There are some things you just can't teach

Two of us were on a three day wallking exercise in Wales. At about 5:00pm on the first day we arrived at a small mountain lake (pictured above) where we had planned to set up up camp. We hadn't expected to see anyone else at that time in the evening but there were two men already in the process of setting up camp.

Most of the lake was surrounded by steep, rocky ground but there were a couple of very small patches of flat land that looked like they might be suitable for pitching tents.

I thought that the people already there must have bagged the best spot. Being friendly types we went over to say hello. As I got within about 20 feet of their camp I became aware of a squelching sound beneath my feet.

The two men explained that they had just bought some new kit and were trying it out for the first time. They were setting up a bivvy arrangement that was made up of a sleeping bag inside a bivvy bag and a half tent type thing that protected their heads from rain. They continued to set up camp while they spoke to us and with every step they took I could hear the ground let out a very audible squelch. I looked down at my own feet to see that each foot was now in its own pool of water.

My first instinct was to point out the blindingly obvious to the men and ask what possessed them to set up camp on water-logged patch of Welsh bog. But I didn't.

I figured that they must have seen and heard the water beneath their feet but had chosen to ignore it. And if that wasn't enough to convince them to reconsider their location, then what chance would I have. And so my colleague and I left them to it and we set up our camp on the only other patch of flat land available next to the water. It was about fourty yards away, about two metres above the waters edge. Most importanly, it was dry.

When I got up the next morning at about 6:00am I looked across to where the two men had been setting up camp the night before. They were gone. I was of the opinion that they hadn't spent the night there at all but had most likely got soaking wet through after just a few minutes of bedding down for the night.