Hang about, what the heck is an Oddventure?
Good question. It’s an ideology really. The idea that getting to know the world’s wild places doesn’t have to be done conventionally. You don’t necessarily have to reach the summit, top 100km or burn 10 million calories, and not focusing too much on the goal, often leads to much more magical experiences. We might be preaching to the converted here and we've all probably seen videos of people taking homemade rafts down river for days, or crossing continents on scooters. Our friend Alastair Humphreys hasn't been shy to try a few with his microadventures. And those don't hold back from injecting a veritable oddness to some adventure challenges.
But of course it doesn't have to be the craziest thing you can think of. The essence of an Oddventure is that you can explore areas you may not have been to before, try getting around in different ways, find out about any odd features and history that you'd not known before. Basically you can turn this process as odd as you like, we're not suggesting you need to get all whacky with it. In the making of Outpost issue 5 we decided to trial a little adventure on Kinder, our own space between that tied the issue together. It turned into a bit of a magical mystery tour, a historical and meta-physical exploration of the odd things found on Kinder.
However.... for another type of Oddventure then check out the Tutus and Beer Kegs daring deed. This in itself got us thinking about other more eccentric British races and challenges. In fact the more we got thinking about it the more wacky and crazy ideas we started coming up with, but we'll keep those to ourselves before we get talked into doing them. Why not make up your rules from a lucky dip, split criteria into categories such as transport, destination, companion, random object to carry, list a few and pick one of each from a hat. Who knows, you might end up having to travel to the coast, with your gran in a pedal go-cart, carrying a surfboard.
And so like many brilliant ideas this idea to get know our local hill better started in the pub. we been listening an ex peak district warden tell wonderful stories of rocks charged with energy a strange honeycomb structure no reason or permission be built aircra wrecks upside down waterfalls. slowly discover something different on home patch formed. all climbed walked cycled ran around moorland plateau could it still surprise us
Armed with a list of some weird andwonderful spots on Kinder, we were inspired. We even had a new name for an unexpected adventure – an Oddventure, and after a few more beers we all solemnly swore that this would be the first of many. A couple of us decided to run, while the rest opted to hike. Maybe the gods of weird knew we were on a mission to discover their secrets, because the forecasted sun never appeared. We’d considered some sort of ceremonial robes for our magical tour, but we were glad of our waterproofs as we ascended into the dank cloud.
We almost missed the unassuming EdaleCross, an ancient stone monument. According to its little plaque, it's of national importance – it just seemed humble and modest to us – perhaps there’s a lesson for us all somewhere there. We turned northwards as the clouds began to shi and whirl, gritstone outcrops appearing briefly before being elementally eaten up again. We found the stone path which led us to the burial mound on Kinderlow End. Odd to think that over 3,000 years ago our Bronze Age ancestors were laying their dead to rest in this bleak, exposed spot. Who knows whether the dead can tell - but their view from the barrow is spectacular.
Back on the path towards the upside down waterfall, we bumped into our runner friends. The weather had turned more malevolent – the taste of angry pebbles of rain rather than springtime. We all sought sanctuary amongst the boulders. Over lunch they told us they’d got as far as the mythical Mermaid’s Pool. She hadn’t shown herself – probably a bit blowy for mermaids that day. The legend has it that if you see her on Easter Sunday, you’ll be given the gift of immortality – other versions of the story are a little more macabre. They’d been hoping to run to the Charged Rock, a little further along the path on Sandy Hayes, but had decided to turn back when the rain started to really bite. Once a year the druids of Manchester make a pilgrimage to this rock, collect the energy in a little wooden box and return it to Manchester to be released. Our minds fill with Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark scenes somewhere in Cheetham Hill, but the truth is probably more nylon fancy dress meets a bit of harmless chanting.
BECOME AN ALPKIT ODDVENTURER.
Oddventures are about taking normal and tilting it a little. A new way to discover your home patch. A trip with all newbs rather than besties. Stay out longer, wake up earlier. Ditch Strava and go slower. Be a birder for the day if you’re a hard charging mountain biker. Learn bushcraft for the weekend if you’re a confirmed Air BnB’er.
Choose a way to mix things up and then write in to Alpkit Global HQ to let us know how you got on.
Keep an eye on the Alpkit Website and social media for more on #ODDVENTURE coming soon.
#ODDVENTURE