Snowy South Wales - some photographs of Sirhowy Valley 19th Dec

[paul standley]

Spent most of Sunday out in the hills around the Sirhowy valley near my home. What a great day, 8" snow, -6 degrees C and a bitting wind.

Was heading for a higher spot for lunch but because of the weather, I decided to take a detour to a little shelter that I found a couple of weeks ago in the woods at 300 mtrs, about 50 mtrs off the ridge, not sure who built it but it was a welcome refuge for lunch.

I'm trying to spent some real time in the snow to get some winter bushcarafting experience. Learnt a few things on Sunday's outing...

... Starting a fire in sub-zero temps needs a little more thought
... Lower dead branches/stubs of pine trees make great fire kindling
... Getting cloths wet can be dangerous - My cap got wet and I left it on the wall of the shelter whilst I cooked lunch and by the time I was ready to set off again, it had frozen like a board. Luckely I had a spare. Had this been my cloths, (for example had I slipped in a stream) I'd have been in some trouble.
... Getting too hot whilst walking and then sweating ended up with me getting very chilled for about half and hour until I'd shedded a layer and slowed down to reduce sweating.
.... Walking in deep snow is hard work and can take twice as long to cover distance so had it not been a 'Sunday stroll' and I'd been trekking/camping then I might have struggled to get to my destination before nightfall.

Enjoy the images, not that brilliant as I only had a 2MP camera but hopefully gives you a flavour of what's on my doorstep.

Paul.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtRXa9i9-70

[Shewie]

Nice vid Paul

Which software do you use for the scrolling images ?

[MikeWilkinson]

Very nice paul, thanks for sharing, love the B & W effect.

The river at the end has to be my favourite, followed by the ruins of the shelter.
:cool:

[MikeWilkinson]

...Starting a fire in sub-zero temps needs a little more thought
... Lower dead branches/stubs of pine trees make great fire kindling

Surprise, Surprise, but I find good ole Birch bark straight of the tree, roughed up a treat to get a flame of the old firesteel. A bit more to act as tinder.
Then some small birch twigs hung up in the branches for kindling.

I like to try and get a fire going every night, when I'm out with the dogs. I try different methods but never fail with Birch bark. :campfire:

[paul standley]

Nice vid Paul

Which software do you use for the scrolling images ?

Shewie - I used Windows Movie Maker, it's pretty good for stiching photo's together and has a good selection of fades, transitions etc. Downloadable as part of my Windows operating s/w (Windows 7). Is already built into Windows XP I think.

Paul.

[Martin]

Lovely pics Paul. I like the black and white images which almost replicate real life on days like that.

Thanks for sharing mate. :)

Martin

[Paul Webster]

Lovely pics Paul. I like the black and white images which almost replicate real life on days like that.

Thanks for sharing mate. :)

Martin

Yea, even with just a 2mp camera, the B&W images really turn out well. Looked like a nice day out in the winter

[rondda]

Cracking photos there paul, makes you realize how lucky we are in this part of the country.

[paul standley]

Ronda - hi, your on my doorstep looks like :-)

Paul

[Tony1948]

Great pitchers Paul,Looks a bit to cold for me but good on you for doing it,I dont want to teach you how to suck eggs and I dont now if you do but in them conditians I would always take 2 or 3 bits of rubber iner tube with me, even with wet or damp tinder it will stay alight and burn long enuff to dry out tinder, hope Im not trying to tell you some thin you already now.............All the best TONY.

[paul standley]

in them conditions I would always take 2 or 3 bits of rubber inner tube with me, even with wet or damp tinder it will stay alight and burn long enough to dry out tinder, hope I'm not trying to tell you some thin you already now.............All the best TONY.

Hey Tony - I'm in a constant learning curve so please bring it on :-)

I hadn't thought of using inner tube and yes, makes complete sense for keeping a young fire going initially. I found when I was out that the ground was so cold it sucked the life out of the fire as it was burning and took a lot of nurturing to keep it going at the start. In hind-sight I should have built it on a bed of sticks or bark as insulation but that's something else I learned for next time...!

I'm somewhere between trying to build traditional fires with natural materials and using modern methods and materials (and hobo stoves) and I do a bit of both currently. Since I was out on Sunday I've learned another couple of tips about pine forest fire building so when I'm out again between Xmas and New Year I'll put you tip and others into practice and see how I get on.

Thanks for the advice, it's always welcome.

Paul.