Sorgenfri to Ølstykke

The sun was shining so it seemed like an ideal opportunity to take a local walk. Having packed my Aarn Featherlite Freedom I set off by bus then train to Sorgenfri, approximately 40 minutes away.

Passing Sorgenfri church I headed down to the Prinsessestien a path between Lyngby and Fredriksdal named after Prinsesse Caroline Amalie this path is also interesting for its approximately 800 year old Oak tree





The path follows and then crosses the canal connecting Farum Sø and Lyngby Sø before reaching Fredriksdal. After which I followed the western side of Furesø. Along the banks of Furesø there was a fascinating mixture of ice, water and debris.


The trail continued along the banks of Furesø and with the sun shining there was excellent views of the semi frozen lake.



Leaving Furesø I passed under the motorway and headed to Farum Sø, the main trail (Mølleådalen) follows the north side of Farum Sø whereas I chose to follow the south side as the path wended its way around the lake then inland before returning to the lake at a bird watching tower. Soon after which I arrived at an ideal location for the bivy.



The campsite provided excellent views across the lake to Farumgård which was initially established in the 1300's.



After a pleasant night punctuated by the sounds of the Naturugle, I awoke to a misty morning. Setting off along the lake shore then inland and ultimately returning to the Mølleådalen by the banks of Mølle Å which flows Bastrup Sø to Farum Sø. I did wonder if it was possible to pack raft through here but decided there would be more packing than rafting.

Reaching Bastrup Sø it was apparent that the swans were waiting for the ice to melt.



It was in this section that I also passed Bastrup Tårn (tower) a site of an earlier day walk.

After Bastrup Sø the path bordered the forest and the fields as it wended its way towards Buresø.


From Buresø it was through the recently harvested forest to a delightful small ice covered lake Guldbjerg Mose where I sat and enjoyed the hazy sunshine whilst eating lunch. Fishing is allowed here. The final section took me through Sperrestrup Skov before finishing at the railway station in Ølstykke.

It had been a pleasant 24 hour walk and it was evident that spring was coming with the ice melting and many more people out enjoying the outdoors.

Gear Observations.

Nemo GoGo Bivy, this bivy weighs in at just over 1 kg including stuffsack and pump. This was the first trip I have used it on and I was happy with it. There is sufficient room for one with a pack near the door and gear along the sides by the sleeping mat. The airbeam is easy to inflate and provides a rigid structure when assembled. I was able to keep the front open all night so there was no condensation at the front and only a minor amount at rear of the bivy. It is not a light bivy but one I will be happy to use on quick overnight trips again.


Pacific Outdoor Peak Elite AC - Regular Size, recently Phil Turner gave his readers a first look at this new offering from POE, I was impressed and soon as they were in stock at BPL.co.uk I obtained one. I was pleasantly surprised by the weight of the mat which including stuff sack was 345 grams. Now they are perhaps not the ideal height for the bivy but as a side sleeper there was still some space between me and the bivy outer. I was pleased with the comfort of the mat though I did feel some cold seeping through from the frozen ground. At this time of the year I would probably put a thin piece of foam underneath to provide a little ground insulation. I will report on its extended use in due course.

Gear Observations: Gendarmstien

For this trip I was expecting snow and temperatures in the range of -15 to -5 degrees C with possibly some snow falls and mild winds, which turned out to be correct. Some of my gear reflections follow.

Sealskinz gloves


The biggest surprise for me was the Sealskinz gloves, the air was cold and along the coast windy but there was no rain, however, I often had my hands in the snow. These gloves whenever worn kept my hands dry and warm even when used to remove snow from the signs, benches etc. occasionally I combined them with Goretex overmitts which further helped to deflect wind and keep my hands comfortably warm, not uncomfortably numb. Though the outers did get damp during the day they felt drier the next morning having formed part of my Paramo Vista pillow. For those considering these gloves in my view they are worth a look, with the caveat that I did not use them in rainy weather.




Feet

For this trip I wore my old pair of Innov8 390 gtx boots and I was very happy with the grip they provided on most surfaces, they were partnered with Bridgedale liner socks and Seakskinz socks, for the most part my feet were kept dry and warm. The Sealskinz helped to form a waterproof layer as well as providing some insulation from the cold. Some water did seep through the socks but at no time were the liner socks more than damp (possibly from sweat). Under similar conditions I will use this arrangement in the future as well as trying the sock combinations with my Terrocs for summer, an arrangement used by Colin Ibbotson as well as described by Jörgen Johansson in Smarter Backpacking

Shangri La 1



I have always been interested in this shelter, especially as it reminds me of my first shelter many years ago, though I was always concerned with entry and exit with the pole located in the centre at the front, however, I found this to be less of a problem than expected especially when the front pole is angled away from the inner slightly. The shelter is easy to set up and is spacious inside especially if you pull the centre side tie outs out a little which does reduce the head height in the middle of the shelter as shown in the following picture. The inner net is a little more problematic, it seems the best option is to attach it before erecting the shelter, I prefer not to do this. I am also surprised given the attachments for the floor why attachments have not been fitted to the inner net to allow fixing to the shelter. Having said all this I found the combination of the outer and inner to work well in the conditions which were well below zero and without any wind it was evident that inside the innernet and shelter felt warmer than being outside when the temps were below - 10 C. Overall I was very happy with the shelter and felt that for the conditions it was used it it was an ideal shelter and seems ideally suited to long distance treks where a small footprint may be required.


Primus Express Spider, I used this stove to boil approximately 600 mls of water 2 times a day. Often the water had some ice floating in it and whilst not recording the time taken to bring the water to a boil it did not seem excessively long. The average fuel consumption for the trip was 24 gms of gas per litre boiled using Primus power gas which is a mixture of 25% Propane: 25% IsoButane: 50% Butane which as shown by BPL (Membership of BPL required) is more efficient at lower temperatures when compared with the standard 30% Propane: 70% Butane mixture.

Moisture in sleeping bags, I used a Nunatak Arc Alpinist (with Epic outer) for the trip and each night there was some condensation in the foot, partly caused by my desire to dry my damp liner socks. Over the course of the 3 nights the sleeping bag gained 40 gms in weight (or approximately 5% of its weight). There was also some loss of loft but I remained comfortably warm at all times without the need for my Western Mountaineering Hooded Flash Jacket.

Aarn Featherlite Freedom, this was my first trip with this pack and I was happy with it and felt that the harness more suited me than perhaps the Mountain Magic did. There was ample space in the pack with the Sports balance pockets (10 litres in total) on the front. The interesting feature of the pack is the internal divider in the waterproofliner, it can provide some challenges packing until you become used to it, but otherwise it is an easy pack to load with an excellent roll top closure. I will write more on this pack once I have used it a little while longer.

Gear Reflection Tornby to Grenen

Some of the items used and my comments are listed below.

MLD Trailstar, a wonderfully roomy shelter that is easily pitched and when pitched tight will deflect winds from all directions.

Aarn Mountain Magic 55, a pack ideally suited for trips of 4 to 8 days in my view, carries well and the front pockets are a bonus. This trip I was very pleased to have the waterproof liners which kept everything dry in what was extended periods of heavy rain.

BPL 240 Quilt, this was the first trip for this quilt and I was pleased with it and at all times was I warm (a little too warm), temperatures were never below zero but I feel comfortable in taking this quilt as part of my sleep system into sub zero temperatures.

Katabatic Bristlecone Bivy, not really needed in the Trailstar however the bivy provides ideal protection from drafts in windy weather. I used the bivy on top of my Neo Air this time and was pleased with the minimal slip between the bivy and the mattress, I will experiment further with this approach.

Stoves, I took 2 stoves on this trip to compare fuel usage, the stoves were the Monatauk Gnat, and the Compact Caldera cone, both used with the Evernew 1 litre Past Pot. Both stoves performed well and were used, with care, inside the Trailstar. I only ever boil water and for a day I boil approximately 1.5 litres of water. The fuel consumption figures were interesting:

Monatauk Gnat: 22 gms of gas per 1 litre of water, reflecting similar figures when used in Vålådalen in May 2010.

Caldera Cone: 25 gms of alcohol per 1 litre of water.

In my view the conditions were the same for both stoves and a windshield was used with the gas stove.

Paramo Vista Jacket, for this trip I wore the new lighter weight Vista jacket, in XL it weighs 660 gms which is a 200 gram saving over the Third Element Jacket (which is to be discontinued). I was pleased with the jacket and partnered with a silkbody long sleeve shirt I never over heated and it repelled all the rain that it was subjected to.

Along the Nordkalottleden: Gear Review

My gear list was published prior to departure on the trip, however, there were a few late additions to the pack including a book (300 gms) waterproof carry case for the camera and an extra meal, so my pack weight was closer to 17 kg when I left home. As I have stated previously I was generally happy with my gear and it enabled me to complete the walk with a minimum of hassles, but there are always times when the gear is not optimal, for others it may be a different story. I will comment on the big three as well as some other items of gear.
Aarn Mountain Magic 55l pack.
Generally I was very pleased with the pack and certainly with the ability to carry 17 kg comfortably. There is no doubt I had probably pushed the pack beyond its comfortable weight limit but given that a days food weighed about 800 gms, after a couple of days the weight was approaching what was more realistic of a pack this size. The picture below shows the pack fully loaded with only tent poles and a sleeping mat attached to the outside.



The front balance pockets were full and each contained approximately 3 kg and did inhibit leg lift, after day one I reduced the weights to about 2 kg in each and this proved to be much better. One problem I had with the pack is the attachments to the top of the balance pockets, these a shock cord and cord locks, I do not believe that this the best design as the shock cord stretches and the cord locks slip when the bungy gets wet. I tied knots into the cords to stop them from sliding but still they stretched further than I would have liked. I am now looking at replacing the bungy with either dyneema cord or webbing straps. For my next long trip I may consider using the Featherlite Freedom as it is perhaps more suited to such loads and the attachments for the balance pockets are better suited to heavier loads.
Stephensons Warmlite 2C tent



I was very pleased with this tent, as I had said in an earlier blog post I had decided to err on the side of caution when taking a shelter for the trip. The tent withstood strong winds from the back the front as well as the sides, it was spacious for one and could be erected in under 5 minutes. The shelter only requires a total of 9 pegs and can be erected with 3. There was some minor condensation at the single layer cones at each end but the mid section stayed condensation free. There are two changes I would make to the tent, one, I intended to, but did not put silicone sealer on the floor to reduce the slipperiness, it will be done before the next trip. As it was daylight all night and the tent quickly warmed in the mornings it would have been nice to have an insect free refuge with the door open, I intend to contact Stephensons to arrange for a no seeum door to be added. But these are minor annoyances more than design deficiencies, I can strongly recommend the tent. Having experienced the wonders of Lapland I now feel it is possible to use an appropriate shelter with added bug protection, such as GoLite ShangriLa 1, Gossamer Gear Spinnshelter, any of the pyramid shelters from MLD or Black Diamond as well as tarps such as the Spinntwinn from Gossamer Gear. Of course in using such shelters, care will need to be taken in adverse weather conditions.

Nunatak Arc Specialist Quilt, kept me warm and comfortable through out the trip, nothing more need to said about such a fine product.

Cooking, I used a Primus Micron ti Stove with a mini Light My Fire striker. The stove worked flawlessly and I boiled approximatey 12 litres of water over the 10 days using less than a 250 grams of gas, I estimate there were 2 days left in the canister suggesting a usage of approximately 20 grams per 1.2 litres of water. For the next trip I may consider the use of a small wood burning stove in conjunction with either Esbit or gas, when the insects or weather make the outdoors less than pleasant. Options include the Bushbuddy Ultra and the FourDog stove LT1 with the Primus stove or a Monatauk Gnat.
Clothing
Haglöffs Oz Pullover, there has already been much discussion on the blog about the pullover. My perception was that water did bead in the beginning indicating that it was repelling water, but eventually became overloaded causing a build up of moisture inside. Given that I tend to perspire a lot this may be expected. However, with the air being dry the coat did dry quickly and as it was only used a couple of days, heavy duty wet weather gear was not needed and the Oz pullover did the job. I will use the Rab Demand pullover next time, though there is a weight penalty.

I used a Montane Featherlight Smock, which was excellent and with a Tilley hat along with a Buff I saw no need for a hooded windshirt such as the Lightspeed. My water resistant pants were the Featherlite pants and whilst in continued rain they do wet through I was happy with them and would use them again, they also make great wind speed measurers.



Merino; anything made out of Merino wool performed faultlessly, though my BPL Beartooth hoody is showing some wear and tear now and I need to consider replacements. Thanks to Joe at Thunder in the Night I now have an IBEX Hooded Indie to experiment with. My Ibex Liners performed perfectly and were ideal for protecting my hands from the mossies.

Vest; I did not take a vest, and there were times I wish I had, for use when the weather is a little cool or at rest stops, if I take one I would be deciding between the Haglöffs Treble Vest and the BPL Cocoon Vest.

Salomon Quest boots, after developing Plantar Fasciitis, and the long recovery period that followed I have been using Salomon footwear and have been very happy with them. For this trip I chose boots over shoes as I felt the more rigid soles would be better on the Talus etc, and I think this was true, however, the boots had a major drawback, lining, resulting in blisters. It is for this reason that I intend to return to Innov-8 Terrocs for all my hiking in the coming months paying particular attention to the activities that can lead to Plantar Fasciitis.



Pacer Poles, aluminium alloy, excellent as usual and even with a major fall the poles continued to work, albeit with a slight bend in one of the lower sections.

Camera; Olympus E-Pen 2, I was very pleased with the camera and am still learning how to use it, I was attracted to the Micro fourthirds in an effort to reduce weight, but maintain the quality offered by a DSLR. I also found that the user interface had some similarities with my Ricoh GX100 which made the transition a little less daunting. I intend to write a longer review on this camera in due course.

Nordkalotten Gear List

Below is my gear list for my 11 days on the Nordkalotten Trail, the total weight is a little over 16 kg. All weights in the list are in grams.

The weather outlook for the coming days indicates a little rain, a little breeze, a little sun and temperatures ranging between 5 and 15 degrees.


Rucksack
Aarn Mountain Magic 55L: 1,540

Sleeping

Warmlite 2c tent with pegs: 1,372
Nunatak Arc Specialist Quilt: 550
Neo Air Short: 270
Multimat (sit and feet): 98
Tyvek Groundsheet: 150

Cooking

Primus Micron Ti: 77
MSR 850 + BPL Lid: 110
AL foil windshield: 45
Reflextix Cozy: 23
Gas bottle stand: 20
Foldacup: 23
Short Handled Spoon: 9
Lightmyfire: 22

Clothing

Carried
BPL Cocoon Hoody: 339
Silk Long Johns sleeping: 191
BPL UL merino Hoody sleeping: 180
Hagloffs OZ Pullover: 219
Montane Featherlite Windshirt (worn): 100
Montane Featherlite Pants: 128
MLD eVent Overmitts: 30
Possum Fur Gloves: 42
Possum Fur Socks: 83
BPL Merino Hat: 20
Buff: 37

Clothing Worn

BPL Beartooth Merino Hoody: 272
IceBreaker SS Pulse Grey: 240
Montane Terra Converts: 384
Underarmour Compression Short: 118
Darntough Socks: 97
Injini Toe socks: 51
Merino Legless: 205
Salomon Quest boots: 1,576
Pacer Poles: 700
Tilley hat: 96
ID shortie gaiters: 66
BPL Headnet: 9

Various

OlympusE-P2: 467
Tripod: 296
Mobile phone: 167
Washkit with towel: 92
First Aid and repair: 150
3 l exped bag: 45
1 l exped bag: 27
GPS: 136


Food and Fuel

Nalgene 1.5 litre: 63
Platy 0.5 litre: 20
Swiss Army Classic Knife: 30
Fuel per day (GAS): 300
Fuel Carrier GAS: 220
Water: 500
Food per day: 7710

Total weight in Pack of just over 16 kgs.

Packing for a long trip.

Photo courtesy of Fjäderlätt


When going on a long trip often it is your food that takes up the most space. I am about to set off on an 11 day, 10 night, trip along the Nordakalotten, the weight of food I am carrying is planned to be 8.5 kg, now in some ways the weight is not important, however, the volume is. Given that as every day progresses the weight and volume in my pack will decrease ideally I would like to start out with too much stuff in a small pack than a large (heavier) pack whose weight and volume will soon become redundant.

This is my challenge for the trip.

I could take an Aarn Natural Balance 85l pack which will hold everything and weigh 2.2 kg or take an Aarn Mountain Magic 55, a 55 litre pack which may struggle initially but only weighs 1.54 kg (which is a weight saving equivalent of almost a days food.) So there is an obvious benefit then in using the smaller pack so it is the volume of the food that becomes critical.

Over at Backpacking Light there was a very good article on food and travelling light in the Sierras. The essence of the food section of this article was 2000 kj per 100 gms in food with 680 gms of food every day resulted in 14000 kj per day which was seen as sufficient for the trip. Which seems to me to be about right. So with that in mind I have aimed for foods that offer 2000 kj per 100 gms and are of low volume. Oils are off course one of the most obvious solutions but a bottle of oil a day does not seem to me to be an ideal solution.

So my basic menu is built around porridge in the morning, lunch of cheese and tortilla wraps or couscous meals and for dinner Real Turmat.

Porridge I use a menu developed from Bill McCartney's book Travel Light, Eat Heavy Along the Appalachian Trail and Other Mystical Routes and comprises oats Pecan Nuts raisins along with powdered milk and brown sugar.

Lunch is cheese and Tortilla Wraps or Lemon flavoured couscous with pine nuts and raisins.

Dinner is Real Turmat meals with home dehydrated fruit for dessert. The challenge with the Real Turmat meals is the bulky packaging. The packaging is robust and will withstand a lot of punishment, but when it comes to packing it is space hungry. Robin over at blogpackinglight has successfully tried repackaging Real Turmat meals and I am sure that this will help to reduce volume in the pack.

Packing the Aarn packs is an art, if you have a single sack bag with maybe some external pockets then everything has to fit into the main sac, but an Aarn pack requires you to think different. As I sit here writing this blog entry I have about 3 kg in each front pocket with about 11 kg in the main sack. The front pockets must contain all the days needs including food, camera, first aid etc so that the main section of the pack with dry bag is not opened.

I will let you know if I succeed

Am I there yet?

Well I am furiously working on my gear list, for my departure next week, currently the weights are made up of:

Equipment weight: 7 610 gms
Food and Fuel weight: 9 200 gms
Clothing Worn weight: 3 421 gms
Complete Pack weight 16 810 gms

The big three are

Pack Aarn Natural Balance (or in english) this is an 83litre pack yes a huge pack and I know I will not fill it, but the benefits include coming with 2 separate dry bag sections and thereby having sufficient space for all my gear whilst also keeping the wet gear away from the dry stuff. Weight of the pack is 2200 gms, if I can I will use a Aarn Mountain Magic 55 which weighs in at 1550 gms that will be nice, a work in progress.

Shelter, I am taking a Stephensons Warmlite 2 C a light tent but heavy by tarp standards, however, it is likely that there will be damp moist days and if its bug season then the ability to escape the hordes will be appreciated. Also the tent can be erected quickly with its 2 hoops and 3 pegs thus shelter can be erected in exposed conditions in under 5 minutes. Furthermore I intend to camp as high as possible as often as possible and this tent will cope with strong winds. Weight 1300 gms with seam sealing.

Sleeping, I never leave home without an Nunatak Arc quilt, for this trip it is the Arc Specialist weighing in at 550 gms.

So big three weight is 4050 grams, a little heavy but with it comes piece of mind. However I do not meet the 343 criteria, so this will be an aim for the next trip to the area.

Other equipment:

For cooking I am taking a MSR 850 kettle, a Primus Micron Ti stove with an Aluminium windshield and a mini lightmyfire the weight for the cook kit with spoon and cozy is 306 gms.

Sleeping, aside from the quilt I will be using a short Neoair and a multimat adventurer Quilt, neoair and multimat total weight is 918 gms.

Aside from sleeping clothing (silk pants and merino top) I will be carrying my Rab Demand PullOn which will be combined with Montane Featherlite pants and MLD eVent mittens, BPL Cocoon Hoody, Possum fur hat and gloves should the conditions be very wet and cold. Total weight of clothing carried in the pack will be 1230 gms.

I expect that for most of the time I will be wearing a Montane Featherlite Windshirt combined with a BPL Merino Hoody and possibly an Icebreaker short sleeve shirt, for bottoms it will be Montane Terra Converts, Icebreaker legless (if needed) and Underarmour shorts along with my Tilley Hat and normal socks.

There are of course other odds and ends such as camera, phone, first aid, personal hygiene which all add up in weight, but are very important.

A final gear list will be available in the coming days.

The Aarn Marathon Magic 33

The Marathon Magic is a 33 litre pack made up of a 30 litre main bag and 2 front pockets capable of holding 3 litres in total.


There are all sorts of fancy names for the harness system such as Omni Flow, U Flow and Conus Clip chest strap, however, what they do is ensure a snug fit of the pack with the body and as a result the the pack moves with you, partly as a consequence of shoulder harness where each side is connected using the U Flow system allowing the shoulder straps to move as you do. The conus clip which is perhaps best described as the alternative to the chest straps found on conventional packs, connects the shoulder straps together. The shoulder straps are in turn connected using the uflow strap. The net result of the harness system is that you are not “fighting” with the pack as you walk.

The hipbelt has a central buckle between the balance pockets and is connected to two points on each side of the pack, each of these straps are adjustable thus allowing the tension to be varied resulting in the ability to reduce pressure on any points or areas of discomfort that may occur.

The other unusual feature of the pack is the front balance pockets (which can be removed) these are designed to distribute the load with some of the weight placed on the front to counter balance the weight in the main sack. It is recommended that the pockets are loaded with heavy items such as water bottles etc.

For my recent trip trip the balance pockets contained a camera, my Velbon vpod tripod, tent stakes, approx 1 litre of water, all my food for the day as well as maps and other items for use during the day. In the past I have often used hipbelt pockets and shoulder strap pockets, to enable easy access while on the move, the balance pockets have replaced them, and have allowed me to access items such as camera and tripod without needing to remove my pack. The pockets may look strange but I felt that I was walking more upright, however, one trip does make a full test. One question that is often asked is can you see your feet, yes is the answer and the balance pockets do not interfere with my use of my pacer poles.

According to Aarn's website the main sack holds 30 litres, I have no reason to disbelieve that as I was able to carry my bivy, tarp, sleeping bag, neo air mattress, down jacket, pot and stove as well as odds and ends with some space to spare. It has a draw string closure with a flap with a small zippered pocket on the inside of the flap. Of note is the aluminum bar across the top of the flap which allows the shoulder straps to move as you walk providing a “load lifter” effect. I was able to place my Haglöfs Pullover under the flap when not wearing it.

Between the back and the pack there is Matrix Mesh, which I found to be very comfortable and have no doubt that in warmer weather would provide some airflow on back as you walked.

The front of the pack has a mesh pocket which is ideal for placing small items in it such as gloves, hats etc. The cross straps allow the securing of items to the outside such as sleeping mats. Also tucked away under these straps are points to secure walking poles.


I loaded the pack up with 8.5 kgs of gear for my over night trip with the front balance pockets holding about 2.5 kg. I quickly felt that I was walking more upright with the pack and noticed how it moved with me as I walked, there did not seem to be any weight on my shoulders as well there seemed very little pressure on my hips, though the hip belt was tightened.

I believe that this pack will be ideal up to 3 days 2 nights using lightweight gear and I am looking forward to using it again very soon.

There is an increasing number of dealers of Aarns packs, mine was purchased from Outlandia in Copenhagen, a visit to Aarns website will soon find more.

Aarns website also has several videos on how to fit and use the Aarn pack, which I found very helpful.

Torekov gear testing

Like Hendrik, I had the chance to get away for a quick over night trip. The focus of the trip was very much on testing some gear for up coming longer trips. I chose the location of my last visit the Bjärehalvön Penisula to explore and with temps around negative 10 at night it would be a good test of the clothing and sleeping gear. However, I was more interested in using the MLD Trailstar for its first trip along with the Aarn Marathon Magic 33.

After alighting from the bus I headed through the quiet streets of Torekov, these streets would normally be very busy in summer but at 10 am on a cold friday morning it was quiet. I sat for a while looking out to sea and watching a large Coast Guard vessel pass between the mainland and Hallands Väderö (in Swedish). It was then south along the coast with a calm sea to right, the sun in my face and the ground covered in snow or frozen water. The ice patches were thick and slippery and care was required with every step, however, I was soon warming up in the sunshine regretting not having packed either sun glasses or a peak caped.

A short stop allowed me to take a look at the view and made me realise how beautiful the coast was in the winter sunshine.


The remainder of the day passed uneventfully with my mind on the evening campsite and beginning to wonder how far below the surface would the ground be frozen, would I be able to get a peg in the ground, why did I not pack some Ti nails, would the water pump be working .... As I walked it was also obvious that very few people were out, even the dog walkers were noticeable for the absence.

I arrived at camp and quickly grabbed a 9” Easton alloy stake and started walking around pushing it into the ground, some spots were rock hard and others were less so, finding a spot on the east side of the trees to get the early morning sun and I set up the trail star, it was an easy task and though it required some adjustment I was pleased with the speed of the set up and reflected upon how in wet weather it would be easy to get some shelter quickly.


Having set up camp layed out my bivy and mattress, I spent some time just looking out to sea and enjoying the last of the afternoon sunshine.



A wander around the area soon found enough firewood for the stove and as the sun began to set I started a fire in the caldera inferno to cook dinner.



By the time dinner was finished, the sun was setting behind Kullaberg Naturreservet and the air was cooling. I wandered around for a while enjoying the peace, only punctuated by the bird song from Inre Gryteskär. I headed to bed and was soon asleep, as the night wore on even with a 1/4" Gossamer Gear Thinlight under my neo air there was some sense of coolness but I was never cold and slept till about 7:30 before the sun begun to brighten an already bright Trailstar, I love the yellow colour.

After breakfast in bed I set about packing up and after a further hours walk I was at the bus stop and 4 hours later at home.

It had been a very pleasant and relaxing walk and whilst it was old ground the scenery and the relaxing environment ensured a pleasant trip and one that I will happily do again.


Gear:
As has been stated by other authors, the MLD Trailstar is a great shelter, it is spacious, easy to erect, packs small, and has ample space to move around inside as well as offering a variety of pitches. For this trip I used a ID eVent Overbag wth the Therma rest neoair inside and the Gossamer Gear Thinlight (1/4" inch mat) underneath on a thin silnylon ground sheet. In warmer weather I probably use a BPL Vapor bivy or Six Moon Designs Meteor bivy for insect protection as well as a draft stopper.

I used a BPL 550 pot partnered with a Ti Tri Caldera Compact Inferno built for the MLD 850.

The pack as mentioned previously was the Aarn Marathon Magic 33 litre pack, I will provide a more detailed report of this pack in a later blog, however, I was very happy with it and enjoyed the experience of carrying the pack.