Hill walking with camera, again
In my last post ‘walking my way to health’, I described my deeply felt need to walk the Welsh hills again. I care for my beloved wife, who has Alzheimer’s Dementia, 24/7 and have had little respite in the last three years. As a result my health is beginning to fail and so I took the decision that I must find care arrangements that enable me get back to hill walking, which has played such an important part of my life.
This is the first hill walk I have done in 5 years, and although I am a physically fit 72 year old, I thought that I should start gently and build up to bigger things.
My daughter, an excellent hill walker, came with me. My daughter and son were exposed to hill walking from an early age. Here is my 7 year old daughter in the late 1990’s after completing the Snowdon horseshoe and my son at Cwm Idwal.
My main focus, aside from enjoying the beautiful scenery with my daughter was to consider the gear for a one-day carry. Most of my gear is many years old, some back to the 1980s, so in recent months I have been modernising it.
How gear has changed!
I chose a hilly path that I last walked 40 years ago. I remembered it being boggy but therefore rewarding in being off the ‘beaten track’. Here is an account of how I got on.
As I get older, carry weight increasingly becomes a deciding factor on what camera and which kit to take, given that I take enough gear to survive an unplanned night out and I also carry food for my dog.. I would love to take my medium format gear (Hasselblad 503 with two lenses or my Mamiya 6 with two lenses.), but it is getting too heavy for anything beyond 8K, let alone mentioning the heavy tripod that is required..
So I’m experimenting with a Rollei S, one of the smallest 35mm film cameras ever made. It’s a bit quirky but I am growing to it. I have a yellow filter for the lens (pictured below) and a rubber hood. I have it loaded with Ilford HP5 and I have an eye to taking pictures for an eventual Bromoil treatment.
Rollei 35S - picture taken by Tony Cearns
Of course, the Rollei is not known for being a landscape camera, but I don’t see why it can’t be. The advantage of using a Rollei is obviously the weight saved:
Body of Hasselblad 503CW: ~600 g (0.6 kg)
Lens: Hasselblad 50 mm f/4 Distagon — ~916 g
Combined weight: ~600 g + ~916 g = ~1,516 g (≈1.52 kg)
The Rollei S weighs about 345 g
Difference in weight: 1,516 g − 345 g = ~1,171 g (≈1.17 kg)
The difference is the weight of my Durston X-Mid one person tent!
The price for using a Rollei compared to a Hasselblad is the quality of the image. We have 120 format v 35mm format. And we have the Rollei lens v the Distagon.
However, the Rollei lens is no slouch, being a fixed 40mm f/2.8 Zeiss-licensed Sonnar lens, although it would be better if the lens was a tad wider. But anyway, for a Bromoil, I don’t think the price is that costly.
The scenery on this side of the Moelwyns is quite breathtaking. We covered 10K, not far, but the going was slow with the need to traverse bogs and walk over tussocky grass.
Me on the walk, picture taken by my daughter
Tussock grass - the path is not walked frequently.
Storm damage
Quite remote, only saw 2 people, fell runners, all day.
Lunch stop
Soto windmaster stove
My daughter and my dog
As mentioned, it has been quite a while since I last went on a hill walk and my gear is very old and heavy, hence the trial with new gear.
I took a new RAB Muon 50L Triflex rucksack with me and the kit that I have honed in (in my mind) for a one-day walk in Welsh Autumn weather over boggy hilly terrain.
I try to keep a one-day carry down to about 12-15 kg. Here is my kit list:. For clothing:
Paramo Alta Jacket
Paramo Bento fleece
Paramo Cambia t-shirt
Paramo Grid Technic base layer (spare warm layer)
Paramo Beanie hat
Mountain Equipment Aerofoil jacket (spare windproof)
Fjallraven Kleb trousers
OR goretex cap
Darn Tough socks (a pair to wear, a pair as spare)
Meindl Bhutan leather boots
As you can see I’m a big fan of Paramo, having used it for about 25 years, and I have not been persuaded to change from this. I dislike the feel and sound of Goretex jackets. One expects to get quite wet in the Welsh Autumn, so being wet (eventually) and warm (Paramo) is preferable to being wet (eventually) and cold (Goretex).
The heaviest single item is my 2L soft Hydrapak bottle with water. I also carry a Katadyn 1L ‘Befree’ water purifier. I can’t speak highly enough of this. Bit of a game-changer. It will be interesting to see how many litres of water it will purify before the filter needs replacing. It is advertised as 1000 litres if flushed properly.
Katadyn water purifier and Hydrapak water bottle
I like to eat a hot lunch when possible. So for a single day I took the Soto Windmaster to boil water for dehydrated food or soup. On a multi day carry I would probably take the Soto Stormbreaker with both Coleman’s fuel and gas capabilities.
As an emergency shelter or blanket, I carried a Jerven Fjellduken with some paracord and 4 tent ultralight tent pegs. The Jerkin is quite heavy, but I’m conscious that I roam around alone in places with little passing people, so it’s like an insurance policy - peace of mind. It also doubles up as something to sit on. I also have a small Jerven dog bed for longer multi-day trips.
The Jerven Fjellduken - a fancy strong tarp.
I use a 1:25,000 OS map with a Silva 4 compass and I also use the OS Map app on an iPhone. For the iPhone I carry a small power bank. Again, the iPhone is primarily for safety purposes, both for fixing a position and for emergency calls.
And then there are a few other things that I consider essential:
Swiss Army Knife with a pair of tweezers for removing ticks from my dog, Badge (or myself)
Collapsible cup for me, collapsible bowl for Badge
Cookpot
Spoon
Toilet kit including a trowel
Rucksack liner - I use a Nylofume plastic bag
Head torch
Sling and karabiner for tethering Badge
Whistle
Blister kit
And of course, my camera and very small and light tripod.
About the RAB Muon 50L rucksack. I bought this primarily on the strength of its light weight and its supposed comfort. On both scores, I was very pleased. The chest straps are modelled from running sacs and provide a very comfortable carry in conjunction with the waist belt.
The only quibble I have with it is that I like a tidy sac with all straps secured to the body of the sac (and nothing hanging off it). This sac had some loose ends (straps) flapping in the breeze, including the waist belt ends. I expect I can fix this by fashioning some strap keepers, once I put my mind to it - but Rab should have thought of this. Coming from a climbing background I have always favoured narrow, longer rucksacks. The Muon is more dumpy and squat and is designed for hiking rather than mountain walking.
But I have to say it performed very well. I tend to carry larger rucksacks than many other walkers as I prefer to take ‘what-if?’ gear. The smallest rucksack I would consider for a one day walk would be 40L. This 50L sac allowed me to have everything in the bag rather than some gear hanging off it.
RAB Triflex rucksack
The side pockets and back pocket were very large and useful. However at times I felt nervous that my water bottles might fall out even though I had them secured with the inbuilt elastics. However, they never did fall out.
All in all, the rucksack was very comfortable for the kit that I was carrying, which I guess is the most important thing.
So, what are my conclusions about kit?
The rucksack was extremely comfortable. I am a little apprehensive about how long the little plastic clip fastenings will last, but I understand the weight/material logic behind incorporating them.
The Paramo gear worked flawlessly. I think the secret of using Paramo gear is to keep it in good working order. I wash my jackets and my inner wear every month, depending on usage, and I reproof the outerwear once or twice a year. It is possible to over-proof them.
The Soto cooking kits are very good but I understand difficult to carry out field maintenance should this be required. However I have not tried this out for myself. Just what I have read. Not a deal breaker for me.
The Jerven Fjellduken - something I will always take if I am not carrying a tent.
Katadyn water purifier - has much promise. Let’s see.
Rollei 35S - I won’t be able to give an opinion until I have pushed quite a few films through it. In the meant time I need to research a mountain tripod.
So, I think a productive trip.