Stormy weather
Chris Townsend literally wrote the book on backpacking but is still surprised now and then
Late on a cloudy day in the Southern Highlands the skies cleared, and I had a lovely view from Beinn Dubhcraig to distant Loch Lomond. The clouds soon returned, though they stayed high as I crossed Ben Oss. Ahead loomed the steep slopes of Ben Lui. The flat, grassy col between the two hills looked a superb campsite with great views. I knew a storm was forecast but I hoped it wouldn’t arrive until well into the next day and I knew I could rely on my shelter
– the Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar – to withstand bad weather, so I made camp. The evening was peaceful. It started to rain as I fell asleep.
Then the world changed. Just before midnight I was woken by torrential rain and blasts of wind that shook the Trailstar. The storm had arrived. Having used it in other strong winds I didn’t think it would collapse. However, it wasn’t pleasant under the shaking nylon, and I didn’t think I’d get any sleep anyway due to the tremendous noise of the rain hammering on the nylon and the roar of the gusts of wind.
Moving camp seemed a good idea. I knew that downhill on the lee side the ground wasn’t too steep and there should be shelter from the wind. Putting my waterproofs on over bare skin, I ventured outside, unpegged the Trailstar, bundled it round the contents, dragged it a short way downhill, and pitched it again. The wind strengthened. It wasn’t far enough. I moved camp again, further down the slope. The wind faded to light gusts. Only fifty metres from the col and it was a different world again. The ground wasn’t flat, but I fell asleep anyway, relieved.
The heavy rain was still hammering down the next morning. I didn’t mind. I was out of the wind.
WHAT DID I LEARN?
When there’s a storm forecast, don’t be lured by an exposed site just because it’s scenic. Stay cautious and avoid complacency. The fact there’d been no big storms in pre-vious weeks (this was on my Scottish Watershed walk) didn’t mean there wouldn’t be in the future. I’d been right to choose the Trailstar, a reliable shelter in stormy weather, for this walk. By luck I’d been able to move camp easily. I’d look for escape routes when camping on exposed sites in future.