iPhone photography

Walking along the River Slea

Just like last week I walked along the River Slea, with a haversack load and made coffee but this time I went in the other direction from the car park.

Footparh along the River Slea
Footparh along the River Slea
Cping coffee along the River Slea
Coffee break
Camping coffee gear - MSR mug, titanium Sierra cup and Alpkit folding spoon

The wind shield I made earlier this week was a success.

No coffee bags this week – I packed a titanium Sierra cup and I used the drip method.

Swans on the River Slea

So I tried the other section of the path but to be honest it is not as interesting as walking through the woods last week.

Walking along the River Slea Read More »

Walking along the River Slea with lightweight gear

As I had the day off because of the American Football, I made bread and went for a walk, took some photos in what may be the last of the summer sunshine and made some coffee. I grabbed my Finnish haversack and some lightweight gear and headed out before the rain came. (Some of this blog was written whilst I was walking and some when I got home.)

Bridge over the River Slea​
Bridge over the River Slea​
Lincolnshire countryside
River Slea​
River Slea​ and weir
This was the view from the coffee stop

Coffee

I found a log down by the river to sit on to make some coffee.

I have a small twig stove from Bushcraft Essentials, in my cook set but I use gel fuel in it, and use a Burt’s Bees tin as a burner. I carry the fuel in a re-purposed hand sanitise bottle. It makes a truly lightweight brew stove when out walking – when the tin/burner is brim of fuel it can heat about 250ml of water hot enough for coffee, noodles or soup.

lightweight gear a gel stove adaption for a twig stove
gel fuel adaption for a twig stove
titanium mug and folding spoon - lightweight gear

Rather than use the ground coffee and tea strainer from the cook set I chose to use a coffee bag – this brand from Taylors makes a good strong brew in the amount of water I had.

lightweight kit for coffee
titanium lightweight equipment

Weir and lock

Well there was a lock, weir and associated machinery here in the past.

Weir and lock on the River Slea
Weir and lock on the River Slea
Weir and lock on the River Slea
Weir and lock on the River Slea
Weir and lock on the River Slea
Weir and lock on the River Slea - long shutter speed motion photo

I used the Camera+2 app for the long shutter speed motion effect.

Weir and lock on the River Slea

More Walking

Woodland
Woodland and River Slea
Haverholme Priory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haverholme_Priory
Haverholme Priory

Gear in the Haversack

Lightweight  gear and walking kit in a Finnish haversack
The stove with the mug on it is in the background – the ground cloth is folded in quarters

For lightweight trips the Finnish Haversack can hold enough gear and I use it rather than one of my small rucksacks in the summer when I do not extra clothes and gear.

Contents today:

  • Backpacking cook set
  • Breakfast biscuit snacks and coffee
  • British Army bush hat
  • Lightweight poncho (camouflage as it was the lightest one I could get on Amazon during the lockdown)
  • Lightweight picnic ground cloth
  • 500ml steel water bottle – with an MSR 350ml titanium mug pushed on the bottom
  • 1l dry bag for electronics, Anker power pack, charge cable, Victorinox Swiss Card etc
  • Paracord (about 5m)
  • Small belt pouch – simple first aid kit, mini Petzl head torch, tea and coffee supplies, vegetable Oxo cube, salt packets, soup and chilli packs from instant noodles, Silva compass with thermometer, string, hotel sewing kit with some extra strong thread added to it, safety pins, Traditional Case mini Trapper knife, sharpening stone, duck tape patch, army style tin opener, refillable lighter, lifeboat whistle and lanyard for my Victorinox Camper knife, eye drops bottle re-purposed for hand sanitiser.

The little pouch is well packed for a trip like this but when I am on longer trips or away the lanyard and whistle are in use so making the rest of the items more accessible.

All images made with my iPhone 12 Pro Max which I carry in a belt case for lightweight trips like this.

Walking along the River Slea with lightweight gear Read More »

More photos from my recent trip to Scotland

Aviemore

Strathspey Railway

Strathspey Railway
Strathspey Railway turn table

Walking near Tomintoul

Cairngorm National Park
Cairngorm National Park
Cairngorm National Park

Dhulaig Falls

Dhulaig Falls

Cairngorm Mountains from The Dava Way

Cairngorm Mountains from The Dava Way

Feshiebridge Forest

Feshiebridge ​Forest
Feshiebridge ​Forest

Speyside Way Bridges

Speyside Way bridgr
Speyside Way bridges

Speyside Way

Odd fruit

Scandinavian Village

Rainbow over Aviemore

Culbin Forest

Culbin Forest

Rozelle Park – Ayr

Yew tree
Peace Dove​
Peace Dove

Burns Cottage

Burns Cottage

Killington Lakes Services

Killington Lakes Services
Killington Lakes Services

More photos from my recent trip to Scotland Read More »

Speyside Way

Today we walked a section of the Speyside Way starting at Cragganmore and heading north. For the lunch stop we found a bench down by the riverside – no midges.

Speyside Way Bridges
Speyside Way Bridges
Speyside Way Bridges
Speyside Way
Speyside Way
Speyside Way
Speyside Way Bridges
River Spey

Where we started from today was where I camped, ten years ago, on a previous two day walk along the Speyside Way.

See these blogs for thst walk:

Start

Day One

Day Two

Gear

Back at Scandinavian Village

We made bread…

Homemade wholemeal bread

…and it rained.

Rainbow over Aviemore

Speyside Way Read More »