A little bit after the fact, but we enjoyed a very nice 10 mile walk (weekend before last) on a rare sunny day (once the fog had lifted). After a few road miles around the shire, several dead badgers, an almost intellectual discussion about the merits of country living for the enlightened homeless and a jungle poo (mentioning no names), we found ourselves off road. Trespassing but off road none the less.
We had a minor cross country false start, what with no dinghy and therefore no way of crossing the river and therefore having to retrace our steps past Graham's poo (oops, did mention a name?). Tiring of trespassing (when all paths led to private property and certain shot gun action) we looked for a way out of the fields and back on the road. This took us through an overrun bit of land at the back of some houses, over an old bunker and ended with jumping a private fence with a fair bit of panache!
Navigation got even more ad hoc at this point. Graham guessed, Julian landed in muddy puddle after muddy puddle while trying to read a map on his phone and I had no clue but was enjoying watching Julian grumble every time he landed in a muddy puddle. Eventually, using a water tower and a vague idea as our bearings we happened upon a big hill which, duly climbed, gave us a great view of our intended route.
Even the simplest routes and trails can at times throw curve balls when it comes to navigating them, and it's times like these on our 'big walk' that we'll need to dig up the motivation to keep going, even if it means retracing our steps.
A few fields, past the old mill buildings at Lea, a few more fields and a smidgeon of the old railway line and we arrived at the Smoking Dog for a congratulatory pint. 10 miles is still a long way off the 30 or so we need to do for 3 or 4 days straight, but it's a start.
We had a minor cross country false start, what with no dinghy and therefore no way of crossing the river and therefore having to retrace our steps past Graham's poo (oops, did mention a name?). Tiring of trespassing (when all paths led to private property and certain shot gun action) we looked for a way out of the fields and back on the road. This took us through an overrun bit of land at the back of some houses, over an old bunker and ended with jumping a private fence with a fair bit of panache!
Navigation got even more ad hoc at this point. Graham guessed, Julian landed in muddy puddle after muddy puddle while trying to read a map on his phone and I had no clue but was enjoying watching Julian grumble every time he landed in a muddy puddle. Eventually, using a water tower and a vague idea as our bearings we happened upon a big hill which, duly climbed, gave us a great view of our intended route.
Even the simplest routes and trails can at times throw curve balls when it comes to navigating them, and it's times like these on our 'big walk' that we'll need to dig up the motivation to keep going, even if it means retracing our steps.
A few fields, past the old mill buildings at Lea, a few more fields and a smidgeon of the old railway line and we arrived at the Smoking Dog for a congratulatory pint. 10 miles is still a long way off the 30 or so we need to do for 3 or 4 days straight, but it's a start.
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