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Melt some dark chocolate in a bowl, sitting in a pan of boiling water. Add some alcohol to the chocolate as you do this.
Fill a baking tray with the melted chocolate.
Add some foraged berries; in this case sloe berries and rosehips.
Pour some more of your alcohol into the finished chocolate.
Place tray in freezer to harden; then enjoy.
A walking pole, or two, can be a fantastic hill walking aid to relieve pressure on legs, knees, feet. Especially with heavily laden packs, on long days, or multi-days.
They can get in the way on certain terrain, or if using a map and compass.
I generally have one strapped to my backpack and have found it invaluable on many occasions; however not in its typical use.
Here is what I love walking poles for!
Soft Crutch:
Bad blister or sore knee - having a pole to use can be the difference between getting off the mountain before nightfall; or being caught in darkness.
Hard Crutch:
For a sprain or proper leg/foot injury a walking pole becomes an invaluable crutch - once it is still alright for yourself, or the casualty, to be standing or walking.
Tricky Ground:
For loose, tricky, steep, rocky ground - self explanatory. Prevention is far better than cure.
Bog Crossing:
Keeping your feet dry and keeping your legs dry for as long as possible is important in our mountains, in our weather. I have seen someone become hypothermic over several hours from a simple case of slipping waist deep into bog and not warming up afterward. A walking pole makes a great ground tester!
Stream Crossing:
Even where a stream is safe to cross - the stream bed, or stepping stones, are often very slippery and I have seen many a person take a simple slip right into a stream. That is them fully wet then for the rest of the day potentially. A walking pole or two can make stream crossing far more stable.
Bivvy Bag Stretcher Handle:
When making a bivy bag stretcher/survival bag stretcher - you can roll a walking pole up into the outer length of the bivy bag, on each side of your improvised stretcher. These become stretcher handles.
Sprain/Fracture Splint:
A walking pole generally separates into two or three shorter sections of pole. Ankle, knee, leg, elbow, arm - all can be splinted using walking pole sections. Pad the pole with a scarf, shirt or bandage to ensure it's not sharp or cold against skin; then tie firmly into place. I used this method last year with a student who dislocated their knee - splinted walking pole sections down either side of the knee, tied into place with triangular bandages.
Some of these points relate to first aid and for this I highly recommend Marie Lyons from www.remotewestfirstaid.com if you are interested in first aid training.
Thank you to Portwest for their poles!
Mountain Skills 1 Glengarriff:
5th - 6th Jan
4th - 5th May
7th - 8th Sep
Mountain Skills 1 Killarney:
2nd - 3rd Feb
6th - 7th Jul
2nd - 3rd Nov
Mountain Skills 1 Galway:
2nd - 3rd Mar
3rd - 4th Aug
7th - 8th Dec
Mountain Skills 1 Wicklow:
6th - 7th Apr
1st - 2nd Jun
5th - 6th Oct
Mountain Skills 2 Glengarriff:
12th - 13th Jan
9th - 10th Feb
9th - 10th Mar
13th - 14th Apr
14th - 15th Sep
12th - 13th Oct
9th - 10th Nov
14th - 15th Dec
Mountain Skills 2 Killarney:
12th - 13th Jan
9th - 10th Feb
9th - 10th Mar
13th - 14th Apr
14th - 15th Sep
12th - 13th Oct
9th - 10th Nov
14th - 15th Dec
Rock Climb 1:
19th - 20th Jan
16th - 17th Feb
23rd - 24th Mar
11th - 12th May
8th - 9th Jun
21st - 22nd Sep
9th - 10th Nov
Rock Climb 3:
15th - 17th Feb + 22nd - 24th Feb
10th - 12th May + 17th - 19th May
20th - 22nd Sep + 27th - 29th Sep
8th - 10th Nov + 15th - 17th Nov
Bushcraft Skills 1:
26th - 27th Jan
23rd - 24th Feb
30th - 31st Mar
27th - 28th Apr
25th - 26th May
19th - 20th Oct
16th - 17th Nov
Bushcraft Skills 2:
26th - 27th Jan
23rd - 24th Feb
30th - 31st Mar
27th - 28th Apr
25th - 26th May
19th - 20th Oct
16th - 17th Nov
Forest Skills 1:
19th - 20th Jan
23rd - 24th Mar
8th - 9th Jun
Survival Skills 1:
25th - 27th Jan
29th - 31st Mar
26th - 28th Apr
18th - 20th Oct
Tarp Skills:
24th Jan
14th Feb
17th Oct
14th Nov
Wild Cooking:
31st Jan
21st Feb
7th Nov
Kayak Skills 2:
28th Feb
28th Mar
25th Apr
30th May
26th Sep
24th Oct
Kayak Skills 3 Part 1:
4th - 5th Apr
12th - 13th Sep
Kayak Skills 3 Part 2:
23rd - 24th May
3rd - 4th Oct
For More Details Please Contact Nathan: http://www.outdoorsireland.com/contact.php
Melt some dark chocolate in a bowl, sitting in a pan of boiling water. Add some alcohol to the chocolate as you do this.
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