In a previous post I announced my early spring micro-adventure: a wild camp in a wood that I pass every day on my commute to, and from, London.
I’m pleased to say the adventure went well and I spent a very enjoyable, and cosy, night in my hammock.
I took a bunch of photos and shot some video, all of which you can see in the short (5mins or so) clip below.
The wild camp was great fun and waking up in the hammock to the dawn chorus was very special, there’s something quite wonderful about sleeping in the open rather than being enclosed in a tent.
I met a dog walker as I was packing up my gear, he pointed out I was on private property. I gave him my biggest grin, explained that I’d leave no trace whatsoever and complimented the wood on its beauty. He seemed happy with this and went on his way.
So…what next? A couple of work colleagues have expressed an interest in joining me on the next one, sometime in May. Google maps have been consulted, OS maps looked at, locations considered.
Check back for more!
(and thanks to Alastair Humphreys for the initial idea)
Thank you Martin, I really enjoyed the video clip. I didn’t recognise the bird in the background.
It was a woodpecker, or so I’m told : )
So much fun! I love the idea – but I also I think you’re very brave. I suspect being alone in a dark woods I’d translate every creak of a tree of whoosh of wind into an imagined monster. I bet that woodland will never agin look the same on your morning commute. Thanks for sharing such a fun video.
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Being alone in the woods is okay after spending some time rationalising away all the scare stories. I told myself over and over again: ‘there are no dangerous animals in the south of England, mad-bad people are in the towns and cities, the worst that can happen is I’ll be asked to leave’. After a while all this sinks in and I just stop worrying. : )
You did it! Fantastic! So, the next one with your friends – will it be in the same woods or are you going to find another place?
We’ll be heading for a new location, in the beautiful Chiltern Hills, about 20 miles north of London : )
Reminds me of so many wild camps. Lovely stuff!
Inspiring stuff
Brilliant! Really pleased you did this.
Al
Only just caught up with this, Martin… I really like the idea of micro-adventures, and I’m so pleased you achieved this one, and then blogged about it. It proves that not all adventures need to have backgrounds of Scotland, Wales or the Lake District.
Yes, agree absolutely, adventures are as much a state of mind as anything else and one can have them anywhere, with a little imagination : )
Martin
Two hammock related questions.
Which hammock do you use?
How easy is it to tie the hammock between the trees and get the right tension so it doesn’t wobble downwards?
I use the DD Frontline Hammock (http://www.ddhammocks.com/product/dd-frontline-hammock), it wasn’t hard to tie the hammock between the trees. It all seemed to work ok for me but this was only my 2nd time using the hammock and I’m pretty sure I could be doing it a lot better.
Thanks for the link. Much appreciated as I now have no excuse at all not to wild camp.
Did you do it again with your colleagues?
Not yet, bad weather and then summer holidays got in the way but hopefully in the Autumn…
Hi Martin,
Now that it’s “Autumn” I wondered if you’ve had chance to do this yet with your colleagues…?
😉
Al
Nearly. One colleague and I arranged to wild camp at a lovely spot by the Great Ouse towards the end of September, sadly he came down with a cold the night before and we had to cancel. Now looking at the spring.
Hi Martin
I was wondering where the magically spot is that you camped at… if you remember? A friend is thinking of taking a group of colleagues and this looks perfect, as not too far from London!
Thanks!
Emma
Hi Emma, the wood is about a mile and a half south of Knebworth: http://binged.it/1QxgGvs Have fun and let me know how you get on 🙂
this was a great camp video so many times we have to compromise with road noise. thinking of it as a distant waterfall is a great idea i will be using next week in Northampton.
way to get away from the daily grind. ATB mate happy camping.
Hi Ron, thanks for dropping by and I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Are you wild camping next week in Northampton?
Such an awesome thing to do. I have recently bought my first hammock and tried it out with Welsummers Camping (a paid for site). My next adventure will be very similar to yours!
Hi William, thanks for dropping by, I’m pleased you enjoyed the post. Good to hear you have another adventure planned, there is something really special about wild camping. Good luck!