’t wait to leave behind.
Otter Estuary
At the Otter Estuary the path heads inland for a kilometre to a bridge before heading back down the western edge of the estuary this time there was no luxury of hitching a ride on a tram. Like the wetlands at the mouth of the Axe this area had also been designated a nature reserve and if we had the time, patience and binoculars we could have twitchered for a bit. But instead we walked into Budleigh Salterton called for our lift and decamped to the grottiest pub that we could find (not as difficult as that would seem).
Over breakfast we discussed whether to continue with the East Devon Way or adopt the South West Coast Path as both lead to our planned finishing point. The coast path won out as another couple of days of micro navigation and electric fence tangling didn’t really appeal (Penny had got zapped yesterday so it was an easy won argument).
Beer
The first climb of the day out of Seaton and over to Beer was an easy one; a gentle introduction to coastal path walking. From Beer the path climbs slowly and steadily first to Arratt’s Hill and then on to Beer Head. Just past the headland the path drops to follow a narrow, twisting and in places ‘entertaining’ route through Under Hooken down to Branscombe. For added entertainment try this bit when the ground is damp!
Do try this in the rain
We stopped for refreshments at the Sea Shanty in Branscombe and a chance to spread out the Hut2 for the sun to burn off any remaining damp.
The climb out of Branscombe is steep and unremitting. Once out of the combe the path continues to climb until dropping steeply down to beach level at Weston Mouth. Again another steep climb up and at Lincombe the path (thankfully) follows the contour around the hanging valley. Not so for the next one and the again the path drops down almost to the bottom of the combe before heading a little way inland to a footbridge. At the footbridge we had a quick chat about options and decided to head inland to Salcombe Regis and the campsite there.
Salcombe Regis
‘The campsite for discerning campers’ didn’t meet our (not quite) discerning needs. A quick round of the camp shop failed to produce any overpriced wine or beer. And the shelves were also empty of Heinz baked beans and pork sausages, cream of tomato soup and other camp shop staples. They did however have milk. They also gave us the most sloping pitch on the site despite other flatter ones being freely available (so we took one of those instead).
Supper's ready
As I was preparing supper, a chap walked by the tent with his little boy. The boy asked why a walking pole that was holding the rear of the tent up. His father replied that it was a ‘clever’ tent because it used walking poles as tent poles so that you don’t need to carry those as well. Clearly a well informed camper.
The decision to take the coast path was a good one but it soon became clear earlier that day that it was by no means an easy task with the amount of ascent and descent that’s required. Good practice for the Picos in July without a doubt.
