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Monday 24 March 2014

TGO Challenge – Cafe Akto and Other Plans


akto disappears under baha
A few years ago, whilst having a year off from the TGO planning (I’d just finished my tenth crossing) – I took a Karrimor “lightweight” tent up to Corrour and plonked it on a popular TGO trade route, dishing out tea and jelly babies to anybody who cared to wake me up. This was a good idea from my point of view in that I got to stay in one place for a few days and bag a small bunch of Corrour/Ben Alder Munros. (A little album appears below)
I had a great time, if a bit damp, and went on to haunt Braemar for the boozing and Montrose and, on my travels, came across straggling lines of limping humanity – it being bad weather and, at Tarfside, I broke the big tent they gave me whilst trying to put it up in a hurricane, but alsoi managed to get in the way in a fairly significant manner, supporting the various ladies running St Drostans Hostel. The weather that year was notorious and many people will remember without any fondness at all, the hurricane which struck in the second week of the Challenge.
So it was all (or at least, mainly),  quite good.
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This year, I’m taking an actual Hilleberg Akto to Glen Mazeran from 12 to 14 May, followed by a day or so at the Cairngorm Club footbridge on 14/15 May and I ought to be able to supply a more sophisticated choice of refreshments than last time, including bacon roll’s, tea’s, coffee’s cak’e and, possibly even  a mug of lovely Black Paw beer – unless I’ve drunk it all myself. I will be expecting, or ,at least, hoping for generous donations to Mind through the magic of a collection box or a raffle ticket. (the prize would be a mugful of Black paw beer, I expect) (The apostrophe’s are there for catering purposes by the way) (Commercial catering establishments like their apostrophes – e.g. Fish and Chip’s, Pizza’s and Gents Toilet’s Customer’s Only)
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And so, today, I went far, far up Weardale, further than the furthest limits of civilisation  where the snow lasts till July and they laugh in the face of any suggestion that a service bus might turn up on a Sunday, or, indeed, after dark, and put up the akto with an extra porch, in the form of a basha wot I bought at Kitt Pongo and the Hoggman’s superb army surplus store in Bishop Auckland.
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The results of this experiment were that it’s a really nice and cosy setup and fairly wind-resistant but that I need another four bungees to get it tight and properly fastened down.
Advice and assistance, and the loan of extra bungees was accepted from the son-in-law who knows about things like this, whereas the Pieman is more of an artiste than a bungee engineer and needs help.
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It does tend to disappear into the landscape a little bit, so, to make the thing more visible, and to signify that The Pieman Is In – there’s be a large and flappy Union flag flying at times when dead pig butties are available. I only hope that somebody actually turns up, otherwise I’ll have to drink all that beer myself.
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Pics show some basha and akto/basha experiments and Mollie, my first customer.
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14 comments:

Alan Sloman said...

The camo basha... it's all a cunning plan so that no one can find you.

All that beer. All that time.

This could be messy.

Mike Knipe said...

O.M.G., Alan - The thought of having to drink all that beer BY MYSELF...scary. To be on the safe side, I'd best get some practise in... thanks for the heads-up, actually, I'm on it pet lamb, as they say in CSI Sunderland.

John J said...

Ah, beer's and pie's - two excellent reason's to call by. I look forward to it, in fact I may have to stick around for longer than suggested on my route sheet - you may require assistance....and I could be that assistant.
JJ

Anonymous said...

Maybe you ought to get a huge saltire too, so you don't alienate any paying customers from the "Yes" side of the independence campaign. (Or is that the "No" side? What was the question again?)
I'm not going that way this year but good luck with the Caff and take care with all those loose apostrophe's.

Anonymous said...

annanotherthing...why don't you make the Mind logo jpg a link to your fundraising page? Makes it easier for people to spontaneously hand over their dosh.

AlanR said...

Bruno, in that last pic looks as though he just nicked all the sausage or someone broke wind.
Great stuff with the idea of the Akto cafe, i hope we get to cross paths. I do have a MIND too anyway. MIND you, if it can go wrong it usually does.

All the very best with the beer practice. A partner can always assist.

Dawn said...

Looks fantastic Mike. Hope the folks dig deep in their pockets. Think of all that weight they will be shedding by off loading all their loose change

QDanT said...

The apostrophe’s are there for catering purposes by the way

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/apostrophes-now-britain-war-over-missing-punctuation-101828331.html#4h1ZGTx

<(*¿*)>

Mike Knipe said...

JJ - I can see by your use of punctuation that you have catering experience. Should I get some pie's, or will they go off in the summer heat?
Judith - Much thanks for the dosh - and your suggestion, which I've not worked out how to do yet - but I have added a link just underneath the Mind logo. I vote "possibly" but only if they move the border to Northallerton
Alan - Bruno's a very posh mongrel, which is why he has his nose up. Maybe see you in Mazeran (Sounds lie a film title...)
Dawn - This is what I'll be suggesting to passing walkers. I'll be rattling my tin..
QDan -No self-respecting catering establishment would miss out unnecessary punctuation. (Or spell "Nite" with a "gh")And We laff in the face of hygiene regulations.

John J said...

Don't worry Alan, Glen Mazeran's famous Cafe Akto is on our route.
Should I mention this to Denis?

JJ

AlanR said...

I’ll bring me purse!(Or Sheila’s purse).

4 Winds said...

I would be nice if the army surplus shop in Bishop was the same one I used to get bits of kit from when I was a yoof.

Cracking blog, Alan. Makes me fair nostalgic (did I ever mention that my first-ish memory was dropping a lump of mash on my Auntie Myriam's dog in Roddymoor?)

Got loads of stories like that....

Mike Knipe said...

JJ - You tell 'em.
Alan - I can solve any problems related to the weight of loose change
4 Winds - The old folk still talk about the dog/mash accident in Roddymoor, if you ply them with a pint or two of dark mild. Its now known as The Big Spud Disaster. Who's Alan, though? :)

4 Winds said...

Ah. Just noting Alan has a cracking blog, too......