Watching the stars

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Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
Ok, so more of a brief evening trip than a day out, but anyway...

I nipped out to the shop this evening, and then more or less on the spur of the moment decided to drive up onto the hills above Blaenavon, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park. There was a three-quarter moon, and the sky was mostly clear, so I stopped the car and got out to look at the sky. It was very good, and the light pollution was minimal. I wandered along a path for a few yards into the heather, and then decided to lie down in it. The temperature was well below zero, but I wear a Swedish army M95 winter parka as my standard winter coat, so with some decent gloves and a German police fur hat my upper body was very well insultated. Shame my legs and feet weren't.

I had heard that heather is really comfortable to lie on, and ideal for bivvying, but I'd never tried it. It is true, and it seemed to give decent insulation from the frozen ground too. If I had had a sleeping bag, bivvy bag, and maybe a mat for extra insulation i could have slept there quite easily. Very interesting to learn that, and I want to try it for real now. The surrounding heather kept me out of what little breeze there was, so I lay there and looked at the stars, picked out saturn and jupiter in the sky, and listened to the sounds of traffic in the distance (I was less than half a mile from the town).

Then, when the traffic noise died down, I heard another sound. Red grouse, churring quietly to themselves. It was magical to be lying there on a frozen evening, no distance from a road, and hear something like that, with a glorious sky above me. I wish I could have stayed longer, but my legs were getting cold. Ok, so I was only out of the house for a couple of hours at most, and most of that was in the car, and I walked a distance of about 50 yards in total. So what? That short period being comfortable outdoors and listening to the world was utterly wonderful and peaceful, and I feel refreshed by it.

That's why we do this, isn't it?
 

andybysea

Full Member
Oct 15, 2008
2,609
0
South east Scotland.
Sounds great, im lucky once out of the village we have very little light poloution i too just love gazing up at the stars on a clear night whilst outcamping etc.
 

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