Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

One thing that perplexes me about down-filled duvet jackets is that they’re incompatible with rain. It was something that dawned on me over the Christmas and I was mulling over the idea of acquiring one with a water-resistant coating. However, this winter has turned out largely mild away from Scotland and the cost of such things caused a rethink. In fact, a look in the January sales has resulted in a different outcome: the acquisition of  Páramo Cascada jacket.

Some may complain that they are too warm for them but the combination of warmth and waterproofing sounds appealing to me. What really has surprised me after years of using jackets fashioned from eVent and Gore-Tex is the softness of the fabric used in the Cascada. The length is generous too and a far cry from alternatives using drop tails instead, not that I have used any of these; the mere mention tends to deter me for one reason or another. For some though, the extra length may be too long and I certainly would not consider using it for cycling and the extra warmth would work against that too. The hood does have a wired peak though it did seem a little on the floppy side to me at first; handily, it can be folded away too though some frown on such things. Of course, it’s in making plenty of use of the Páramo that I’ll get the measure of it. Only then can more considered opinions be shared.

With the deluges that have fallen over Wales, Cumbria, the North Pennines and Scotland, today wouldn't have made for a pleasurable day's walking. Last weekend though, things were very different and I took myself to Wales for a hike from Roman Bridge to Pen y Pass. The ground was waterlogged in many places then so it leaves nothing to the imagination to realise how easy it would be for rivers to rise with heavy rain falling on the hills like it has been doing today. Thoughts of visiting castles at Beaumaris and Caernarfon may be entering my head but I reckon that I'll leave things settle a little before any other Welsh outing after what came the way. Macclesfield may not have fared to badly but you only have to hear of railway line closures to realise how hard a time other places are having.

With regard to last weekend's hike, my usual practice of saying more in a little while applies here too but one happenstance really stands out in my memory so I'll recall it here. Whether it was due to being tired at the end of the walk or my being distracted by the need to catch a bus, I managed to stuff my headtorch into my trousers pocket only to let it fall from my brain that I'd done so; daylight was failing while I took a little longer than I'd intended so the extra lighting was a big help. The item itself is a Petzl LED affair but it did nothing to make its presence known to me when I went looking for it again until it finally dawned on me where it might have gone. It's a reminder both of how smaller some things are getting because my older Petzl would be nowhere near as compact with its need for rather old-fashioned oblong 3LR12 batteries to provide its power. Next time, I think that I'll make a conscious note of where the newer lamp is being put so as to curtail any subsequent head scratching.

Am I the only person whose trail shoes outlast their laces? Well, it's happened me with a few of them and my North Face Hedgehogs were the latest to gain disintegrating laces and these are very thin too. Being long and narrow has meant their getting wet and getting caught in the chainset of my bike so the wear and tear can be explained easily with the other sheath coming off to show the white layer underneath. A call to a shop didn't seem to yield success so I went having a poke around the web to discover that a Leicestershire company called Fabmania appeared to have what I needed and I gave them a go. After all, the cost was around £3.30 plus postage and that can't break the bank with PayPal handling payment processing duties. Delivery was via Royal Mail so they dropped through my letter box without further ado a few days later. Changing from old to new was without any stress or strain too. Whatever concerns I had about the laces fitting through the eyelets on the shoes proved groundless and an old pair of trail shoes show look a little less tatty than they did.

Over the past two months, I have to admit that two spur of the moment purchases got made and price reductions were partly to blame for them. Another cause was my playing with buying the sorts of items in question in the not so distant past anyway. On both occasions, I wasn't really on a shopping trip but it was the curiosity that drew me into the emporia in the first place anyway.

The first lapse took place in Chester when I popped into a Field and Trek store and spotted a Berghaus Twister Softshell jacket on sale with £30 off the normal retail price. Having realised the usefulness of a heavier softshell once upon a time when pondering outdoor gear, I came away with the thing and it has been exposed to some of the copious amounts of rain that have been visiting us over the last few months. That was enough to convince that it was capable of shedding more than a little light rain on an evening when there was plenty of the wet stuff about the place. Well, the material encourages beading much in the same way as any Gore-Tex or eVent hard shell jacket so that looks promising. There may be no hood but it's the way that I prefer them and a cap always addresses the omission. With a microfleece lining, it may be better able to deal with chilly days like yesterday than my Berghaus fleece too.

The next lapse of financial strength came upon me while browsing in the Cotswold Outdoor store in Aberdeen's Union Square shopping centre. My seeing a tastefully presented outdoors shop was enough to draw me inside it. Along the way, I spied Rab Pinnacle jackets on sale with a £50 reduction. What made me more vulnerable to the prospect was that I have thought about having a lightweight waterproof a while back and this is lighter than the Rab Latok that has given me plenty of good service since I got it nearly four years ago. It too uses eVent but remains untested as of yet. Nevertheless, it's a good fit for me and opportunities for trying out its rain-proofing should come in due course.

After both of these lapses with my wallet, I think that I might to stay away from outdoor gear shops for a little while. Nevertheless, I was stood outside Jo Brown's in Buxton yesterday and, though I saw Paramo gear in the shop window display, my willpower held firm even though there were sale signs there too. Did having to walk through a closed door help? Maybe that's most of the chain stores leave their's open.

Temptation can reign online too as I found when an email dropped into my inbox featuring a Terra Nova Laser Competition tent at a well-reduced price. Of course, having to get the thing delivered was sufficient to keep any cravings under control. As ever, there are more important things to be buying so building up outdoors gear wishlists is for me something that's best avoided even if it's so easy to do.

Cheshire has seen many a fast moving spotty rain shower pass over it today and the Met Office’s online rain radar shows more Ireland. In between those, there have been spells of alluring sunshine of the kind that makes wonderful photos. How is it that you need a session of rain for the sunlight to look better when it comes afterwards at this time of year? Well, good photos don’t come without some cost.

That little mention of photographic endeavour brings me to an afternoon well spent in Chester last Saturday. What drew me away from home was the prospect of meeting with some sun without any dampness, something of a rarity in the last few weeks. There were other reasons too, such as the escape from what felt like a rut. The reason for choosing Chester was that I got to looking through the photos of the place that I have been sharing in the online gallery only to come to the conclusion that they didn’t look the best. It was time to have another go and I came away with some pleasing results too when the clouds didn’t get in the way of the lighting. Much of my urban stroll took me towards the less crowded parts of the city like Grosvenor Park where a miniature train was conveying families around a small circuit. Trotting along the banks of the River Dee and along the old city wall took me towards the Old Dee Bridge from where I found my way towards the more crowded rows where many were out shopping. These may be uncertain economic times but you wouldn’t have known that from the bustle and a headline in the local rag about the place being a boom town.

The passage of a large wad of cloud in front of the sun meant that any designs on digital capture of landmarks such as Chester Cathedral or Chester Castle (the old County Hall looks an elaborate affair) had to wait for another time. While awaiting the return of the sun, I ended up in a shop or two though I wasn’t really on a shopping outing. However, that didn’t stop a visit to a branch of Field and Trek resulting in my coming away with a Berghaus Twister Softshell jacket having saved nearly £30 off the original price. My succumbing to the attractions of making a purchase might have been influenced by there being a sale in progress but I have toyed previously with the idea of acquiring a heavier duty counterpart to my North Face Apex Elixir (currently needing a spot of sewing to keep in the drawcord at the base of the jacket after the wrong thread came away) might have made me more vulnerable to this kind of thing, even though it was a thought that had slipped from my conscious memory. So far, it’s got only a bit of a light wetting but I like the cut and fit. Exhaustive testing is not something that I do but the new acquisition is working well thus far.

The trying out of the previous day’s extravagance had to await its opportunity when Sunday came dry too though with milky skies, thanks to a passing anticyclone sticking for long enough to give us respite from all the damp greyness that has been outstaying its welcome over the last few weeks. It was enough for me to take to lanes and highways on my bicycle. Though I was to spend some time around Lindow Common, the main motivation was the investigation of potential commuting routes but the level of traffic and the steepness of some inclines left me thinking the venture a work in progress. However, a chance perusal of a map afterwards at home revealed a possibility that went by Over Alderley, Hare Hill and Mottram St. Andrew. The promise of a sunny Monday had me taking a risk in the form of trying the route in the flesh and the experience convinced me of the need for tightening my back brakes though nothing untoward happened; then, any inclines can be tackled with greater confidence and there are a few such as the dip around Over Alderley or the hill on which Mottram is situated. Nevertheless, I sampled a glorious morning and pass someone harvesting “haylage” on my return in the evening; some of it was blowing in the air too. Other amenable days may get me passing the way more often.

Even with all of this, I remain on hiatus from walking in hill country though seeing how high the local reservoirs are now might be one draw. There’s a bank holiday weekend at the end of the month too and thoughts of making something of it are just beginning to prod me into action. Autumn isn’t far now and there’s a certain coolness to be felt on some mornings as well. Maybe that’s what’s bringing more attractive lighting between those showers…