Forest bogs and fish and chips

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Last weekend we ventured out on the last training walk in the New Forest. This one was 8 hours long. We got to St James Hill near Emery down and made off towards a point on the map using my new found compass skills. Well that was the plan, but all that Christmas drinking had damaged my memory cells and I started to realise I had forgotten how to. I was angry with myself and it took me about 20 minutes to re-figure it out. I remember when I first learnt the method it seemed so easy, but it’s one of those things, the more you think about it, the more your brain complicates it.

It was already 10:30 and we still had at least 8 hours ahead, it would definitely be dark by the time we returned.

The New Forest is wet this time of the year, all of it. Through varied forest we finally made it to a track that led us to Brockenhurst. Along the way I looked for the elusive natural ember keepers - King Alfred Cakes - but never found any.

We finally made it to a nice little pub in Brockenhurst called the Rose and Crown. (nice fish and chips) This was our lunch stop before heading back out for the homeward leg.

After leapfrogging interspersed rain pools on the grassy plain a shortway from the pub we suddenly caught sight of a number of Fallow Deer. And then something quite magical occurred, we saw a pure white one. The photos and video speak for themselves.

Soon after this we saw a Red Deer, a Barn Owl and the crys of a Sika Deer. Things I’ve only ever seen on TV. It was reassuring to see that some ecosystems are still healthy.

Then came the bogs, my burning desire to get off the beaten path, led us through some pretty soggy areas. Actually in places the ground was more like a ponds or stream. Looking back on it we took some unnecessary risks that day, but from the look of the ground it just looked like a load of heather Before we knew it we were surrounded by bog. Leaping from one mound to the next not knowing if our feet would fall on hard ground or sink a foot deep. It’s no wonder Helen was scared.

Eventually we made it through. On the plus side it cleaned the clay off our boots, and the water was probably safer than the water of those I’m trying to help through WaterAid.

The light was falling quickly ans we were still an hour and half from our start point. It was time to switch to headlamp and use the night navigation techniques I’d been taught. Let me tell you, the eyes of a pony at night look pretty damn scary when you’ve got a red light shining on them. The first time it happened I thought I’d come across a beast from a Tolkien novel. Two red pits glowing from the darkness. Their eyes are just too far apart to look normal. Still I soon got over it when I realised in was a pony.

We were reliant on the compass now, and were lucky to pick up an animal track on the same heading we needed. Path lit by headlamp we finally made it back to the road. We’d missed the car park by 1/10th mile. Not bad for my first bit of night nav.

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Photos

Bleak tree
It was cold and bleak in the forest, but amazing none the less.