Run-Bivvy-Run

By Natalie Hawkrigg

My 2023 challenge was to sleep in a bivvy outdoors every month of the year in 2023.  I always like to have something that pushes me outside of my comfort zone. I’m not sure where the idea of the monthly bivvy came from, but sleeping out every month of the year felt like it would push my comfort zone, as well as give me some unique experiences through the different seasons. I purchased an Alpkit kit bivvy. I had never slept in a bivvy before so I wasn’t sure how warm or cold I would be or how comfortable. I decided for the first month of January that I would be close to home in case it was too cold and I could come home in the night. I live underneath Carrock Fell in Cumbria, so Carrock was the obvious place to choose. I chose a sheepfold called Scot’s Hut on the south side of the summit. Unbeknown to me this particular sheepfold was an old wizard’s hut with tales of ghostly apparitions. However, I had a peaceful night under the stars with no supernatural visitations. The mist rolled in by the morning and my friend Liz Berry ran up to find me in the morning and we ran home together. My first bivvy experience was a success.

My second bivvy was on the eastern side of Bowscale Fell in an old sheep fold. This was probably my worst weather experience. By the time I got up to the sheepfold it was drizzling with rain, windy and there was no visibility. I slept between long spindly grass and woke up to no view and a very damp dawn.

So for my next bivvy I was determined I would have a spectacular sunrise, and this was my most cherished and loved of the whole year. I slept at the top of Sharp edge (Blencathra Mountain) the only flat spot I could find, which was in the groove of the horizontal path leading off the edge.  I felt secure that I would not roll out in the night. It was a freezing cold night with frost and snow on the ground. When I woke in the morning the bivvy was covered in frost, as was my face and eyebrows.

April bivvy was similarly cold on Bowscale summit, with frost and a biting wind. I ran down and met Rose Singleton for a cold swim in the tarn before we started our day at work together as GPs. Rose and I regularly enjoy little micro-adventures before a long day at work together. They sustain us. So combining one of my bivvys with our pre-work micro-adventures was perfect. 

May, June and July bivvys were all further afield. I was lucky to bivvy on the shores of Glenmore and  Loch Torridon on mainland Scotland and Loch Storr on Skye. All these bivvys were combined with running adventures/challenges or holidays. I was learning the added bonus of bivvy sleeps being cheap overnight accommodation options. 

I was now becoming an experienced ‘bivvier’ I had honed my equipment down to the bare essentials  and knew what I needed to have a good nights sleep. I was becoming very tuned to the comfort of the bivvy and its unique sleeping experience.

The majority of my bivvys I did alone, but my friend Angela Wilson joined me on the Torridon and Genmore bivvys, and we managed to get my youngest son Jonty and her son Zack to join us on Carrock Fell. The boys loved the experience, and they admitted they had had a good night’s sleep out in the open.

August bivvy I slept on a platform just below Fleetwood Pike. I cherished a glowing sunset and sunrise, then had a run-dip adventure the next day linking 4 of my favourite dipping spots in the Ennerdale and Wasdale valleys. 

In September I slept at Three Shires pass, not far from my car with a view down to Coniston and the Langdales combing this with a very early morning running recce of the Cumbria traverse route.

October bivvy Angela Wilson join me again, and we slept on the summit of High Pike. This is the summit that is just very close to our house and summit that I once managed to visit running 400 times in one calendar year! I felt it only fitting that I would sleep out on High Pike as it is so close to my heart and an integral part of my well-being.

November I slept on Brae Fell. On my own again with a windy cold night with frost, and a gorgeous sunrise.

My final bivvy was back where it all started 12 months earlier on Carrock Fell. I slept on the east side in a sheepfold at the top of the Alpine route. It rained several times in the night, rather fitting that I got to experience all the elements. 

After I finished the challenge, I took some time to reflect what this challenge had given me. It had taken me out of my comfort zone. It had introduced me to a new outdoor experience that I had fallen in love with. It had increased my confidence and resilience of being on my own in the night. It also gave me some precious alone time in a life where I’m constantly busy and on the go. Time to just stare at the stars and feel the ice and wind on my face. It was also special to gift the experience to my son Jonty and my friend Angela and her son Zack. Finally, it reminded me of how precious and beautiful our seasons are in the UK.

January – Scot’s Hut Carrock Fell
February – Shepherds Sheepfold The Tongue, Mungrisdale
March – Sharp Edge Blencathra
April – Bowscale Summit
May – Loch Torridon , Scotland
June – Loch Storr, Skye. 
July – Fleetwood Pike, Buttermere
August – Secret sheepfold, Carrock Fell
September – Three Shires Pass, Coniston
October – High Pike summit
November- Brae Fell summit
December – Carrock Fell Alpine Sheepfold