'Oh I wish I were a kettle....
So that silencing the noise
Were as easy
As turning down the flame....'
The weather has changed. Morning and evening temperatures are cooling. The leaves are turning amber and gold. I felt it was time for a woodland camp and some lessons to be relearnt......
I packed a typical load of gear into my Platatac 60ltr rucksack and after work I headed to my chosen forest. A previous permission now renewed, I parked up in the village, locked the motor and after shouldering my rucksack I traipsed up the well worn path into the forest.
It was on the point of dark by the time I found a decent spot. This forest is part ancient so there's plenty of hardwoods, birch and undergrowth. I had chosen a place on the edge of the forest, a fair distance from the nearest footpath. A light breeze came off the field of cover crop as I set up the DD 3X3 tarp in a classic apex, suspended by a ridgleine and held taught with prussick loops. I fashioned hasty pegs with my SWC bushcraft knife and Silky F180 folding saw, and then rolled out my thermarest ridgeline foam mat and laying out my bivy bag and Alpkit sleeping bag on top.
By now it was fully dark and time for dinner. This trip I had chosen to go traditional with the food, and I made up a quick savoury bannock with cheese and cured meat added in. My trusty trangia doing the job well as usual.
I sat back against a tree and enjoyed it, listening to the sounds of the night animals stirring. With a belly full I slipped off the wellies and wriggled into my sleeping bag for a good night's sleep.
Morning brought a slight chill and the smells of the forest. I had slept well and rewarded my slumber with an hours lay in! Eventually my stomach grumbled so it time to get up and sort breakfast.
I prepared a small cooking fire and got another bannock made up. For breakfast it has to be sweet, so I added raisins and brown sugar. Needing caffeine I got out my GSI Glacier kettle and boiled the water. When in the forest I do like it done Swedish Kokekaffe style.
Once ready I folded back the tarp, sat back and enjoyed my hearty breakfast slowly.
With breakfast rounded off, I sat and tuned in. After a short time, a squirrel walked past my camp and dug around the base of a nearby tree for a while until scampering off. A buzzard landed in the tree right above me and kept my attention grooming itself. What a stsrt to the day.... with a squalk the buzzard flapped then flew away, leaving me to myself. I unshealthed my knife and gave the edge a going over, testing the keeness with my thumb before stropping it on my leather belt.
Packing my camp away, I improvised a bottle holder for my Nalgene 1ltr bottle and my pathfinder 750ml cup. I slipped in my spoon to stop the rattling, slung the cord over my shoulder, then cached my rucksack. I didn't want to be lugging it around all day.
Heading off to explore, I didn't have an aim per se, rather the intent to tune in and relax.
After a while I found myself in a quite less travelled part of the forest and noticed the sign of a deer in the soft ground. Kneeling down, I thought the imprints must be recent and of a single deer. I immediately decided to follow the sign and find out where it went. An hour of slow and cautious tracking, stopping every few meters for a look, I saw the faintest flicker of an ear through the trees. Holding my ground, I watched as a muntjac came into full view, nosing the ground unaware of my presence. I slowly went to my knees and set up the phone camera on a small tripod. I managed to film nearly 10 minutes of that little deer, no more than 20m from me as he snuffled around before wandering off uphill and out of sight. What an amazing experience and one I won't forget for a while. So glad I caught it on film, and chuffed to bits my tracking skills are still in me.
The rest of the day was spent meandering about doing nothing in particular other than coming across a long abandoned camp. It was collapsed and hadn't seen use for some years by the looks of it. On a plus note I did salvage approx 11m of decent synthetic cord from rotted camp furniture. Completing a circular route, I refilled my water bottle before returning to camp mid afternoon, recovering my rucksack from its hiding place.
Drinking some water and snacking on some homemade ships biscuits and cheese, I sat back on my roll mat and just watched, listened and enjoyed my time.
I hadn't done anything other than walk about all day. An hour and a half past before I decided to set camp back up. Fashioning some proper tent pegs, I got the tarp set back up in a more open lean-to style to favour the fire that I would have later.
Collecting some oak and beech, I waited for the sun to set and for the farmer who was still working in the field next to my camp to finish up. I filled the time with getting dinner ready. I was hungry and the stew would take a while....
It was well dark by the time I got the stew in the kettle and on the fire.
But the result was well worth the effort!
With a full belly, I lay by the dying fire enjoying its warmth and cleaning my pots. With nothing but coals and it being past 9pm I retired to bed.
The wind picked up in the night. One of my pegs got plucked and I had to get out and re-fashion my tarp down into a low apex, pegged to the ground. 10 minuted and I was all set bag in the snug of my bed. I slept quite well, only stirring occasionally due to the high winds, with rain as the sun broke. I stirred and got up about 7. Packing away everything but my trangia, kettle and coffee, I made a breakfast coffee. Relaxing and enjoying my last moments of this trip, I dreamed of what I would of done if I had another day in the forest......
Reluctantly I packed the remainder of my kit back into my pack, cleaned up camp and headed home. Already thinking about the next trip!
Hope you enjoyed the read. Get out there folks!
So that silencing the noise
Were as easy
As turning down the flame....'
The weather has changed. Morning and evening temperatures are cooling. The leaves are turning amber and gold. I felt it was time for a woodland camp and some lessons to be relearnt......
I packed a typical load of gear into my Platatac 60ltr rucksack and after work I headed to my chosen forest. A previous permission now renewed, I parked up in the village, locked the motor and after shouldering my rucksack I traipsed up the well worn path into the forest.
It was on the point of dark by the time I found a decent spot. This forest is part ancient so there's plenty of hardwoods, birch and undergrowth. I had chosen a place on the edge of the forest, a fair distance from the nearest footpath. A light breeze came off the field of cover crop as I set up the DD 3X3 tarp in a classic apex, suspended by a ridgleine and held taught with prussick loops. I fashioned hasty pegs with my SWC bushcraft knife and Silky F180 folding saw, and then rolled out my thermarest ridgeline foam mat and laying out my bivy bag and Alpkit sleeping bag on top.
By now it was fully dark and time for dinner. This trip I had chosen to go traditional with the food, and I made up a quick savoury bannock with cheese and cured meat added in. My trusty trangia doing the job well as usual.
I sat back against a tree and enjoyed it, listening to the sounds of the night animals stirring. With a belly full I slipped off the wellies and wriggled into my sleeping bag for a good night's sleep.
Morning brought a slight chill and the smells of the forest. I had slept well and rewarded my slumber with an hours lay in! Eventually my stomach grumbled so it time to get up and sort breakfast.
I prepared a small cooking fire and got another bannock made up. For breakfast it has to be sweet, so I added raisins and brown sugar. Needing caffeine I got out my GSI Glacier kettle and boiled the water. When in the forest I do like it done Swedish Kokekaffe style.
Once ready I folded back the tarp, sat back and enjoyed my hearty breakfast slowly.
With breakfast rounded off, I sat and tuned in. After a short time, a squirrel walked past my camp and dug around the base of a nearby tree for a while until scampering off. A buzzard landed in the tree right above me and kept my attention grooming itself. What a stsrt to the day.... with a squalk the buzzard flapped then flew away, leaving me to myself. I unshealthed my knife and gave the edge a going over, testing the keeness with my thumb before stropping it on my leather belt.
Packing my camp away, I improvised a bottle holder for my Nalgene 1ltr bottle and my pathfinder 750ml cup. I slipped in my spoon to stop the rattling, slung the cord over my shoulder, then cached my rucksack. I didn't want to be lugging it around all day.
Heading off to explore, I didn't have an aim per se, rather the intent to tune in and relax.
After a while I found myself in a quite less travelled part of the forest and noticed the sign of a deer in the soft ground. Kneeling down, I thought the imprints must be recent and of a single deer. I immediately decided to follow the sign and find out where it went. An hour of slow and cautious tracking, stopping every few meters for a look, I saw the faintest flicker of an ear through the trees. Holding my ground, I watched as a muntjac came into full view, nosing the ground unaware of my presence. I slowly went to my knees and set up the phone camera on a small tripod. I managed to film nearly 10 minutes of that little deer, no more than 20m from me as he snuffled around before wandering off uphill and out of sight. What an amazing experience and one I won't forget for a while. So glad I caught it on film, and chuffed to bits my tracking skills are still in me.
The rest of the day was spent meandering about doing nothing in particular other than coming across a long abandoned camp. It was collapsed and hadn't seen use for some years by the looks of it. On a plus note I did salvage approx 11m of decent synthetic cord from rotted camp furniture. Completing a circular route, I refilled my water bottle before returning to camp mid afternoon, recovering my rucksack from its hiding place.
Drinking some water and snacking on some homemade ships biscuits and cheese, I sat back on my roll mat and just watched, listened and enjoyed my time.
I hadn't done anything other than walk about all day. An hour and a half past before I decided to set camp back up. Fashioning some proper tent pegs, I got the tarp set back up in a more open lean-to style to favour the fire that I would have later.
Collecting some oak and beech, I waited for the sun to set and for the farmer who was still working in the field next to my camp to finish up. I filled the time with getting dinner ready. I was hungry and the stew would take a while....
It was well dark by the time I got the stew in the kettle and on the fire.
But the result was well worth the effort!
With a full belly, I lay by the dying fire enjoying its warmth and cleaning my pots. With nothing but coals and it being past 9pm I retired to bed.
The wind picked up in the night. One of my pegs got plucked and I had to get out and re-fashion my tarp down into a low apex, pegged to the ground. 10 minuted and I was all set bag in the snug of my bed. I slept quite well, only stirring occasionally due to the high winds, with rain as the sun broke. I stirred and got up about 7. Packing away everything but my trangia, kettle and coffee, I made a breakfast coffee. Relaxing and enjoying my last moments of this trip, I dreamed of what I would of done if I had another day in the forest......
Reluctantly I packed the remainder of my kit back into my pack, cleaned up camp and headed home. Already thinking about the next trip!
Hope you enjoyed the read. Get out there folks!
