The South Downs - Wildcamping All The Way

[Braidsta]

Myself and two very good mates decided we'd go for a walk, picking up the South Downs Way from Lewes and following it through to Winchester.
We had a fantastic time, it's a few weeks on now and I'm still grinning when I think it over. It was my first proper walk and I'm already looking into more!

Both my mates had experience in hill walking up Lake District and a few other places, I really wasn't sure what to expect outside of what common sense told me.
I'm more of a wildcamper and I'm happy that I could make a big difference when it came to both knowledge and equipment. They reckon my regular setup added a whole new side to the adventure as they'd normally just crash in their tents rather than chill for the evening. I learned that my kit isn't suitable for big walks. I'm quite sure Lake District / Peak District / Snowdon would be too much if I'm carrying what I do at present.
That said, I carried it. I came close to leaving my tripod, but the weight was worth it and doesn't feel so heavy as I sit here weeks later.

I came away with a lot of pics, all my own style as usual but everyone's welcome to have a browse. There's a few plant and tree ID requests in case anyone could shout me the name quick, I'm learning but cor - slowly!

The South Downs Way Pics - http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=1070539

Have a goodun all

Brady

 

[mountainm]

This folder has been marked as " private" by its owner.

 

[ADz-1983]

Would help if you made the album pubic

 

[Braidsta]

Haha apologies for that! Should work now...

 

[ADz-1983]

Nice pics



...those packs are HUGE!

 

[Clouston98]

Looks like you all had a good time, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for sharing your pictures

 

[Nice65]

A lovely walk. You near enough passed my back door when you crossed the road at Cocking, I could have replenished you with bacon sarnies and more water. And hauled you down to the Bluebell for an ale

 

[copper_head]

Looks like a great trip and a bit of the country I've never been too. Grub looks tasty .

 

[weekender]

Pictures showed a really great time was had, the grub looks great not sure about the slugs though!! Do they cook up ok?? A bit Chewy? Lovely part of the country it looks like plenty to see and do, and some good pubs always a bonus. How did you sort your stop overs?


Sent from somewhere?

 

[widu13]

A mate and I off of here did the reverse route and we finished the last 50 miles a couple of weekends ago. Finding "campsites" was no bother with the last night being at the side of the SDW in Alfriston. We said Good Morning to a few people as we packed up! It's a long time since I walked the Peaks and Lakes but the Downs have a lot of ups too and we found that just as hard!

I agree those packs are monstrous! I wouldn't mind betting that they start shrinking soon On that walk my ruckasck was 13kg inc food, water and carrying dog bedding, down from 18kg the trip before and it made a MASSIVE difference.

 

[Pete11]

Great pics , like the style ! But man o' man them packs, a donkey would be complaing !

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Pete

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Great pics. Really useful as I am considering the SDW as a training hike in the next year or so.

Did you have any difficulty finding suitable places to camp?

Your packs look huge and heavy! How far did you walk per day ?

Which tripod did you take? The lightest I have found that is affordable, is the SLIK Sprint Pro II.

Julia

 

[THOaken]

Nice photos. Did you get permission to camp?

 

[widu13]

Nice photos. Did you get permission to camp?

Probably not the best place to discuss that. It's a sensitive subject on here. All of my camps were with implied permission...no one told me I couldn't.

 

[THOaken]

Probably not the best place to discuss that. It's a sensitive subject on here. All of my camps were with implied permission...no one told me I couldn't.

I know it is, indeed. A few people have asked the same questions of me, so I only thought it fair to ask here. I understand it's not a topic to be brought up lightly, but then again, it's a just question.

 

[bambodoggy]

Great looking trip and photos, thanks for sharing and brilliant to see you out there doing it and passing on your skills

Have to agree with the others though....my very first thought was "How big"? when I saw your packs!!! Good learning curve though

All the best

 

[bushwacker bob]

Good trip, the photos seem to stop just short of the Hampshire border. Did you reach Winchester?

Edit; rest of the pics loaded beg your pardon.

 

[Braidsta]

Thanks ever so much for the comments, I really did enjoy myself on this trip! Our mileage varied but minimum we know was over 10 miles.

The packs - cor, my mates did say they wondered what they put in theirs when I broke out all of my kit, but they were still full. Mine was heaviest, and though we all walked together, only one of us was running ahead, hanging back and climbing about to shoot it all, it's the hardest thing I ever did - and that now sounds quite weak!
I learned that I brought too many spare clothes - 1 spare of everything and I could have made do.
I learned (as already mentioned) that I should look into lighter kit, if only to be used when walking rather than camping the way I do it.

Water was the main concern and we carried 9l between us, only real reason for leaving the Way for the town visits were to fill up in pub bathrooms.

Thanks a lot for the food comment too Weekender! I'd swap that slug for a grim pack of the noodles I brought with me! Going back to weight - I think I'll always be lugging about proper ingredients for meals. The ration packs have opened my eyes for sure, but I like eating well and for me the extra effort is worth it.

My tripod proved its worth as it always does, but it's heavy. It's a Redsnapper one and so sturdy I can use it as a boost up trees. Without sounding a big-head I'm fairly strong and do a lot of strength training, and have done for a long time. Things like this tripod though, they're something anyone needs to have a good think about before setting off with them. There were a few times I was sure I'd caught myself out with this.

As for the camping itself - well, I make friends wherever I go! I dare say it's possible to look at near enough any decent sized woody area, walk into it (maybe climb a fence...) and make a peaceful camp . Anyone in the villages, pubs etc could spot us coming a mile off - they could see us carrying rubbish to bins, clearing the next pub bench of glasses along with our own, buying eggs from their honesty boxes and joking around with old ladies in bookee little shops... nobody seemed to mind our presence

Thanks again, I really appreciate the lovely comments!

Brady

 

[oldtimer]

I did this with my younger son when he was 8. He's now 43 but we still remember the good time we had. Good to know you had a good time too and thanks for reminding me of our trip.

 

[Nice65]

Any of you do it, call me up. It's a lovely, lovely walk, and I live around the half way through point. I'll restock you with water and food, and partake of an ale if that's your thing.

Never met any BCUK folk yet, you're a nice mob.