Autumn colours make getting out into the woods a must…
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For more “Bushcrafting By Landrover” see our LandroverExplorer.co.uk website – follows the same “Get Out & Stay Out” philosophy but applied to on-land travel instead of on water!
Autumn colours make getting out into the woods a must…
For more “Bushcrafting By Landrover” see our LandroverExplorer.co.uk website – follows the same “Get Out & Stay Out” philosophy but applied to on-land travel instead of on water!
At the first sign of it getting colder and the leaves turning we loaded up and headed for an overnight trip down the Wye to catch the early autumn mood – leaving enough time for a late Autumn trip to follow before winter hopefully…
You can catch Ray in his swag bedroll in the Australian desert: on DaveJaVue channel tonight at 7pm if you have Sky TV. Here’s a couple of images of his desert camp from the show:
For more on swag camping, see our main post about “swag” camping here: “Me Ol’ Swagaroo”
We love swag-camping – if you want to get yourself a swag see our post on “Where to Buy a Swag in the UK” and also see our “Duluth Bedroll” post for a Canadian ‘swag’ option!
For more Ray Mears swag camping see this clip from his DVD from YouTube, showing 4×4 swag camping in places with a lot of biting insects, so a fully enclosed mozzie net features heavily in the swag he uses here – You’ll need to view full screen because there’s an awful lot of split-screen editing gone on in this one!
A Late Summer trip on the River Wye – just a 24 hour ‘get Out & Stay Out” trip, but a great one – highlights included a 2 foot Pike jumping out of the water within about a foot of the canoe – teeth bared!
Finally documented our Summer Season Wye trip. We decided to start at The River Lugg – I arrived in daylight (just) and went down the Lugg until it met with the Wye and made camp on the far bank and then waited for a text saying TheRangerD had arrived at Mordiford. That meant I had to cross back over the wye just as it got dark at midnight, and teh bad news the mist suddenly thickened up like gray soup about 5 feet high on the surface of the water – my headtorch did nothing but bounce back in a white-out, so it was torches off and pretty much doing the maneuver blind! Lucky I practiced it a few times in the light eh… But I made across and after walking back to teh main road and meeting with The Ranger at 1am we began the trip in earnest – with a long portage of canoes and gear across the fields near Mordiford as the Lugg wasn’t anywhere near safe to paddle in the dark. Then we loaded up and crossed the Wye in the dark around 1.30am just where it meets the Lugg – the swirling water, mist and perfect bright moonlight made it an incredible start to the trip! Sleep came about 3am just as the sun began to lighten up the sky again. The swags held out the sunlight and we slept pretty well until 6am or so. And so the Summer Trip began…. Enjoy the pictures!
Because it captures the mood of the river, and the ‘path’ of the paddle! This one is in high definition video so click the icon to view it full screen.
See our Canoeing & Bushcraft Videos section for more Canoing Videos (these are all uploaded & managed via You Tube)…
These were filmed with an excellent digital HD widescreen handheld camcorder from Toshiba – more info here.
Just thought I’d collect my thoughts following a recent canoeing and ‘get out and stay out’ camping trip in the Wye valley. I’ve shared a few tips and ‘learns’ below that I’ve picked up in recent trips with the help of a touch of ‘backyard’ testing too.
Camp Fire! Firstly, respect your surroundings at all times, only light camp fires where and when they are allowed and keep it safe. Depending on where you are and if there are restrictions – find out and follow the rules. Extinguish remains and embers thoroughly as it can travel both over and under the ground.
Update. New Kelly Kettle Video Here.
old swag in a bag
There’s something to be said for not having a tent covering you up and hiding you away from the sky, especially when it’s fine. I guess in a tent, you’re not really out – you’re still ‘in’ and enclosed. Recently, I lay half under the half turned boat in my sleeping bag with nothing above me apart from a little dew and a million stars. As my old mate, Kevin, snored and grunted like a badger in his swag bag with only his beard on show, I listened to the Tawny Owls echoing in the valley, the splash of jumping fish in the Wye beside us and I picked out the shooting stars that were occasionally trailing and burning through the sky – sometimes I was momentarily tricked by the constant path and track of a man made one. The birds were singing at 4.30 and it was impossible to sleep so watching the sunrise in the valley was the next thing and it was going to be a scorcher. The ‘badger’ was awake too, not long after – and it was coffee, courtesy of good ol’ Kelly!
travelling light with your buddy
This video shows how the Wye can spill right over it’s banks – too dangerous to Canoe when it’s like this…
Old Red is our new canoe – an Old Town Discovery 158 in classic canoe red. We just returned from her maiden river trip, on the River Wye – here’s a great picture of Old Red pulled up at the bank, while Hawkeye looks out for birds in the woods on the river bank. We’ll post a full report of the trip here in the coming days – it was a great trip – still very wintery, no sign of green in the trees – just some early wild garlic out in the woods, and a few daffs and snowdrops. The birds were urging Spring on though with fantastic chorus of song coming from the woods and riverbanks.
Song of The Paddle and Path of The Paddle are inspirational books by Bill Mason who popularised the Open Canadian Canoe and Canoe camping like no other.
You can buy them on Amazon of course.