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orla girl hill
 

The First Time you Sleep on a Hill

Here are some thoughts from novice microadventurer Orla O’Muiri after a night on a hill. I hope it will persuade other “virgins” to get out there and do it!

Up the Campsie Fells we scrambled on a Tuesday evening, backpacks on our back. Me inappropriately dressed for the activity as always in my trusty Doc Martens and jeans. Climbing over a barbed wire fence, I typically lose my footing and get two pretty gashes across the palm of my right hand. Onwards we climb, the weather could not be more perfect. We source a suitable spot to set up camp, protected from the brunt of the wind and lay out the sleeping bags and bivvy bags, pee, layer up and then tuck ourselves in our blankets and try take it all in; the madness, the simplicity of it all, the thoughts of the people tucked up in their beds below, the possibilities’¦

The night swept in bringing the cold, the rain but also the stars. I toss and turn but eventually I fall asleep. At 4.30am, the birds begin their song, the sky turns pink and seeps through the hole in the top of our sleeping bags, coaxing me and another from sleep and leading us out of our bivvys and over the hills to watch the sun rise. Two hours later the boys rise, we gather up our stuff and scramble down a different route towards home. Me sliding on my backside for the majority of the descent.

I open the door of my flat at 10.30 am, one flatmate still in bed, the other hears me and gets up to greet me, she whips up some pancakes for us to share. It is as if I was here all night, nothing on the outside has changed but if you look closely you might notice the spark in my eye that was not there before. Inside I am buzzing. The key has finally been turned, the door pushed open. I am free, the doubt erased and I know what I need to do.

If you like the sound of this you should try the Microadventure Solstice Challenge

5 to 9 #microadventure

5 to 9 #microadventure

5 to 9 #microadventure

5 to 9 #microadventure

5 to 9 #microadventure

5 to 9 #microadventure

5 to 9 #microadventure

5 to 9 #microadventure

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Comments

  1. Superb account and pictures…. I wonder what the professional advice is for microadventures/ bivvying whilst pregnant….. ?

    Reply
    • Alastair Posted

      That’s either an extremely random comment, or else congratulations are in order!

      Reply
  2. alex kim Posted

    that’s amazing place!

    i hope go there with my son.

    Reply
  3. Great account! There’s nothing like that buzz from an overnight on the trail.

    Reply
  4. Garey Posted

    Lovely lil adventure

    Where was it that you climbed? I’ve done a few great micro adventures now but no hilltops, they aren’t in abundance in kent I don’t think.

    Reply

 
 

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