This year has been interesting, since stopping running I've been exploring other pursuits, and going wherever they have taken me. Post knee op I began walking and walking and walking, locally and then country parks further afield. Some have been lovely but no real thrills there. Then came mountains, courtesy of SVL adventures who randomly appeared on my Facebook timeline I've now climbed seven reasonable peaks including Snowdon, Pen y Fan and Scafell (more in the pipeline!)
Inadvertently along the way I met Ria and we realised we share a keen interest in the mountains and the outdoors. One of our chats led to a discussion about Alistair Humphries new book 'Microadventures'. A lovely new friend then gifted me a copy of the book and I was hooked! Soon Ria and I were planning our own Microadventure which involved sleeping outside somewhere without a tent. Planning complete we met at Guildford train station and proceeded to walk a few miles of the Wey Navigation, rucksacks heavy and enthusiasm high we popped in for a pint en route and excitedly chatted about our adventure. We watched as a beautiful shire horse pulled the packet boat along the canal, marvelled at the huge houses with canalside gardens, watched birds swoop over the water gathering up insects and generally enjoyed a rainy stroll.
Soon we decided to veer off the path and head uphill, thanks to the Viewranger app I think my days of getting terribly lost are finally over. We climbed high and it was hard work, soon we were on top of Pewley Downs, magnificent views rewarded our efforts. We sat for an hour or so watching the world go by and then decided to move towards the nearby Chantry Woods. Wild camping isn't strictly legal so we had to make ourselves disappear a bit in order to not be discovered and also for our own safety. We wandered in the woods for a good while before we found the right spot, the desired site needed to be flat, discrete and have good views, plus some trees to hold our tarp. We were aware that some 'weather' was due to happen later in the night.
Settling in we enjoyed some bubbles and a carefully made fire before lights out.
I was expecting to feel a little scared or at least worried but didnt feel it. Common sense told me there likely wouldn't be any nutters up in the woods overnight.
I fell asleep and woke to the sound of rain on the tarp about midnight, then followed a pretty impressive thunderstorm, it was almost as though Mother Nature was showing us her talents. The storm passed and it rained most of the night.
We woke about six to weak sunshine filtering through the trees. A hot coffee and pack up (making sure we left no indication we'd ever even been there) and we were off on the trek back to Godalming.
It's was a fantastic experience for us both and I urge anyone to give it a try, you don't need much kit and the rewards are huge. And, you don't even need a weekend, this can be done locally in the week with a little organisation and the right amount of enthusiasm.
