January Camp

First camping adventure of the year achieved!  Was it absolutely freezing?  Yes. Was it worth it?  Also yes.

January 2 was an unexpectedly (for me) bright and sunny day. I was sat with my morning cuppa thinking I would go for a walk when it suddenly dawned on me that it might be a good opportunity to get the first camp under my belt. Checked the weather for the following day - also clear and sunny.  In winter there are mostly two types of weather - clear, sunny and very cold or cloudy, often with rain but warmer. I much prefer the former.

I went online to find a campsite, having decided that Gower would be the best place. It’s two hours from home, it’s by the sea (my favourite place to be) and simply beautiful. Luckily I found a campsite that was open all year - Pitton Cross, near Rhossili - right where I wanted to be. I made a booking, piled everything into the car and set off.

I arrived at 3.00 and was shown to a pitch. Unsurprisingly I was the only person in a tent although there were a few motorhomes. Lovely site with everything you need - would definitely go there again.  They have thick plastic mats to put on the grass under a tent; I haven’t come across that before but I’m sure that made a big difference to the warmth in the tent.

Sunset at Pitton Cross, Gower

By 4.00 I was all set up and eating the soup I had brought with me.  It was getting chilly but not so cold that I couldn’t sit outside and enjoy the sun setting over the sea.  By 5.00 it was fully dark!  How anyone manages to camp in winter if they’re not a reader I don’t know but luckily I am. So I was more than happy to just lie snuggled up under the wool blankets and read for 3 hours. Then it was out to the lovely warm toilet block to get ready for bed.  Yes, bed by 8 pm…. Then more reading.  I discovered torches which charge via usb this year - a game changer because I’m not worried about using up batteries.

If you’re wondering how I managed to stay warm, here’s what I used:

Mats provided by the campsite under the tent

Tarpaulin (tent footprint) under the tent

Picnic blanket and insulated mat under camp mat

Wool blanket on top of camp mat

Summer sleeping bag (all I’ve got because I usually only camp in the summer)

3 wool blankets

Slept in clothes with wool fingerless gloves on

Began with a hat on but got too hot

I woke up before dawn and managed to stay inside until around 7.00 am when nature called. The door of the tent had ice on so squeezing out of the gap was less than pleasant. However, the clear early dawn sky full of stars was just magical.  Back to the tent, Trangia lit and first brew made. Sitting in the open doorway watching the sunrise with a cup of hot tea is absolutely worth the hours of darkness. It isn’t the cold which is so much of a problem with winter camping - it’s the very long nights. But any day when you’re camping and it’s not raining is a bonus as far as I’m concerned.

The key to camping in my view is not to drink much after about 6.00 pm. Even water I mean - just sips. The temptation to have a nice big mug of hot chocolate or glass of wine might be high - but getting out of your sleeping bag in the middle of the night is just no fun at all. It’s bad enough in the summer; in the winter it’s just miser

The day dawned bright and clear, just as expected so I knew that I would head off for the walk I had planned. The forecast for Saturday was rain so I didn’t want to stay a second night which meant packing everything up before I left the site. I’ve bought a new, small tent and this was its first outing. Very impressed with it. Quick to erect and even quicker to put down.  Quick but not easy - a few extra inches of height and a bit more strength would be ideal.  Flasks were filled, car packed and off to Rhossili for the day.  Read about my walk here.

Or - you might just be wondering why anyone would choose to camp in sub-zero temperatures. Why not just stay in a nice warm B&B?  Couple of reasons. Firstly of course there is the cost. If you are a solo traveller you spend most of the time paying for two people - that is really, really annoying. Spending less money on each adventure means you can afford more adventures….

But secondly - there is a thing going round at the moment which talks about how we have engineered comfort into our lives - and that isn’t good for us.  We live in centrally-heated homes and rarely venture outdoors, not experiencing extremes of temperature.  Of course there are many people around the world, including Britain who don’t have this luxurious lifestyle and it is a tiny reminder of what life is like for those people. I couldn’t help but think about all the homeless people in this country who had just a sleeping bag and a doorway to sleep in rather than my tent with multiple blankets and a stove to make hot food and tea with.  It was a bit of a wake-up call to be honest as it isn’t something I would normally think about in the evening.

The antidote to ‘being too comfortable’ apparently is to ‘do hard things’.  So I wanted to prove to myself that I can indeed do things which are outside my comfort zone. Ok, it’s not exactly a mission to Everest but it’s the first tiny step to leading an adventurous life.  And achievable for many people.