Quite a drop in temperature today. The last week was fine, dry, sunny and warm with temperatures in the 20′s (C). Today, rain was threatening, a cool north breeze and temperatures about 17C.

I took the tarp, hammock and trangia into the woods. I’d stocked my ration bag with lunch goodies. After setting up the tarp and hammock (getting quicker at doing this now) and again practicing fire lighting with firesteel and birch bark, I lit the trangia and settled down to lunch. I had set up the tarp in an open configuration. I was able to open the front a bit more by using small bungee’s which were added to the tarp lines. The centre loop on the tarp was bugee’d directly to the tree at the front. Although I prefer cordage for setting up a tarp, I have certainly found the benefit of carrying small bungee’s in my utility pack.

I didn’t have a planned project this weekend, so I just enjoyed sitting in the wood. I’m quite surprised how comfortable the hammock is when it’s used as a chair. I don’t think I would go to the woods without it now. It’s small enough to pack into anything I carry and that includes my small shoulder bag.

I decided to take a walk into East wood. I spotted the usual Bugle, but some of the plants stems seemed too long. I wandered over and was surprised to notice that they were early purple orchids. Not really rare, but not common in this area. The soil in this area is quite poor soil and near a wet ditch. The perfect place for them. They are distinguishable by their spotted leaves, said to be the blood of Christ being positioned underneath the Cross. After taking some pictures, I followed the ditch to find some more and was delighted to find a white petaled version.

My plant spotting ended up with a large area blanketed by Germander speedwell.

The woods are now a blanket of green, and it’s very easy to vanish into it’s depths. I reflected that just a few months ago I was bounding around the woods like an elephant. Now, even with a 55 ltr pack, I seem to be able to tread lighter. The rabbits don’t run off so quickly, and the birds seem to stay in the trees…or are they just used to me being around (!) This is the 5th good camp I’ve found in this wood. It’s not as open as the other spots but there’s not a bad field of view and quite a few resources in the form of fallen branches and tree trunks.

I finished off the day by stocking up on some silver birch bark, which is my favoured tinder at the moment for use with the firesteel. I’ve heard that birch is excellent for woodcarving and I considered cutting one of the many large limbs for a wood carving project or two. I’m not sure what to do though. Any ideas?