Over the years I've found that by using commercial camp sites "out of season" I've been able to explore different areas of the country at my own pace. It's not Bushcraft but it's a way of spending time in Nature using a secure base and lets me 'over night' as the expression goes, away from base camp in the wild if I so choose. As 2017 began I packed my gear into the little 4x4 and headed West to the Forest of Dean and the River Wye.
It's not expensive, it's a good base and it 'aint crowded..
The weather forecast was favourable for the week that I would be camped there, although on the second day the temperature dived and a bitter driving wind blew the light snowfall away.
I have the appropriate kit, not Gucci gear, just stuff I know works under hard conditions. I had a weeks rations and I didn't need to boil my drinking water.....result.
The forest was shelter from the cold wind and as I have an interest in tracking the light snow and frozen ground showed tracks both old and new..
The early morning sun was welcome after a dawn wandering start.
Wild Boar are common but shy and secretive and difficult to spot under normal circumstances, although their Bull Dozer sign is easily seen..
They leave their bones too, for those who like me, wander in the more remote parts of the forest.
Down to the river, a beautiful place, touching Wales and England along it's banks. The haul up to the high ground through the woods along it's banks is worth the effort just for the views.
Back into the forest and it's Looney Tunes time....
Stopped for a brew on a fallen log. Usual test..put my weight on it, great, makes a nice a seat.
Drinking my brew when there was a soft cracking sound and the log, me and the tea subsided quite gracefully I thought, to the ground. Tea still intact.
Anyone passing would have seen an elderly bloke clutching a '58 mug and giggling like a two year old..
The way Nature overcomes always impresses me. Trees growing from Limestone rocks for instance..
A tiny seed falls in a rock crack and years later a tree grows from the stone itself.
Running water carves caverns in the Limestone, some deep and and mysterious and places where the unwary might come to grief.
I can't remember if it was on this forum that the subject of Deer killing and eating birds was mentioned. I do know there are a few items on the subject on You Tube, but on the last day of my trip I followed the track of a single Deer out of the forest and into a field area of short grass. All the signs were that such an incident of bird versus Deer had occurred. The photo's not great but..
The single Deer track, not a regular Deer trail, leads to the scattered feathers. More prints around the feathers, no bones or skull as is sometimes found at a Raptor kill, all eaten, and then a single set of Deer prints leading back into the forest.
One last thing thing, especially for those of a nervous disposition when it comes to things that go bump in the night...sometimes it's not something hiding in the wood that's a worry...:yikes:
It might be underneath you!!.............(He altered course before he got to my tent..)
.....
It's not expensive, it's a good base and it 'aint crowded..
The weather forecast was favourable for the week that I would be camped there, although on the second day the temperature dived and a bitter driving wind blew the light snowfall away.
I have the appropriate kit, not Gucci gear, just stuff I know works under hard conditions. I had a weeks rations and I didn't need to boil my drinking water...
..result.The forest was shelter from the cold wind and as I have an interest in tracking the light snow and frozen ground showed tracks both old and new..
The early morning sun was welcome after a dawn wandering start.
Wild Boar are common but shy and secretive and difficult to spot under normal circumstances, although their Bull Dozer sign is easily seen..
They leave their bones too, for those who like me, wander in the more remote parts of the forest.
Down to the river, a beautiful place, touching Wales and England along it's banks. The haul up to the high ground through the woods along it's banks is worth the effort just for the views.
Back into the forest and it's Looney Tunes time....
Stopped for a brew on a fallen log. Usual test..put my weight on it, great, makes a nice a seat.
Drinking my brew when there was a soft cracking sound and the log, me and the tea subsided quite gracefully I thought, to the ground. Tea still intact.
Anyone passing would have seen an elderly bloke clutching a '58 mug and giggling like a two year old..
The way Nature overcomes always impresses me. Trees growing from Limestone rocks for instance..
A tiny seed falls in a rock crack and years later a tree grows from the stone itself.
Running water carves caverns in the Limestone, some deep and and mysterious and places where the unwary might come to grief.
I can't remember if it was on this forum that the subject of Deer killing and eating birds was mentioned. I do know there are a few items on the subject on You Tube, but on the last day of my trip I followed the track of a single Deer out of the forest and into a field area of short grass. All the signs were that such an incident of bird versus Deer had occurred. The photo's not great but..
The single Deer track, not a regular Deer trail, leads to the scattered feathers. More prints around the feathers, no bones or skull as is sometimes found at a Raptor kill, all eaten, and then a single set of Deer prints leading back into the forest.
One last thing thing, especially for those of a nervous disposition when it comes to things that go bump in the night...sometimes it's not something hiding in the wood that's a worry...:yikes:
It might be underneath you!!.............(He altered course before he got to my tent..)
