Wednesday 31 October 2012

A Local Walk and a Bite to Eat

I had a walk around my local area Saturday morning after arriving home from work. I'm looky that a five minute walk sees me into the  countryside in the photographs. A walk through the local country park and I'm into some nice woodland walks. I'm not a fan of walking in woods on their own, I like views, but a mixed walk is nice for me.

The Gazebo is located in a really nice spot over looking fields with the edge of the Peak District in the distance. I cooked up a bit of something to eat while in the Gazebo and then headed off around the woods.

A fantastically pleasant morning, there was a chill in the air, but was great walking weather for me, cold and sunny........great.







It's worth taking the time to see what your local area has to offer.

Friday 26 October 2012

Autumn Colour Change

I went for a walk around Langsett and along the Porter of Little Don River last weekend and was surprised by firstly, the colour change that had happened since my last visit.





Saturday 20 October 2012

Review: Rab Volt Jacket

Rab promote the Volt Jacket as a mountain jacket which would imply they think it can take some harsh conditions. It's supposed to be light, made from a new material, and has a lot of options for helping keep you cool. So I decided to pick one up for the Summer just gone. If you aren't aware, we sort of had a Summer, but if you blinked, you missed it. A Volt was purchased and went on a holiday to the Lake District at the supposed height of the British Summer.


Friday 12 October 2012

Quick Look: Sherpa Adventure Gear Jivan Hat

Sherpa Adventure Gear, owned by a Sherpa family member, aims to give back to the unsung heroes of many mountain expeditions, the Sherpa. The company use Sherpas to test their gear and part of the profits from the company are paid as royalties to the Sherpa community in Nepal. As a new company I thought I would give one of their products a try.


Sunday 7 October 2012

Review: Osprey AddOns GrabBag

I'm not a pockets person when I'm out walking. I find that when the requirement to do a bit of scrambling comes in that stuff in my pockets gets in the way or gets damaged. I also find that there are a few items I like to get to without having to take my rucksack off. That being my compass, phone, a snack or maybe my wallet. I've tried a couple of belt pouches, a generic compact camera type pouch and a military type pouch and found both to be okay, but the need attaching to a belt, a strap or Mollie in the case of the army pouches if not on a belt. I happened to be looking on the Osprey site prior to purchasing my Talon 44 and noticed the Osprey AddOns, in particular, the GrabBag.




Friday 5 October 2012

High Spy, with my little eye!

High Spy is a Wainwright with 148m (485ft) of prominence. This makes it 2m short of being a Marylin (a hill in the UK with 150m (492tf) or more of prominence, regardless of the altitude of it's summit. It lies between Maiden Moore and Dale head and sits on a ridge which forms a ridge between Borrowdale and Newlands Valley. With Catbells, Dale Head and Hindscarth it forms a horse shoe shaped ridge walk (one for the future). The name High Spy is thought to have possibly come from the use of the prominence as a look out point, maybe someone knows for sure?


Tuesday 2 October 2012

Review: Rab Vapour Rise Lite Jacket

Overview

I walk very warm, even in cool weather. I find it easy to get too hot when heading off up a hill. I spend most of my time walking on the hill with just a long sleeved base layer for a top. Other than that, I only usually where a waterproof and a wind shirt if the weather demands. But as Autumn and then Winter sets in, these layers aren't enough.



Most of the softshells I look at are quite heavy and make me feel warm just to look at them. They would be okay for me in the depths of Winter, but what about Autumn and the normal winter days. I came across the Rab Vapour-Rise Lite Alpine jacket and thought it seemed worth a try. It's a lot lighter than most softshells. It's a little lighter than my Montane Dyno, at around 360g compared to the Dyno's 400g,which I assume from Rab will be for the size Large. But even though it's lighter, the Tricot lining should add to both the thermal and wicking capabilities of the jacket.