 I'm on top of that. Since did we have a problem? Hello, welcome to another video. It's been a while. And I'm out and it is, well, it's chucking it down, but it's my only window I've got. I was waiting for a break in the rain, but it isn't coming. It's forecast rain for the next two or three weeks. I'm just gonna do it because I need to do it. The rain's falling in on itself. It's been too long. I've got a new four season tent to check out as well, so it might as well put it through its paces. I'm off up there. Into the fog. There probably won't be any views are out, but sometimes you get caught out by the weather and sometimes it has the opposite effect and it's nicer than you planned for. I'm just going to get my mountain legs back under me and we'll see where we're at. It's going to be a wet and windy wild camp. Stay tuned. His sideways, my ears are popped. Not only am I testing a new tent and dragging my brain out at doldrums, it's also the final farewell to my lower renegades. I've had them for years. There's old inch sides. They're hardly fit for purpose now, so I thought instead of throwing them away, one last ceremonial adventure for them before they go to big shoe shopping in the sky. Get views man. You can't, you probably can't even hear how anyway. So we'll just do it best we can here and we'll cobble, cobble some of it together because this is a secondary thing. First is, first is getting me in mind out at doldrums. Second is testing this tent out before I take it on some longer adventures. She's a wetting. That'd be a bit much. That'd be a bit dangerous. Yeah, looks a bit fast flowing to me. And it's at the very least. Sucking from knee down in it. It's anywhere down here. Oh, let's go further up and see if we can find somewhere. Otherwise, it's going to have to be a wet foot crossing. Mountain duck. Mountain ducks. Lads, lads and lasses. How deep is it there guys? I looked deep. See as late as. That's waist height. Oh, that's waist height, man. I am playing them games. I mean, even if I get across, where am I? Oh, dude, it's too deep. You could swim in it. Oh, shit. It's been chucking it down for pretty much weeks. And so, we're in like a basin here. And all these hills from around here are just pissing water down into the middle. And to be fair, it's created quite a nice deep swimming area. But it's proven a bit difficult to cross. And I guess it's more dangerous than I think, because you can see it's swirling. Swirl jam. I aren't going in. I'm not doing it, am I? I'm doomed. Am I doomed? To stay this side of the river? Yeah. And there's these little thin bits, but they're even deeper. Are they? Yeah. That's waist deep, man. That's waist management. If you knew how hard it was for me, just to even get to the start line of this, of this trip. Well, anyway, it doesn't matter. The amount of times I've just sat in van and been like, like, all gear ready and that. I just can't do it. Can't push myself out there because the dog, the black dog is just too heavy. Can't carry it. And then it's just taking a it's taking a lot to get out. Today and I know like, oh, what? You're only going camping, but it is more than that. It's actually just leaving, you know, going out for the day or you know, sometimes it's it's hard, harder leaving house than it is doing like the coast to coast. You know, some days I genuinely feel that like it's harder just to plug into the real world and just do what you're supposed to do. Then it is. Once I've set off, I can be a machine, but it's just getting there. But I'm here and I'm not going to let this overflowing river stop me. So we're getting across whether it's by hook or by crook. Oh, oh, oh, oh, but I just absolutely getting soaking, which is probably what it's going to be, but we're doing it. Go for it. A few tips for river crossing. First of all, check out the best place to get across and then look for exit strategy. In case it all goes wrong. If your feet get swept out from under you, you've got to find out like, right, I'm not going to get swept off that waterfall. I can just pull into this side bit and with zero dignity, crawl out. Face the way of the water so that your feet are facing upstream because you're more stable and less likely to get swept off your feet. Let's do it. It's going to get wet. Oh, oh, oh, oh. You didn't say always facing up the river or the water, whatever it is. Top tips. Come on. Made it, bro. This is why waterproof boots are just pointless in these conditions. You may as well go for some of that light and that dries quicker. Or a pair of, a pair of wellies, or waders or something. Anyway, you'll keep your feet dry. Beautiful views here. Down to bottom here. Can't see for dunk. All the tributaries in the the streams are just white. That's how fast it's flowing. It looks like snow. It doesn't look like it's going to ease off at all. It's relentless. Feet, obviously from waist down is drenched. I'm not sure about top half. I've got this finished waterproof top on. I got from Northern Monk when we did the brewing the beer on top of Ben Nevis. But it has an emblem here. That they'd sewn on afterwards, which became a big leaking thing. So I've nickwaxed the whole thing and covered this bit with gaffer tape, hopefully just to keep some of water out. Is it working? I don't know. It's hard to tell at this stage if it's sweat or rain. But on days like this you're going to be wet. And I recently did a video on how to how to hike in the rain. So I'll leave that there if you want to check it out. I've got a gravel bag, like a plagi bag in my backpack. I've got my rain cover over the top, dry clothes for when I get in tent. I should be fine. As long as tent doesn't let me down. It's relentless. On the plus side, it's quite soothing, isn't it? It is quite soothing and the thought of conquering the rain and getting all tucked up in my waterproof tent is a wonderful feeling. Just got to deal with a bit of hardship first and that's good. Have a little dip in there tomorrow, but I don't fancy dropping my core temperature too much now before getting into sleeping bag. We'll do that tomorrow, maybe. Temperatures dropped now that we're up here, find somewhere on this side of hill because wind is blowing this way and if I'm tucked into this side of hill, it should give me a little bit of respite from what's to come and it is biting. Biting cold. Shit views, mate, but so what? It's more than that. I don't even know if you can hear me on this thing, but it's not about the views, mate. It's about when life's kicking your ass, just kick your own ass even more. Take control of it, mate. Own it. And it's easy for me to say now I'm doing it, but if you're on the surfer and you're in two mines, mate, just life's kicking your ass. Just go kick your own ass. Go do a run, go to gym, climb a mountain, eat a muller, rice, yogurt, whatever. Own it. Kick your own ass, mate. Toxic, mate. But I don't even know what I'm saying. Is it true? I feel like it right now is that I'm taking ownership by making it hard on my terms. Calcifying the old noodle and the body. Happy days. Best go find somewhere to pitch up now. Struggling to find somewhere that's not completely bogged out. Got a pitch on this stuff. Sideways, we're in. It's been bad all day, but starting to get a bit more ominous. I'll get pitched here. Before it gets any worse. I've topped out. I've had a look round. There's no views to be had because I'll get me shelter knocked up. Wet clothes off, dry clothes on. Maybe a bit of tea, won't go. And that's it. Just relax, man. Just listen to an audio book and and just zonk out. Tearing over there's a compact AS. I don't even know if you can hear me, mate. I'm going to do a proper review of this tent. I won't go through specs or anything now. It's my first time using it, sir. I'll reserve judgment until I've until I've until I've used it a bit. And I'm doing a full review of it, but there is a discount code for it. If you want offer anything actually on the on the tearing over website and they've got some they've got tents to suit all budgets. And I also got some a couple of pairs of gloves off them, which I have been wearing, but it's difficult when you you're filming and stuff. But if you want to check it all out, there's a discount code, which is this and I'll leave a link below. So go and check it out and get yourself a little bit of a discount if you want. These are gloves. I got extremities. Recommend them. I've been using them and I recommend them. Right, this bit is just rough as what I'm going to be doing is dumping all wet stuff outside. Socks and lot. Excuse luminous pegs. Top part's pretty dry-ish. Come on. Right. Down with me, mate. I tell you what, bags dry straps aren't, but rest of bags dry because I've had my bag cover on. Get that zipped up. Yes, man. What's that for? I don't know. I'll get to know in the future. You know, it didn't matter. Closed up. Yes. It's got these little Velcro bits on the back, look that open right through and then another bit on the outside. So it's a full on let's the draft go all the way through. It should be good for condensation we'll see. Sorry, just to have a luminous kegs on last life in it. Oh, no, I'm soaking. That's up front of me. I think side of me is dry and back of me, I think. Well, it's just because it's not waterproof. Is it? That's what that jacket even not waterproof or you just been going down top and just leaking all the way down, which I think it probably that's what it is. What you do in this situation, you'd be thankful that we're in here and it's dry. I mean, this is a one-man tent. As well. Very spacious and at last a true one-man tent, not just like a cocoon or where you need a two-mana. This is an actual one and a half, but perfect for one. I'm kneeling up here so far. So very good. I did bring my Delta pegs, but these pegs that come with it. They're pretty chunky and there's a lot of guy out points. And I was having a look round and I thought, yeah, let's just give it a test with how it with the pegs that it comes with, it seems pretty sturdy with all the guy out points. It is four seasons. So it goes down to the floor and it seems very sturdy. There's a lot of room in here, but we wanted to do now is anything that's wet off and then on with my merino base layer, my down trousers, down jacket and dry socks. Get me a bed blown up and then that's like then that's tent zone in it nice and dry. And then tomorrow morning is the absolute sure of getting all that warm and dry stuff off and then it's back on with wet socks, wet trousers. And we go hiking. Let's get our dry layer on then. That's me all dry. I've got my acclimat merino wool base layer on. I've got down trousers. These are nature hike down trousers, rab down jacket and merino wool socks on all dry. I've got this buff hat thing fleece lined. This is from this is from Terra Nerva as well. They do gloves and hats and things. Definitely worth checking out. It's like a snood. Look at it. It's huge. It goes around your neck is like a buff. Then on the night can come up over head door sorts with it. I also use it because it's fleece lined been wrapping my batteries in it further for the camera. So there's a lot of the run out in the cold. I've cracked open the door on the outside a little bit. It's got like a little roof bit on it so that no water can get in just to help with condensation. Then I've pulled this back. So there's just mesh here. My sleep system under here. I've got my mithin mat like yoga mat, whatever just just as a little bit of extra protection for the pad and an extra layer of warmth as always. I mean she's been through wars. I've patched it up a few patches on it. I must have had this maybe six or seven years used it extensively. It's the Neoware X-Term large pillar is the rapid SL pillar by Big Agnes. I've got my sleeping bag, which is the Rab Ascent 900 and then I bring this with me. It's my summer quilt, which is also which is a Big Agnes. What is it? I don't know. Here we go. That's what it is. Fusel ultralight. It's a down blanket. It was for some of you certainly, but when you bring it out in winter because it's only small, it just gives you that extra layer to go over top of sleeping bag to keep me nice and warm. Cook up some of it to eat and then it's audio book. I'm not going to go back out there now that I'm all dry and I've got dry socks on. There's no pointing going out there. I'll keep checking. I've got a little hole there. I can check through there for now. I'm just tent bound. Sturve of choice for this trip is the Serta Windmaster. It has this lip around the top. Back off, John. You see this lip around the top? It's really small, but it protects the flame from the wind. Does a sterling job and this thing comes off. Should you want to pack it down smaller and that bit folds away, but webs for now. It's got a built-in ignition as well. It's good. It's just good stuff. Torx 500. Got me trusty clean canteen back. Flip the handle up and it slides along into this groove here and then it'll stay up. Pretty good. There we go. Top tip. A lot of these dried meals. I'll have a little sachet in it to keep it dry. Countless times I've just forgot about it and put water in and then you get to it and you're like, Oh God, that can't be good for me. Wherever it is, it just works its way to, there you go. It just works its way to the top and you can discard that. There you go. We're on. What are we on? Beef stew with potatoes. Yes. Yes, please. Fill lines. See, fill level. You'll maybe see in there, but you maybe won't. There's loads of lines with letters next to them and it's each one. That's a different letter. This one is C. So quite a lot of wet. There you are. Extra long titanium spoon helps you get to the bottom of your camping meals. Fasten the back up and then you leave it for 8 minutes, but I like to leave them on a little bit longer. Maybe 10 minutes, 10 to 15 even as long as you want. And that goes in there, boy. Yes. And can you feel it heating all your organs up? And that is when you went to camping. That's another top tip. Get your dinner. Get your dinner in your stomach before you put it in your stomach. No, get your dinner on your stomach before you put it in your stomach. Top tip. That's one thing that I love about camping when you're doing like multi days and it or if it's raining is you've got to be really meticulous with your stuff. Quite slow and quite considered because you just end up making it hard for yourself. If you rush stuff and you don't put stuff away properly or you know, you get stuff wet that isn't supposed to be getting wet. You're only just making it hard on yourself. So it's worth just slowing down and just taking your time with everything. And that's one of the joys of it is conquering that is conquering the elements. It's keeping everything dry. I mean, I say that and then come tomorrow morning when I've got to put all that wet clobber on. It's a different story, isn't it? In tears. Oh my word. Look at it. It looks like sick a little bit, but obviously it's not going to look gourmet. Is it? There you are. Look. That's lovely. There's something to eat ones might be my favorite. Maybe I'll do a review. Shall I do some reviews of camping meals? See which one is the actual best eating before you go to bed keeps your one as well because your body is breaking down the food. And some of it to do with science makes you warm. Ow. Shiny headlamp in the face. You can see me. I don't know if you can hear on this, but it's still pissing it down. One of the things about camping in winter is that like four o'clock or whatever it is or whatever it was today because of the rain. I free for four o'clock. You just hunkered down. I've just been listening to an audio book for like five hours and nearly finished it. The Satsuma complex by Bob Mortimer. I recommend it. I've not finished yet, but it's really good and I'm really enjoying it. But it's cracking on now. I'm going to hit the here and just listen to the rain as I drift off because I like it. It's very soothing. As long as it's not like mad. Windy. I don't mind it. This is quite soothing. But hopefully tomorrow be able to see. I mean like a little bit of a delve. So that's it. Unless some of mint or shit happens. I shall see the on the morrow. What a night. It hasn't stopped raining. The winds have started to pick up and the area that I'm in. I found this little sort of delve and it is flooded and it's getting worse because I can see I mean you can see look look at that. It's just undulating underneath the tent where there's standing water. It's not good. Oh no. It's flooded. I mean I can't really you go back to sleep. But then the unappened the unappened does it. It unappened does it. That's it. It's lovely and sunny out there. Lovely and dry and sunny. So I'll just probably open the door. Make myself a coffee, sprawl out in the sun, pick some flowers and then skip down there. Have a little swim. No. The reality is I've got to get up and I've got to put all my all them wet clothes on and deal with the fact that I'm actually camping in a massive puddle right now. And the winds picking up so I best get out of it. Get me wet clothes on trying to square everything away without getting everything else wet and then make a move. Oh look at this man. Look at this. That's I'm on top of that. You think we have a problem? Oh, I've got to put I've got to put these clothes back on. Oh, look at my clothes. Absolutely. They're soaking man. Let's get out of here. I've got to pack up. Yo mate. I'll tell you what, I was going to go for a swim, but I've had to put these clothes on and they are drenched, make drenched. Look at that. He's pelting it down. So I've got to get 10 put away. This is the wettest I've ever been on the camp out for sure. I'm actually sleeping in a puddle like a big puddle. My hands are cold. Everything's cold. Right. Let's get squared away and get off this hill. Take only memories. Leave only puddles. I'm laughing, but did like no, didn't know. Oh, no, just no. Just getting up there. Look at that man. That's where I was in that puddle. Just getting up there and having to put these because all these clothes were in the puddle so they were just saturated and to go from like nice and warm and dry to putting them on and packing that tent up was one of the worst camping experiences of my life. And I don't mind admitting it. It was rough, mate. It still is rough. I'm freezing. Oh, it's really closed out now. I'm definitely the only one out here because all that river crossing at the beginning will have deterred most rational mines. Oh, man, look at this. Embrace it, I guess. You've got to embrace. The hardships, aren't you? Life's been kicking my ass of late. Brain's just been absolutely mullered because why just seasonal stuff in it and other stuff, just mental stuff. Nogging's not been right and oh. Yeah, it's been kicking my ass and now my new thing is look just I kick my own ass. There it is. Kick my own ass and then what are you going to do? What are you going to do? Galvanized Calloused. I feel stronger even though I feel freezing on them. Oh, all that, but it is freezing and I'm sucked to the bone. But in some weird way, I just feel great. I feel good because it's just real in it. It's real and honest, honest hardships. Instead of like mental hardships. This is just like I know where I am with this. It's just honest and good in it. Whereas being so mentally like having the black dog on you and not being able to do out not being able to like get and leave the house or do anything motivational or do anything good for you and being your own worst enemy. That's hard to get your head round. Whereas this is is hard, but I can get my head round it. I'm like, yeah, this is it. We're just soldier on. But it's tough. I don't know what I'm saying actually because I'm concentrating on not falling down here and also keeping an eye on where I'm supposed to be going. I'm just contemplating whether to go for a swim. But I think that's a bit daft because I'm soaked to the bone anyway because all my clothes were soaking this morning. I've got a chill in me and so it'd be a bit foolish to go fully swimming and then like down shivering. Plus I've got that river crossing and so that's going to all going to liven me up because that's going to be some health today in it. Extra fast. You know, I want to just keep me wits about me and I'm too cold. I'm too cold to go swimming. And that's I'm swimming now. Literally feel like I'm in water now. I've got coldness in my bones, man. If this was like the first day of a multi-day hike where I was doing like two weeks, I'd be in a lot of trouble, I think because everything's soaking wet from sleeping in a puddle. And if there was no rest bite from the rain, you know, like, because normally you get a little day of sunshine or summer dry, but if it was like this, which it is up here, it has been like this for the last couple of weeks. It's going to be like this for the next couple of weeks as well. I don't know what you do, mate. You'd be you just have to be wet. The majority of my stuff, my tent stuff is dry. So it would just be a case of having to suck it up and hike in absolutely sodden stuff. And then just try and keep your tent stuff dry all the way around the oven top of there. Too wet. Too wet and cold, isn't it? To be doing this. Walk backs. I should get somewhere dry and warmer. Come on. Bit of a jump, innit? A bit cold though. Bit of a cold start, but jump. I'm genuinely concerned about that river crossing that I did yesterday because everything's just everything's just overflowing, man. And it might be too high and too fast. But I have to stay out here till spring summer 24. Can't find my breadcrumbs that I left, but we're in. The wind is biting through me. I appreciate being warm and dry. And I look forward to the next time that I am. I'm like, oh, I'm going to get so dry and so warm, hopefully. A lot deeper and it's a lot faster flowing now. Yeah, this is a lot higher and a lot faster than last time. But if I want to get home, I've got to do it. It's got to keep facing up river like like last time. That could have been a lot worse. And I'm thinking this. Don't even funny. So cold. All right. It's kind of funny now. Well, that wasn't funny at the time. I was like, am I going to get stuck off this waterfall? Game over. I had no choice. Otherwise, I was just going to have to live out there. River crossing was wild. Like a few meters away from where I fell, that's where it goes over edge like and if I'd gone over edge, that'd have been me. Probably game over. Definitely game over. I was close to logging off there. Won't that? I didn't even think about it. And I was like, oh my God. And then afterwards I had a bit of an adrenaline dump. I couldn't have at tops there. No, I started to bonk out a little bit. I think I make sure just like being so cold and the adrenaline of like nearly getting swept over that waterfall. I'm going to do it to you, isn't it? I hope you can still hear me. Whoa. What have we learned? We've learned stuff, haven't we? Hey, we learned stuff together. No, mate. As I say, the old noodles have been kicking my head in of late and it's taken me a long time and it was hard to hit up the geese. It was hard to get to the start line on this one. There's a few, a lot of failed attempts and a lot of beating myself up about stuff and whatever, but and this has been probably in recent memory anyway, the hardest camp and hike I've done as far as weather conditions and stuff. And as I start to come back down there and towards the van I'm filled with elation. I'm absolutely giddy, but I just, I've done it, that it's done. I've conquered it, left it all up there. I'm not going to cry. Because it's rain, it's just rain. Ah, that's a good one, mate. And there was something, when I got to the top and I topped out and I was thinking of like, I don't know if it's a good advice, but when life's kicking your ass, kicking your own ass is what I kept thinking. It's like, you know, if you, I mean, there's levels in there of getting your ass kicked by life and stuff, but if you're struggling with motivation and the black dogs on you, you can earn that, you can be like, you know what, I'll kick my own ass and you can go on a beastly run, beastlier than you normally would. Go to the gym, go hiking in the mountains, do something like for yourself, out of your comfort zone, push yourself. And then he thought, he thought it'd be over and then that negative thoughts and that dark cloud is like, all right, fair enough. Fair enough. He's on one. Let's leave him alone. And I feel like that, I feel like a weight lifted off me and tented really well. Considering it was in a puddle, very well indeed. I'll leave a link below for the discount code if you want. I'll do a proper review of it because I didn't get to show you what bells and whistles and those bits that I want to look at as well. So when the weather's a bit better, I'll have a proper look at it. But for now, I'll send you an output love and if you're going through it, mate, if your noggin's not in a good place or you're struggling, I'll send you an output love. Dark times pass, mate, dark times pass and look after yourself. You don't have to kick your ass as much as I've kicked my ass today, but kick your ass a little bit. You know, force yourself to get up and do something, do something positive for yourself and you'll be reaped, mate. Now, but love more of why.