Trekkertent Stealth 1

A while back I had a couple of tents I was not happy with. In one case there were a few issues with design and so forth. Casting about for something simple and predominantly for use in the warmer months, I came upon Trekker Tents (trekkertent.com). What sparked my interest was the fact it was a small business and based in Scotland.

After further investigation I decided to go for the Stealth 1. It is a sloping ridge tent, high at the front and sloping to the rear. Basic size is 24" at rear or 60cm, consider using a 66cm pole at rear. Height at front is 41 inches and 59 inches wide. Basically there is enough room to sit up in, just.
The original aim of this tent was for cyclists who wanted something light and simple. Initially it comes in grey with a mesh inner with bathtub floor and the basic weight is twenty ounces. There are a few alternative options on offer, a fabric inner and also a choice of colour, I opted for a slightly heavier green 40D silnylon.
To be honest, it was the cost that really clinched it for me. At the basic price of £165, plus a little more cost added for the green fabric. Marc, who makes the tents is very helpful and can be asked to modify or add specific items.

Over the last few months the tent has been used in a variety of weather conditions. How have I found it? Pitching is straightforward. A niggle I had was having a single front pole. This was rectified by using my trekking poles in an A pole configuration, I use an A pole apex, a simple twist loop with front guy line around the ferrules of the trekking poles can suffice. This suits the tent very well and adds stability. The rear pole I use is a 66cm two section pole from 'Bear Bones Bivvy Gear'. Setting up is a matter of pegging out the two rear pegging points, slip  the pole in the grommet at the rear apex and peg out the guy line. Peg out the front two corner pegs, set up either single pole or your two trekking poles and peg out front guy line. A further peg, (I prefer two pegs) for the front porch and basically the outer tent is pitched. The inner is hooked with toggles on two loops on the fly and pegged out on the four corner guys. Some folk have an issue with issue with hooking up the rear of the inner due to the low height. However, why not hook it up when setting up the rear of the tent? For extra stability there are two pegs points mid way on the fly. They do keep the fly taut in windy conditions. There are also two extra guying points midway on each side of the fly. Something I have never put to use.

How does the tent perform? The porch area is surprisingly roomy. There is centre two way zip, thus both panels can be opened out and fastened by a simple loop and toggle system. There is room in the vestibule area to stow a rucksack. The inner tent does not offer a lot of space. There is enough though, I can fit all my bits and pieces in quite well. A tall person may struggle with head height. Obviously all the height is at the front end of the tent. Slightly restrictive but I have managed to dress and pack everything including the inner tent, with the tent battened down due to foul weather. As with all small tents, condensation can occur. Something I carry is a  very small fibre towel. Thus the inside of the fly can be dried off quickly.

 The tent comes seam sealed,  I did have to add a little more on the apex. Probably due to the fact I was using an A pole configuration. It is not supplied with poles or tent pegs. The tent can be pitched with just seven pegs, although I would recommend a minimum of nine. Normally I carry twelve which include a couple of very thin titanium wire type pegs. These are used on the trekking pole wrist straps to prevent the poles shifting.
This tent is what it is, small, compact, light and easy to pitch with a very small footprint. Over the last few months it has stood up well to a mixture of weather, including heavy rain and strong winds. If you want a static tent for campsite use this is probably not the tent for you. It is an ideal tent for the backpacker or cyclist who wants a reliable shelter at the end of a day's walking or cycling. For the ultralight folk, it can be used without the inner, offering an excellent tarp set up.
For the colder, winter months I will be using a slightly larger tent that offers that wee bit more space. The stealth has two stable mates. The Stealth 1.5 and the Stealth 2.
It is worth having a look at what Trekkertent have to offer. A word of caution though. Actual delivery times are slow. Marc has recently had a long bout of illness and is playing catchup with orders plus, I suspect, a lot of popularity for his tents.
A criticism I have heard is that the Stealth tents are copies of Saunders tents. However, ridge tents, in one form or another have been around for an awful long time. In fact they go back centuries if one wishes to be pedantic!
One final note, these are just my personal views on the tent. The tent was purchased by me and I have no association with Trekkertent.
If anyone wants a tent I still have a Nordisk Telemark one going at a very cheap price.

Salter's Road.

The Salter's Road is an ancient trade route. It actually dates way back in the mists of time. However in medieval times, salt was carried by pack horse from salt pans in England to Scotland. Often smuggled to avoid paying taxes. Whisky smugglers, Border Reivers, drovers and many others also used the trackway
My intention was to walk from Thropton the nearest point I could get to on the bus on the Thursday and head across country and on minor roads to Alnham. According to the map this was where the Salter's Road began.  Arriving at the village by midday, a quick bit of lunch was had, aware there was a fair mileage to cover I was a tad anxious to get underway. The footpath I wanted leading out of Thropton looked good. It was a false illusion though. Coming across an adjoining track the path up and vanished. On the map I could see where it ought to go and indeed there was a faint semblance of something leading through  dense, shoulder high grass and thistles. My suspicion was that this was more of an animal trail than human. This was further enhanced when I put up a Roe buck just in front of me. He was not a happy chappy, bounding down the slope to clearer ground, he spun round, stopped, throwing a wee wobbly, stamping his feet and snorting in indignation. Worse, I did not have the camera to hand. In sheer frustration I finally cut up the side of a field and on to the road. All the way across to Alnham constant map reading was required on vague bridleways and illusive footpaths. Mind, I had been warned that some Northumberland footpaths could be rubbish.

Alnham has a tower marked on the map. It is now someone's stately pile, surrounded by walls and trees.
Salter's road is marked as a restricted byway. The climb out of the village was enough to cause wobbly knees. Worse though was the dense vegetation. There is a path, of sorts, but oh my, a machete would have been useful in places. The swarms of flies heightened the sense of frustration. However, once up on to open moorland things eased up. Grazing cattle saw me pushing on to White Gate, ( actually a nondescript wooden one!) Once clear of the cattle I immediately looked about for a spot to camp, settling for an open spot with a stiff breeze to keep the winged beasties away. It had been a long afternoon with  a tad over eleven miles covered.

The weather people had warned of unseasonably low night time temperatures with the possibility of grass frost. They seemed to have got it right, it had been bitterly cold overnight and it had rained heavily too.The morning was still wet, mostly damp, drizzly stuff. Fortunately I was only in waterproofs for an hour or so. Across the moor I could see a shepherd on his quad driving sheep. From where I was I could see a small group of sheep hiding in a dip that had been missed. Trying to get his attention proved difficult. With some quick thinking, I whipped out my whistle and gave it a blast. It caught the dogs attention and in turn the shepherd's. Sheep sorted he came across for a wee natter.

Salters Road.
Dropping down to Ewartly Shank, The way on is on a hard surfaced track. A steep drop and then a long drag uphill by Little Dodd and down once more to Low Bleakhope and the upper Breamish valley. A couple of short, sharp showers came scudding through as I headed up the valley past Upper Bleakhope. (The house was empty).

Looking across to Little Dodd.

The Breamish valley is lovely, climbing up out of it was not so easy going though. A heavy shower saw me scrambling back in to waterproofs once again.

To be honest I was not moving that well. A lot of excuses could be offered, medical issues, age, laziness, whatever? With heavy showers becoming more frequent and the fact that if I pushed on it would mean heading through forestry. Thus it was somewhere by Rushy Sike I stopped. An extremely heavy downpour was the clincher really. A half day of walking with six and a half miles covered.

It was another cold night with heavy showers. By the time I set off it was just damp and mizzly. Hardly enough to warrant waterproofs so I opted for a spot of dampness.

Salters road is waymarked in places. Often popping up in unexpected spots, not always on the junctions of paths and tracks but further on. Thus it was an eye had always to be kept on navigation. This was more so once entering the forestry area where several tracks led off in varying directions. Originally I had been considering a loop down to Uswayford and around. Mulling things over though I was now more in favour of continuing directly on to the border ridge. The clincher was when I saw the turn off path. Well, it was marked as a path, on the ground it appeared more as a tangled mess through dense trees.

There was a lovely moment when, coming up through the forestry it all opened up and ahead was wide open moorland. There followed an easy ascent on to the border ridge itself. Windy Gyle was off to my left but I had no inclination to head off that way.

Instead I followed the ridge line along and eventually up and around to Cairn Hill (Scotsman' Cairn). It was then a descent down to the Harthope valley and camping fairly high. A distance of roughly just over nine miles.

A lovely camping spot, Harthope valley.
More rain overnight and once more a damp start to the morning. It was a fairly straight forward day heading down the valley and around to Wooler. My destination for the night was Highburn House camp site. It is a large caravan park for both statics and tourers but tents are well catered for. A large field area set aside specifically for tents. Rabbits abound all over the place. ( Mike please do not let Lucky read this!) Also squadrons of ducks patrol the area. Mainly staying in the caravan areas. Surprisingly my mileage for the day came out at just under ten miles.
This trip was a day shorter than intended but I am satisfied with it. Not a great number of miles but enough. On the way around I have seen herons, buzzards kestrels and according to the shepherd chappy, a hen harrier, wrens and various other bird life. Also have seen stoats, shrews and deer.
A few more photos.

 An a'patchy tent at campsite??

Cheviot wander

Recently I have had the privilege of a few wee wanders with Mick, a nearby neighbour and keen walker. He has three three pooches that require daily walkies and I have tagged along on a few of these dog walking forays. Normally I am a dogless pedestrian, a walker with no panting, faithful hound to keep me company! What have I been missing all these years? A kindly invite from Mick to join him has allowed me a glimpse into the workings of of the dog walking folk. Most of these people are a friendly bunch. Ditto the dogs, with much sniffing and tail wagging, ( the dogs, not the humans) they greet each other. Size and breed are no deterrent.

Mick had proposed a day walk in the Cheviots. On the drive up heavy showers of rain made things appear a tad daunting. However, on parking up close to Clennell, the rain eased and we were blessed with a day of walking in dry conditions. Mick's two smaller dogs were not up to a full day of walking. Bobby though was a dog of boundless energy and was keen to supervise these two humans as we wandered up the valley.

 For a time we followed the river Alwin and then struck off to follow a number of forestry tracks. Wildlife was plentiful. Herons, buzzards and kestrels, roe deer bounding up the hill. We had no particular plan in mind and where content to meander wheresoever our footsteps led us. Bobby was a doggy dynamo, busy exploring all and sundry and yet keeping an eye on his human companions.

Rather than take a direct route back to the car we took to a bridleway that ran high above the valley. A delightful walk.

All in all we had a pleasant day of walking. We finished the day with a brew on Mick's jetboil. Thank you Mick for the company, thank you too Bobby for keeping a watchful eye on your two wayward charges.

Hodge podge

Recently, between trips, I have been attempting to walk on a daily basis. Usually it averages from a minimum of around a couple of miles to a more usual round of four to five miles. Rather than rabbit on about the trivia of daily doings, a few photos may suffice to offer a better story.

 A walk around Amble and the surrounding coast.

 A rather infested field of wheat.

A youf training ship in Blyth harbour.

Folks up the rigging.

Fishing coble, Druridge bay, walkies with Mick, an interesting gent with three lovely hounds.

A day walk with Mike and intrepid hound Lucky.

Interesting rock formations. Again, on a day walk from Alnwick with Mike.

Mike, trying his cragging skills?

Contorted rock formations, Cloudy Crags.

There is something perversely exhilarating about walking along the tide line, despite the wetness, rain and wind. The roar of the surf, the waves crashing on the beach  can be quite thrilling, odd??

Long Crag round

Initially I had been looking at getting away for a few days. However, the forecast was for a low pressure system coming in from the north. Rain, low temperatures and wind had been on the menu.
Thus this really was just a prolonged day walk.
Came up on the Monday afternoon. Walked from Wooler over to Carey Burn bridge. From there turned on to the Middleton Old Town path and then swung off up toward Brands Hill. The path skirts around it joining a track that comes up from the valley. Saw a hare close by, he was a big lad too. Camped a bit further on. Just in time with wet, drizzly wet stuff drifting across the hill.

It rained for most of the night. At times it was heavy, accompanied by a blustery wind. The worst of rain had passed by morning. Bands of mizzly dampness came sweeping though during the early part of the day. Hardly enough for waterproofs, enough to makes thing quite damp

 Came over by Langlee Crags, on to Long Crag and back to Housey crag. Dropped down to the valley and then back up by Hausen Burn and over to Broadstruther. Things had somewhat cleared up by the afternoon and I was content to sit and have a prolonged lunch break.

A couple of folk who come up by the Carey Burn stopped to ask for help. They had a printed route sheet that, to put it mildly, was confusing. Put them on the right direction back over the hill to their car.

It was then a gentle amble back over to Wooler Common where I camped prior to catching the bus in the morning. Heavy rain during the night and wet, misty stuff by morning.
Overall it averages out at roughly 13 to 14 miles of walking. A few uphill bits to improve my uphill ability a tad?

A few more photos.