Weekend at Mark’s

I was looking forward to a weekend away as the last time I was due to go was scuppered by work.

I knew this would be a chilly one, having had temperatures all last week below zero and even down to minus twenty centigrade in some parts in Scotland.

As it happened, the temperatures rose slightly; so I entered the wood with the temperature reading about 3C.

Again, I brought my camp bed along as opposed to the hammock.

As there was no wind and no threat of rain, we didn't put the parachute up. It was quite noticeable as the evening went on. The fire tends to trap the heat in under a parachute and we kind of missed that. Needless to say, some mulled wine kept out the winter chill.

The next day, we went foraging for birch and for component parts for Matt to make a Christmas wreath (under his wife’s orders.) I wanted to have a go at making a wood-spirit in the birch.

Matt had success in making the wreath but I ran out of time making the wood-spirit, but under Adam’s tuition, I learnt a few tricks to have another attempt at a later date.

The meets in Mark’s woods tend to be quite a musical affair, and as the night drew in, the wood was filled with the haunting sound of the Native American flute, played expertly by Mark and Adam.

That evening, I decided that I would put the Alpkit down bag into the snugpack stratosphere bivi bag (without the hoops). This worked well as it kept the draft off my back and I had a much more comfortable night’s sleep.

The morning brought bright sunshine but very cold temperatures just on freezing.  As I packed away, my fingers suffered as they came into contact with the nylon material and I was glad to get everything packed away and stand in front of the fire to warm up.

It was a great, relaxing weekend with the usual good company. Thanks to Adam, Matt, Nick and of course Mark.

Thanks for the visit.