I've started this blog, like most bloggers I expect, to act as a sort of online diary, a record if you will of what I'm getting up to bushcraft wise so that I have something to refer back to in years to come, and if it happens to inspire others to get out and about then that's always a nice ego boost...I'm rather dubious that my humble antics could have quite that impact but we'll see! I will update it as frequently or as infrequently as my fancy takes me; I can't guarantee there will be something new to read every week like some of these serial bushcraft bloggers, but I'll try and chip in with something interesting when I can.
Another reason I've got this going is to keep you in the loop if BCL goes down unexpectedly, in the past when we've had some down time I've had to siphon through PMs and queries spread across multiple other sites that I'm active on, so to prevent all that in the future I'll post updates here if the UNTHINKABLE happens and the site is unavailable for a bit...
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
A Weekend in the Snow
Hi all, and welcome to my first blog post. I thought I'd start by getting stuck straight into the action and share a few tales from the weekend just passed. A mate was having a bit of a birthday get together up in his neck of the woods and invited me to come up and join him, not one to shy from some dirt time in the woods, I hastily booked the time off work and dusted off me thermals!
I made the journey up to Bucks with Weekend Warrior and after passing a number of unfortunate vehicles abandoned at the side of the road, met a couple of the lads on site. Bucks had been hit particuarly bad by the snowy weather of the last few days and the wintry landscape was truly beautiful to behold; very idyllic, like something you'd expect to see plastered on the front of a christmas card.
There were just three of us on the friday night, and faced with a rather depressing evening in sub-zero temperatures, we promptly sodded off round the corner for a couple of hours in a cosy little country pub! A warm meal and numerous pints later saw us tucking up into our sleeping bags for a relatively comfortable night. With the windchill, the temperature dropped considerably that night, but sleeping fully clothed in my Alpkit SkyHigh 800 kept me reasonably toasty....
Saturday morning saw an enjoyable walk through the countryside, with snow up to our knees in some places, and the construction of a heat reflector for round the fire. I put out a few snares as well as the heavy snow had highlighted a lot of rabbit activity around our camp, but come sunday morning I hadn't had any luck....still, it was good practice and I'll keep trying....
Much of the remaining daylight was taken up by the collection of a suitable quantity of dry firewood for the inevitable freezing conditions that would soon be upon us, Dave's chainsaw came in handy here! Saturday night saw a communal meal of pheasant curry with pilau rice and naan bread, cooked to utter perfection to a Hugh Fearnlly-Whittinstall recipe. Dave, the chef, really did himself proud; I've never had such an enjoyable meal out in the woods, ever!
After a breakfast and perfunctory bannock on Sunday morning, it was time to pack up and depart......it was a top weekend out in some pretty trying conditions that certainly put the kit to the test, with great food, drink and top banter to boot......what a way to start the xmas festivities, see you next time lads!
I made the journey up to Bucks with Weekend Warrior and after passing a number of unfortunate vehicles abandoned at the side of the road, met a couple of the lads on site. Bucks had been hit particuarly bad by the snowy weather of the last few days and the wintry landscape was truly beautiful to behold; very idyllic, like something you'd expect to see plastered on the front of a christmas card.
There were just three of us on the friday night, and faced with a rather depressing evening in sub-zero temperatures, we promptly sodded off round the corner for a couple of hours in a cosy little country pub! A warm meal and numerous pints later saw us tucking up into our sleeping bags for a relatively comfortable night. With the windchill, the temperature dropped considerably that night, but sleeping fully clothed in my Alpkit SkyHigh 800 kept me reasonably toasty....
Saturday morning saw an enjoyable walk through the countryside, with snow up to our knees in some places, and the construction of a heat reflector for round the fire. I put out a few snares as well as the heavy snow had highlighted a lot of rabbit activity around our camp, but come sunday morning I hadn't had any luck....still, it was good practice and I'll keep trying....
Much of the remaining daylight was taken up by the collection of a suitable quantity of dry firewood for the inevitable freezing conditions that would soon be upon us, Dave's chainsaw came in handy here! Saturday night saw a communal meal of pheasant curry with pilau rice and naan bread, cooked to utter perfection to a Hugh Fearnlly-Whittinstall recipe. Dave, the chef, really did himself proud; I've never had such an enjoyable meal out in the woods, ever!
After a breakfast and perfunctory bannock on Sunday morning, it was time to pack up and depart......it was a top weekend out in some pretty trying conditions that certainly put the kit to the test, with great food, drink and top banter to boot......what a way to start the xmas festivities, see you next time lads!
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