If you prefer video (with subtitles) version, the link can be found at the bottom of the post.
I found a 5.5 acre woodland in Yorkshire that is part of a much bigger woodland of about 80 acres, where I was allowed to camp and have a fire and harvest any wood I needed. I thought this might be a good opportunity to let Finn have his first ever night out, and our first full 24 hours out in the woods together.
We arrived at the woodland at about 0800. It would be kind to say I had not packed light for this trip. It would probably be more honest to say I had bought way too much, so once we walked about half an hour from the car with a lot of heavy kit, through some challenging terrain, I then had to go and do it again 2 more times. So three hours later all the stuff was ferried to the spot we'd picked, and I started setting up my new OneTigris Rock Fortress hot tent, in the 23C sunshine and the same current humidity as found on the Titanic.
I also picked up the inner for this tent, as ticks and mosquitoes had put a dampener on our last outing and neither of us wanted to get eaten alive in our sleep.
After setting up camp and sitting down to cool off for a few minutes, I went out to harvest some firewood. There was more birch than you could shake a stick it, and there were plenty of sticks with which to do so. A few dead standing birch pushed over and processed and we had a nice stack of firewood to last us the night. Finn's a dab hand with the Gransfors Bruk, let me tell you.
Now I was ready to do my first ever fire started with a traditional flint and steel (no ferro rod). The flint and steel kit was purchased from @John Fenna at the Winter Moot, where he also kindly showed me how to use it. His tuition was clearly top notch, as it only took me 20 seconds or so to get a spark on the charcloth and a straw nest bursting into glorious flame. A first for me and I was dead chuffed, one ticked off my list. Cheers John!
Today's lunch consisted of a Pasta & Meatballs British military ration. I was pleasantly surprised, with some firm meatballs (easy now) and an inoffensive tomato sauce, this was definitely in the 'edible' category of ration. I had a jealous observer whilst I ate my lunch.
Finn got a load of time off lead and exploring, he came back to me whenever I called him even if it took a little bit given the distance he'd gone. Very pleased with his progress here and it was great to see him exploring and sniffing around the place.
An interesting feature of the spot I'd chosen to camp, was the presence of this tree:
On arrival I'd assumed it was a fir of some kind. Upon examination of the needles and branches, however, it wasn't a pine I recognised. In fact, the needles reminded me a lot of a Yew, however I also spotted no other signs that it was a Yew (no berries, ram-rod straight trunk). This had me baffled. The woodland owner later let me know that it is in fact a Western Hemlock, which wasn't a tree I was familiar with and it's another new learning from my trip. Amazing how we continue to learn on every single outing we make.
We spent more time exploring the woods, chilling out and drinking lots of cold drinks (one of the benefits of all the weight I'd carried in), which was a nice way to spend the day.
For dinner I had bought a big old steak. It was actually a forerib of beef, which I then just cut the cap off of to turn into a bone-in ribeye, and I found an eager customer for the removed cap. Asparagus in olive oil, lemon juice and garlic salt to accompany, as well as some potatoes cooked in foil next to the fire. Delicious.
A good opportunity for Finn to demonstrate the self control he's been learning, as I had no concerns leaving him right next to a juicy steak for a shameless photo of my dinner.
Dinner was delicious and all those in attendance finished with clean plates. No dessert required, as it was already quite the feast.
After dinner we enjoyed listening to all the sounds of the woodland whilst the sun set and darkness set in. Bed time came at about 2200, sitting in the comfort of a mosquito free tent with a pretty decent view.
I didn't sleep very well as I think I'd got a bit dehydrated and kept getting woken up with cramp, but Finn did really well and slept through. I wasn't worried about spooky things and the sound of the woods at night was most calming. I'm a big bald man with an axe, so I probably am the scariest thing in the woods. Unless there are any roaming Wombles, of course...
The following morning was packing up camp, removing all traces of our existence there and then doing the inbound trip but in reverse - another tiring few hours.
All in all it was a really nice trip and I came away from it having learned a lot. Mostly that I usually pack light for a reason, but cold drinks are a wonderful reward for the hard work.
I found a 5.5 acre woodland in Yorkshire that is part of a much bigger woodland of about 80 acres, where I was allowed to camp and have a fire and harvest any wood I needed. I thought this might be a good opportunity to let Finn have his first ever night out, and our first full 24 hours out in the woods together.
We arrived at the woodland at about 0800. It would be kind to say I had not packed light for this trip. It would probably be more honest to say I had bought way too much, so once we walked about half an hour from the car with a lot of heavy kit, through some challenging terrain, I then had to go and do it again 2 more times. So three hours later all the stuff was ferried to the spot we'd picked, and I started setting up my new OneTigris Rock Fortress hot tent, in the 23C sunshine and the same current humidity as found on the Titanic.
I also picked up the inner for this tent, as ticks and mosquitoes had put a dampener on our last outing and neither of us wanted to get eaten alive in our sleep.
After setting up camp and sitting down to cool off for a few minutes, I went out to harvest some firewood. There was more birch than you could shake a stick it, and there were plenty of sticks with which to do so. A few dead standing birch pushed over and processed and we had a nice stack of firewood to last us the night. Finn's a dab hand with the Gransfors Bruk, let me tell you.
Now I was ready to do my first ever fire started with a traditional flint and steel (no ferro rod). The flint and steel kit was purchased from @John Fenna at the Winter Moot, where he also kindly showed me how to use it. His tuition was clearly top notch, as it only took me 20 seconds or so to get a spark on the charcloth and a straw nest bursting into glorious flame. A first for me and I was dead chuffed, one ticked off my list. Cheers John!
Today's lunch consisted of a Pasta & Meatballs British military ration. I was pleasantly surprised, with some firm meatballs (easy now) and an inoffensive tomato sauce, this was definitely in the 'edible' category of ration. I had a jealous observer whilst I ate my lunch.
Finn got a load of time off lead and exploring, he came back to me whenever I called him even if it took a little bit given the distance he'd gone. Very pleased with his progress here and it was great to see him exploring and sniffing around the place.
An interesting feature of the spot I'd chosen to camp, was the presence of this tree:
On arrival I'd assumed it was a fir of some kind. Upon examination of the needles and branches, however, it wasn't a pine I recognised. In fact, the needles reminded me a lot of a Yew, however I also spotted no other signs that it was a Yew (no berries, ram-rod straight trunk). This had me baffled. The woodland owner later let me know that it is in fact a Western Hemlock, which wasn't a tree I was familiar with and it's another new learning from my trip. Amazing how we continue to learn on every single outing we make.
We spent more time exploring the woods, chilling out and drinking lots of cold drinks (one of the benefits of all the weight I'd carried in), which was a nice way to spend the day.
For dinner I had bought a big old steak. It was actually a forerib of beef, which I then just cut the cap off of to turn into a bone-in ribeye, and I found an eager customer for the removed cap. Asparagus in olive oil, lemon juice and garlic salt to accompany, as well as some potatoes cooked in foil next to the fire. Delicious.
A good opportunity for Finn to demonstrate the self control he's been learning, as I had no concerns leaving him right next to a juicy steak for a shameless photo of my dinner.
Dinner was delicious and all those in attendance finished with clean plates. No dessert required, as it was already quite the feast.
After dinner we enjoyed listening to all the sounds of the woodland whilst the sun set and darkness set in. Bed time came at about 2200, sitting in the comfort of a mosquito free tent with a pretty decent view.
I didn't sleep very well as I think I'd got a bit dehydrated and kept getting woken up with cramp, but Finn did really well and slept through. I wasn't worried about spooky things and the sound of the woods at night was most calming. I'm a big bald man with an axe, so I probably am the scariest thing in the woods. Unless there are any roaming Wombles, of course...
The following morning was packing up camp, removing all traces of our existence there and then doing the inbound trip but in reverse - another tiring few hours.
All in all it was a really nice trip and I came away from it having learned a lot. Mostly that I usually pack light for a reason, but cold drinks are a wonderful reward for the hard work.
