Bivviing on the Kerry Way

Donny5

I'm hoping someone here can answer a question for me about the Kerry Way. I'm thinking of walking it early in December, and I was wondering if it's possible to bivvi or hammock along the route? I'll be alone, don't mind going off-route to find some trees, asking permission from landowners and always leave sites identical to how I found them.

Any suggestions or experiences welcome!

Thanks,
Donny

Holybejaysus

I would recommend a tent rather than a bivvy, it could be damn cold and wet in December I camped some of it over the Summer, the Killarney, Black Valley, Kenmare legs are well wooded, should be no problems finding a nice sheltered spot for the night. Also, there is a great forest right on the track just a mile or two beyond Glencar. I camped in a field behind the pub, but if I had known I would have gone the extra 15 mins and camped up in the forest beside the river.
Waterville, Caherdaniel and Cahirciveen are coastal, and are mostly exposed, mountainous and rocky. Ended up in hostels on this leg on the trip.
Great walk if the weather is good though. If you are looking for great refreshments try Cookie Monsters Cafe in the Bridia Valley, good grub at a decent price.
Also, there is a pretty cheap hostel in Waterville called the Silver Sands, it was a tenner for a bed, breakfast included! Pretty cool spot actually...

NathanKingerlee

Agree with Holybejyasus about finding woodland for bivving on about half of the Kerry Way. If it's dry and frosty it sounds great, but if you get a miserable Dec week, with the southwesterly winds and rain sweeping in off the Atlantic it'll be pretty tough going! I've done it sleeping in a bivvy bag in the Autumn - it was dry and was grand, although no creature comforts

irishlostboy

a good tarp and bivy bag and you will be fine. if you know how to use em.

Donny5

Holybejaysus wrote: »

I would recommend a tent rather than a bivvy, it could be damn cold and wet in December I camped some of it over the Summer, the Killarney, Black Valley, Kenmare legs are well wooded, should be no problems finding a nice sheltered spot for the night. Also, there is a great forest right on the track just a mile or two beyond Glencar. I camped in a field behind the pub, but if I had known I would have gone the extra 15 mins and camped up in the forest beside the river.
Waterville, Caherdaniel and Cahirciveen are coastal, and are mostly exposed, mountainous and rocky. Ended up in hostels on this leg on the trip.

Thanks, Holybejaysus, that's the kind of info I was after. I think, from having a gander at the OSi maps, Google's satellite imagery and advice like yours, that I should be able to find two trees to hammock between almost everywhere. It mightn't always be the most sheltered spot, but I think I can live with that.

I'd rather avoid hostels if I can. As long as I can find two trees three to six metres apart, I'm happy my gear will keep me warm and dry-ish.

NathanKingerlee wrote: »

Agree with Holybejyasus about finding woodland for bivving on about half of the Kerry Way. If it's dry and frosty it sounds great, but if you get a miserable Dec week, with the southwesterly winds and rain sweeping in off the Atlantic it'll be pretty tough going! I've done it sleeping in a bivvy bag in the Autumn - it was dry and was grand, although no creature comforts

Thanks for your advice, also, Nathan. I'm planning for that weather alright, having just non-stop rain and wind. I'm taking the old Hope for the best, plan for the worst approach. Do you think I would be able to find even small copses or pairs of trees to hammock or bivvi under? I don't carry trekking poles, so I would a minimum of one tree or fence post to bivvi off. Two would be much more comfortable. If I go the bivvi route, I'll have a big 4.5m x 3m tarp I'll A-frame, then kip under it in a hammock or on a rollmat.

irishlostboy

Donny5 wrote: »

..... I don't carry trekking poles.....

if i were you, i would carry trekking poles. they are super cheap, super light and super useful for all sorts of things. one, as you can tell, is making camp. even if you dont need them to walk with (with high weight on your back it helps to use at least one pole i find) you can stow them handy enough i am sure on your pack.
multi-daying it in winter, you will need a lot of food. usually i find winter i will need half again as much as in summer. in -5 and lower, bivying, i would go with double rations. also need way more fuel to get things up to temp. so the old walking pole may come in handy once all that is on your back.
do a test camp near home to test all kit and camp configurations.

Donny5

Thanks for the advice, irishlostboy. I might end up carrying a pair of aluminum tent poles for making a bivvi, although they tend not to hold up against wind. Trekking poles aren't really my thing, and even the light ones are too heavy to carry as dead weight.

For food, I'll be bringing exped rat packs, 2400 Calories a day for 650g. Ten of them adds up to 6.5Kg, but it'll one one of those lovely loads that gets lighter as I go. The dry weight of my gear is hovering around 12Kg right now. Add to that about 11.5Kg of water and food, and at least another couple of Kg when the rucksack gets soaked, and I figure I'll be around the 26-27Kg mark. It'll make for a stiff day 2, but nothing major. Even two or three years ago, I may have tipped 35Kg, before I went lightweight, or as close as I'll ever get!

irishlostboy

personally, i dont mind weight. i am not into the bivy thing for lightness. more into the fact that you can kip in spots you never could with a tent.
on a 3 day winter bivy trip in way sub-zero temps i found i would wake every 2 hours to eat. i brought loads of breakfast bars and chocolate. keep a few in your sleeping bag so they are not too cold. when they get too cold i find they hurt to eat cos they are so hard.
we used trangias to cook. great kit, but you do have to keep the burners in an inside pocket with a bit of fuel in them. when the fuel is cold, it wont catch. ditto with lighters. keep them warm.
i also found that in these conditions i slept a LOT. partly the fatigue. we walked nearly all day with 40-50 kg each. it takes it out of you. i found i would get set up in my bivy, cook up quick. have a brew then be asleep before 6pm. i would sleep in 2 hour bursts until about 12pm. do a cook up, get the brew in, take care of business, then we would be awake and chat until about 4am, stuffing our faces the whole time. bit of a nod-off till 6 or 7am, breakfast, and on the way with sunrise. i found this interesting as we all had the same pattern, with no alarm, and we were not waking each other up to do any of this. it was just our bodies adapting to the cold/dark.

Mitch Buchannon

Donny5 wrote: »

The dry weight of my gear is hovering around 12Kg right now. Add to that about 11.5Kg of water and food, and at least another couple of Kg when the rucksack gets soaked, and I figure I'll be around the 26-27Kg mark. It'll make for a stiff day 2, but nothing major. Even two or three years ago, I may have tipped 35Kg, before I went lightweight, or as close as I'll ever get!

Would you mind putting up your gear list? I think between us we could get you base weight (everything w/o food & water) down from 12 kgs.

Mitch Buchannon

Im not familiar with the Kerry way so I went to the Kerry Way website and looked at the route (http://www.kerryway.com/trail-maps/index.php).

It looks to me that you pass through towns along the way. Would you consider posting some of your food ahead for collection at the post office ? I know a lot of long distance walkers do this instead of needlessly carrying it. You could also in the same box have, changes of clothes and a preprepared label with your home or local post office address. Once you have collected the box and restocked you could post the dirty clothes back to your house / local post office.

I'm not saying I'm right or wrong, I just wondering if you have thought of this option.

Because as the weight goes down the joy goes up.

Donny5

Hi, Mitch, I'll pop up a kit list over the weekend when I get a chance to finalise everything. I don't think you'll be able to get any weight out of it, as I won't be buying any new lighter gear and I won't be leaving anything behind, but it'll be interesting to see what you think of it.

As for posting stuff ahead to a post office, are you sure you can do that? I'm not sure how happy I'd be relying on An Post for something like this, to be honest, but if it's possible, I might keep it in mind for the future.

Mitch Buchannon

Donny5 wrote: »

Hi, Mitch, I'll pop up a kit list over the weekend when I get a chance to finalise everything. I don't think you'll be able to get any weight out of it, as I won't be buying any new lighter gear and I won't be leaving anything behind, but it'll be interesting to see what you think of it.

As for posting stuff ahead to a post office, are you sure you can do that? I'm not sure how happy I'd be relying on An Post for something like this, to be honest, but if it's possible, I might keep it in mind for the future.

We may or may not be able to reduce your pack weight sure we can try.

As for posting stuff ahead of you for collection - Yes you can.

I'm surprised more people dont know about these services. Lots of countries postal providers have this available. UK, USA, Canada, France, Australia to name but a few...

"What is the Poste Restante service?
Poste Restante is a service from An Post
which allows visitors to a town to have
their mail posted to the local Post Office for
collection using a ‘Poste Restante’ address.
This service is provided free of charge.
Customers should note that they can avail of
this service for up to three months."

Here's the source just in-case ye think Im messing. (Its on p14)

http://www.anpost.ie/NR/rdonlyres/CF938A05-FDB6-4DCD-AFE9-5979C3947391/0/AnPostGuidetoPostalServices08.pdf

Donny5

That's good to know. I went looking for this service on their website after you mentioned it, and they don't make it easy to find. Unless you know the term Poste Restante, you'd never find it. On top of that, the local post office hadn't heard of it, either. No wonder An Post can't make a profit.

FrostyJack

Another solution instead of posting the stuff is to cache it. Drive to set locations in advance and stash the food and water somewhere. Then walk to these points on your journey. Sort of like geocaching so might add an element of fun/a goal to your journey.

Donny5

Hey, Frosty, supply drops are a great idea, but for this trip, I'll be going by train, so I won't have the opportunity to preposition grub.

As I promised Mitch earlier, my kit list:

Sleeping:

4.5m*3m tarp
Hammock
Sleeping bag
Kip mat

Eating + Drinking:

MSR Pocket Rocket
GSI Soloist + Spork
2* 125g gas canisters
2* Baby wipes
2* 1L canteens
1.5L Camelback
Hand sanitiser
Puritabs

Tools:

Monocular
Swiss Army Knife
Pocket Chainsaw
Silva Helios
Bic Lighter
USB Charger
Compass
Notebook and Pen
Guidebook + OSi maps
Spare Paracord
Cable ties
Sowing kit
Headtorch
Keyring torch

Sanitation, First Aid & Emergency:

First Aid Kit
Field Dressing
2* Cyalumes
Survival Bag
Travel Soap
Towel

Clothing:

Boots
2* Waterproof Socks
4* Socks
4* Underwear
3* T-shirts
Fleece
Thermals
Tracksuit bottoms
Trousers
Wet Gear
Gloves
Bush hat
Beanie hat
Belt

Misc:

75L Rucksac
Drybag
6* AAAs
11* 2400 Cal Rat Packs

I've probably forgotten a few things. I'll try to add weights tomorrow evening.

irishlostboy

i would add a good knife to that list. a sak and a pocket chainsaw are good, but only for either sides of the spectrum. a chainsaw on thinner bits of wood (which is the most effort/reward friendly wood) is a pain in the arse when you can just batton through them with a good knife. i am biased though, coming from a bushcraft angle.
no food but rat packs??? yuk. dread to see what your insides will be like after this. i would pack a wee bag of phisilium husks to give you enough fibre.
does your hammock have line breaks? you dont want the lovely rain running down the tree, along your lines and soaking your sleeping bag. that sucks.

Donny5

irishlostboy wrote: »

i would add a good knife to that list. a sak and a pocket chainsaw are good, but only for either sides of the spectrum. a chainsaw on thinner bits of wood (which is the most effort/reward friendly wood) is a pain in the arse when you can just batton through them with a good knife. i am biased though, coming from a bushcraft angle.

There's no need for another knife on a hike, to be honest. Carrying it just isn't worth the small amount of utility. The SAK saw is grand for bashing through most branches up to 1cm or so and the chainsaw does everything else.

irishlostboy wrote: »

no food but rat packs??? yuk. dread to see what your insides will be like after this. i would pack a wee bag of phisilium husks to give you enough fibre.

I've lived on rat packs before, and at 1577kJ/100g, a very efficient way to carry food. These civvi ones actually taste nice, too. No biscuits, brown in them, though. They're also much better balanced than anything I could bring or make myself that would last 10 days.

irishlostboy wrote: »

does your hammock have line breaks? you dont want the lovely rain running down the tree, along your lines and soaking your sleeping bag. that sucks.

I don't exactly know what you mean by lines breaks. The hammock lines are attached to carabiners from which the webbing goes to the tree. Water's never made it's way down yet.

irishlostboy

Donny5 wrote: »

I don't exactly know what you mean by lines breaks. The hammock lines are attached to carabiners from which the webbing goes to the tree. Water's never made it's way down yet.

that is what i mean by line breaks. a lot of hammocks go straight from the tree to the nylon hammock. water just wicks straight off the tree into these. nasty. you can either tie a few bights into the line which helps, of go the carabiner method which is best i think.

Donny5

irishlostboy wrote: »

that is what i mean by line breaks. a lot of hammocks go straight from the tree to the nylon hammock. water just wicks straight off the tree into these. nasty. you can either tie a few bights into the line which helps, of go the carabiner method which is best i think.

I completely agree. The hammock just came with webbing straps, and I put carabiners in right away. There's little worse than a wet hammock.