The Great Outdoors - UK (2021-08)

pick for a trip; and having to think about the ‘why’ for the first time

in a long while was good thing. Like one-person tentsstill being

the way togo on a short two-person trip. It’syour own space, the

smaller footprintmakes it easier to find a goodpitch onuncertain

ground, and, of course, it’sless weightto carry.

I suggested packing all-in-one system gas stoves forsimplicity

over weight saving on thisfirst tripand realised thatI do that a

lot anyway.

Most of the other big kitchoices I could cover too and Greg

went off to find a headtorch, a mug and some other bits and pieces.

I did envyfeeling thethrill of picking up some firsts instead of

replacing something worn out, which is all I do now.

Wetalked a lotabout food. Weboth enjoy our grub,regularly

cooking from scratch at our respective homes, and dinner atcamp

is always a highlight. I didn’twant it to be a fail for either ofus.

Going solo I’dbe ready to rough it with something dehydrated

and light, but I imagined Greg staring into pouch ofsteaming,

indistinct contents.Was he ready for that?

In the end,it was the timeof yearthat made the decision for

us. Having enough water on ahigh campin summer can mean

carrying a lot of extra weight on the ascent, with water bottles filled

up en route, so wewent for prepacked wet food to boil in the bag.It

means burning more fuel, butit’sapproaching real food in texture

and it’ssimple.

I was conscious of trying to avoid hassle as much as possible.

e trip should be about the adventure of it and reallyjust being

there. Greg could worry about disappearing down into the geeky

rabbit holeof gearand technique later.

Wewere heading for Beinn Narnain in the Arrochar Alps,

a personalfavourite and not too farawayas we wouldn’tbe able

of previous visits. Youcan’t explain that oddlypositioned

glacial erratic boulder and you can’t pass on a

bit of history– something these hills are

full of.”

“If you’re^ on^ your^ own,^ you^ can’t^ tell^ tales^ ofthe^ mishaps^ a

nd victories

46 The Great OutdoorsAugust 2021