Llyn Edno wildcamp - The Laser Comp's first outing

With my new Laser Comp having just arrived I just had to fit in a quick trip, so I headed up to Wales on Friday afternoon.  I hadn't planned and therefore packed in a hurry, which I would regret later!.  I had thought about heading into the back of Carneddau and camping by Melynllyn but I decided to head somewhere new. I'd always liked the idea of the area of the Moelwyns bounded by Cnicht to the south and Moel Siabod to the north, west of the A498 and the Snowdon range.  It has a raw and remote feel to it and I'd spotted a few liitle lakes the last time i climbed Cnicht.  I headed down the A498 past Snowdon and parked in NantGwynant.  A quick check of the map and I selected Llyn Edno as a suitable destination for the evening. Setting off at 5pm I guessed it would be a couple of hours at the most.  Heading up the single track road for a couple of km's i turned left by Haodydd Brithion and started ascending. The reduced weight and size of my pack was noticeable though i still found it a bit of a slog upwards.  I veered of the main path to take a more direct but steeper route, having to use map and compass to keep orientated with no obvious peaks as reference. The pathless heather and rocky outcrops reminded me of the a milder version of the Rhinogs.  I headed up to Clogwyn Drain where the land levelled out a bit, continuing NE to reach the shores of a deserted Llyn Edno, with Moel Siabod sitting directly in view across the lake.  A quick scout around and I found a good camp spot at the south end.

I was a little surprised that it had been such a slog up to the lake which was at 550 metres and it was only when checking the map I realised that I'd actually started lower than I imagined at about 50m.  I'd gotton used to starting out in the Ogwen Valley which is already at 300m.  Dinner was to be Mountain House chilli and rice but after the obligatory 9min hydrating I took my first mouthful to be greeted with the most disgusting chemical taste. I actually thought I was going to poison myself - it definitely tasted contaminated with something but I was starving so wolfed it down. The packet was still in date and I can't believe they can normally taste that bad so it was perhaps a duff sample.  I munched through some chocolate and had another brew and relaxed watching the last of the sun drop behind the Snowdon massif. 

It was so still and peaceful then two bodies appeared over the brow of the hill to the west. They stopped to survey the lake, clearly looking for a camp spot, but I'd already bagged the prime position so they headed over to the other side.  I decided on a spot of cragging to warm up before I turned in as though it wasn't that cold there was a definite breeze.  I settled in and drifted off to the sound of my iPod, warm and comfy from the combination of my PHD Mimim 3900 and NeoAIr mattress.  The night was uneventful and I was awoken by voices at the other side of the lake and checked my watch. It was 7am and the other visitors were already on their way.  Feeling distinctly lazy I got up and started to make some porridge only to find my 100g gas cartridge running out before the water boiled - in my haste I'd packed a part-used cartridge!  Getting out my Steripen I found the batteries too low to work and without gas I was going to be unable to sterilise water - the perils of packing too quickly!  I was on my way by 8am so I knew I could take my time for the rest of the day, or until I ran out of water.  I headed up onto Ysgafell Wen ridge and bimbled along, dropping down to Llynnau'r Cwn, (another beautiful wild camp spot) and climbed back up onto the ridge, following it round to Moel Druman. It was a lovely day, sunny but with a cooling breeze, and I was in no rush so had plenty of time to amble wherever I fancied, climbs a few crags and generally explore. Heading further south I skirted around Llyn Adar and headed up the northern slopes and up the last rocky steps to the summit of Cnicht.  


The scramble down to the scree slope down to the start of the scree descent into Bwlch y Battel was a little precarious, but whilst high I set my sites on Llynau Cerrig-y-myllt, a delightfully secluded pair of lakes where I enjoyed a cooling wash before heading down to the stream which headed back down to the road at Gelli-lago, from where I re-traced my previous evening's steps back down into Bethania on the A498.   My first night in my Laser Comp had been a success as far as the tent went, but less so in lieu of my lack of gas, water and food!! Put it down to (jn)experience!

After re-hydration I decided to head to Dolgam campsite on the A5 so I could wonder up the road to to the Tyn Y Coed pub for dinner and a cool beer. I hasn't reckoned on the throbbing crowds at the campsite but I bagged a spot beside the river and scrubbed up in the shower.

The next morning the sun was out and I decided to summit Moel Siabod via Daear Du ridge.  With a lighter day-pack (Berghaus Mach 24) I positively bounded up the track the old mine workings to get the first glimpse of Daear Du ahead of Llyn y Foel.  Once on the ridge the scrambling is relatively straightforward, interspersed by a rocky path.  as a direct route up it's probably safer tan the scree path that some take.  The views from the summit were fantastic, if a little hazy.    I headed north-east over the secondary rocky summit ridge which affords much rock hopping before taking a direct route down the north-east ridge and back down to the A5.


A quick unplanned trip and a few more lessons learnt!  I enjoyed the Laser Comp - I think we're going to get along just fine and I'll post a separate report on my first impressions later. 

Views across to the Carneddau

Daear Ddu ridge comes into view

Looking across to Snowdon from Moel Siabod

The Stockpile Session: Winter's Last Hoorah

If you weren’t here this past Saturday, you dropped the ball. We had a great time shredding, getting sunburns, barbequing, chugging Red Bull and raising over $1,000 for the VSMO. Thanks again for coming out and spending one last day with us.

Check out the videos below and let the countdown to winter begin. (Unless you plan on joining us on Lake Hopatcong for a little wakeboarding… which you should, because it’s going to be awesome.)

Full photo album from the Stockpile Session can be found here.

-Halley





(Psst. Don't forget to find us on YouTube & Vimeo. Ok, bye.)

Awkward Stockpile Climbing

A few of us went up to see the remains of our 22' beast of a quarter pipe. Good news - it's still there and we're pushing all of it out for this Saturday's Stockpile Session.

I thought it would've been a good idea to climb it so you could gauge its size. Stupidly, I didn't think of how difficult (and scary) it would be to get down. Get ready for some awkward climbing.

FYI - Details on the setup will be posted later this week.

-Halley

Pulled the Trigger!

Done it! Finally taken the plunge and ordered a Laser Competition from The Outdoor Shop (was sorely tempted by the Photon Elite but I'll see how I get on with the Comp first!).  The thought of lugging my North Face Tadpole on another trip finally took its toll!  I also ordered some dyneema guys, line-loks and vargo ultralight titanium stakes from teamio so I can get modd'ing (thanks Robin)!

Here's hoping it arrives in time for me to give it a first run out this weekend.

The Quest Continues..!

My quest for a new lightweight one man tent continues unabated. One of the difficulties for a fussy buyer such as myself is the fact that it's actually rather difficult to track down and see suitable tents.  A dearth of local stores means its difficult to compare tents in the flesh so when I read that the Backpackers AGM meeting was to be accompanied by Backpackinglight and UltralightOutdoors exhibiting I decided to head down the M4 on a sunny Saturday. On arrival I could see a menagerie of tents but quickly spotted the Laser Comp and a Vaude Power Lizard pitched and ready to compare with Terra Nova and Vaude both having rep's on hand.

First up was the Vaude PL which looked immediately larger than the Laser. Inside it was surprisingly spacious in all directions.  Lying down I probably had a couple of feet spare at the end while width was just enough for two at a push.  The single porch was also spacious enough and given the 1 kg weight the package was impressive.  The groundsheet was more robust than I expected but the fly and the poles (7.5mm) were noticeably thin, with the thin poles seeming to easily distort in a slight wiggle rather than a straight hoop (if that makes sense) although the internal 'power cord' did deliver more stability. One thing I also noticed was the fly was not particularly taut towards the ends -a little baggy.  The Vaude rep admitted it could do with a couple of extra pegs but even then it was difficult to get the fly taut.

I then wondered over to the TN tents to have a poke around the Laser Comp - and pokey it was, coming directly from the VPL.  Although slightly lighter the LC was noticeable smaller on the inside - definitely more cozy - not necessarily a bad thing but lying down you notice the tent inner not far from your nose!  The porch was a similar size to the VPL though with slightly thicker poles the structure seemed a little more rigid and the fly seemed a little tauter. I questioned the TN rep about the fiddly pole cover but his only response was that you don't really need it, but since it also provides additional buying points for the pole then perhaps you do.

Wandering back over to the backpacking light stall I decided to have a chat with Bob who has made some positive comments on the VPL.  He kindly offered to let me pitch his own VPL which was relatively easy once I workd out how to insert the end-poles.  Again it was difficult to see how you could get a really tight fly at the ends.  Bob proceeded to offer a discount if I wanted to purchase his barely used VPL but on the basis it was a less than inconspicuous orange/yellow cover. He clearly wanted a green tent for the same reason I wouldn't want an orange one, thus I politely declined!

Alpkit were also exhibiting and had on show a prototype one-man, two-door lightweight tent.  It's a single pole design but with the pole running end-to-end rather than across the middle. The pole also has a couple of mini-spurs coming off a single joint to give more width to the tent.  Headroom was a little low and is due to be addressed by tweaking to ensure the highest point is aligned with where you would naturally sit.  With a target weight of 1kg, two-doors and an expected price of £150 it will an interesting addition to the market when launched next spring.  I've since noticed it has appeared in a news release on Outdoors Magic.

So where am I now.  Well the VPL impressed me with its space/weight ration but felt a little flimsy and flappy. The space was almost two big for one - it was on par with my current North face Tadpole two-man tent, but less than half the weight.   The Laser Comp feels more like a proper one-man lightweight tent for hunkering down, though the limitations and idiosyncrasies are well documented and the pole cover an unnecessary faff.  Which kinda leaves me in a bit of a quandary.  Do I plump for the LC and go through the 'experience' as most others have done, or take a serious look at the Scarp 1.  I'd been awaiting Robin's report on the Scarp which was largely favourable but as he admitted it was far from a serious workout given the benign weather that weekend.  Although a little heavier than both the VPL and LC the size of the Scarp looks just about right.  The integral corner end-poles should mean it's a more solid tauter structure with the optional cross-over poles offering extra rigidity in winter.  But then again the purest in me is still drawn a little towards the minimalist Laser Comp. Oh, what it must be like not to be a Libran!!

Memory Map for iPhone: First Review

I've had the PC version with a full set of Memory Map 1:25k maps on my PC for a couple of years.  The novelty of using my Garmin GPS and downloading tracks to MM soon wore off and I ditched the GPS and reverted to map/compass.   I still used MM for planning/plotting and often printed off my own sections of mapping which were more convenient that wrestling with full OS Explorer maps in the wild (particularly in the Carneddau where you have to flip over to the other side of the OS 1:25k map).  Great as the good old OS mapping is I was never really impressed with the Memory Map software - it felt old, clunky and not particularly intuitive.  As a long time iPhone convert I was excited to see a slew of mapping applications being released early this year.  The excited anticipation of a MM for iphone app quickly evaporated when they launched it with a £20 price-tag.  This was seen by many as a bit OTT  a) for an iphone app, and b) when you've already paid for the OS maps.   The early version also didn't allow you to create routes on the phone though this has since been added.   I waited for the updated version before downloading their 'free' version which is for people who don't already have MM maps and offers the abillity to download maps directly to your iphone via MM's own online mapping store.  I figured I'd have a play with the version before shelling out the £20 for the privilege of transferring my own maps.  I was also interested to see what the Government's much touted freeing up of the OS mapping data would do to the market - not a lot it seems!.

With the free version of the MM app you are immediately greeted with the OS GB1:1 Routeplanner base map which is of little practical use.   What was not immediately clear is that by opting for the 'More Maps' option you are invited to create an online account on the MM map store from where you are entitled to download 400 square km of mapping for free.  You can choose what area and what scale mapping you wish.  As you zoom in on an area any un-purchased mapping is automatically blurred out.  However by clicking on the 'activate' button you are taken to the online store. Before you download it tells you the size of that map portion (e.g. 47 sq.km) and how much of your free 400 sq.km you have remaining.  Thankfully the map sections are far smaller than normal OS maps and so I could easily select all the relevant 1:25k mapping for the Carneddau and the Glyders I neede for the weekend, and I still have over 200sq.km free so I can't see the need to buy the £20 full version just yet.

With the mapping for the weekend sorted it was now down to playing with the app and getting to grips with the MM way of doing things.  Creating waypoints and routes was not quite intuitive - it looks it but I should have RTFM!  Routes are rather fiddly as you cannot place waypoints very accurately with your finger - if you have large fingers then creating a route would be a painful experience, though you can move the individual points afterwards.  This is also a limiting function of the iphone and its touchscreen interface as much as MM's software. 

Of course playing with an app in the comfort of your own home and out in the field is different.  It's a well know fact that the battery life on the iphone isn't great and so I realised I was unlikely to start the MM app and leave it on, choosing to hit the top button the phone to put it to 'sleep'.  The app includes a logging feature which includes speed, distance, moving time etc.    I found myself periodically taking the phone out of my pocket, switching it from sleep to check my position.  The phone appears to get a GPS location fix quickly and displays your position on the map.  In terms of creating a 'track' it assumes you have travelled in straight lines since your last position, so a review of my route shows a series of linked points.

One hint that I picked up from the MM Support Forum was that if you open the iphone ipod app and play music and then open MM, then when you hit the sleep button the phone continues to track you.  Althoug the screen is blank (saving the battery) it must be do to with the fact that until the new iphone OS4 software is released and supports mutli-tasking, the ipod app is one of a select few apps that is able to run in the background and hence must keep the phone on.  I haven't tried this and I'd imagine it would have a dramatic affect on the battery life.

In use, one odd problem I did encounter on the first day was a couple of spurious incorrect GPS fixes which has the affect of making it appear that I'd suddenly jumped 100km or so to the east and back.  This happened a couple of times on the first day and as well as resulting in spurious spikes in my on screen route, it also rendered the logging info useless as it meant my distance travelled was exaggerated - see screenshot below as I'd be hard-pressed to do 244km in 1hr33min!!

Of more concern was that on the second day when descending Tryfan via Heather Terrace this appeared to happen every time I switched on the phone to get a fix - see screenshot below.  N.B. for those who do not have an iphone I don't mean physically switch it on and off every time like a normal phone - pressing a small button puts the screen and any open application to sleep but the phone is still awake to receice calls.

In real use some of the limitations are a function of the iphone itself,  particularly battery life and robustness - I dont normally use a case, preferring less bulk but in the mountains a case would make sense - possibly one with a built-in battery-pack.  GPS accuracy seems good, aside from the spurious spikes which I'm still unsure whether they were a function of the MM software or the GPS receiver.  I seem to recall having the occassional similar spike on my Garmin GPS tracklogs - but certainly not to the extent in the screenshot above.  I keep meaning to post the screenshot on the MM support forum for feedback.

Things I haven't yet tried are transferring my existing MM maps onto the iphone (I would need to buy the full £20 version for that), transferring my tracks from the iphone to my PC (they can be emailed as .gpx files) or transferring routes from my PC version of MM (where it would be easier to create routes) to the iphone (probably need the full version of the MM app).

All in all, its a reasonable effort.  The availability of full OS 1:25k mapping on your screen is impressive - though in practice the small screen size means you do need to regularly zoom in/out.  At the moment I'd still class it as a nice to have or luxury and would only see it as a back-up option (as I would any battery-reliant GPS device) though as I would normally take my phone anyway then it does offer the benefit of ditching a separate GPS device.   As battery and processor technology improves then you can envisage  discrete GPS devices coming under more pressure from other more-unified devices such as the iphone and other smartphones, which in the end can only be a good thing for us consumers.