Woodlife Trails

This is the final entry from the Bushmoot held at Merthyr Mawr at the end of July. The entries have been taken from my hard copy journal.

0730 – After last nights hangi, it wasn’t easy getting up this morning. At least it didn’t rain over night so it will make striking camp more comfortable.

0830 – A quick cup of coffee and everything is already packed up. I’m avoiding spending long moments saying goodbyes. I said cheerio to most folks last night. It’s only really a matter of ensuring that no evidence of my 5 days under the pine trees exists. I’m satisfied that there’s no evidence of my presence left.

I will be sorry to leave. I’ve learned so much that my head is actually spinning if I try and remember everything. It will take me a few days to reflect and let the learning sink in.

So what were the high points? No doubt meeting Mors and listening to his marvelous anecdotes and teachings; listening to Rod who has awakened my interest in tracking; learning with Marcus about the potential of British Boiled Greens; watching the Master at work carving wonderful objects and portraits from the Poplar; learning more about axe and blade work; meeting the excellent people from BCUK. I was also pleased with my own tarp and hammock setup. I realised that I could live comfortably for a week or even more with this minimal setup. I was pleased with the extra poncho which was used for covering my rations which were tied to a tree. The litre of meths lasted well and I came away with about 1/4 litre.

I don’t think there were any negative points at all, although there are a couple of things I would change to my set up which mostly involves kit and rations. I took far too much food and my belt kit was too heavy. The whole carry system seemed a bit bulky and if I was to carry it an distance (which I didn’t) I think I would have been in trouble. I was just about to put the kit in the car after carrying it 50 yards, when it all fell to pieces! Oh well…back to the drawing board when I get home. I think that the reason is that I didn’t fix the reindeer skin on properly.

There is just one nagging area. It relates to my state of mind when carrying out some of the tasks. Did I give up too easily? Am I using lack of skill for an excuse for lack of determination? It’s an area that I will have to examine over the next few weeks. I don’t want to get into the situation where I buy more and more kit just to make things more comfortable whilst not trying to make use of what I’ve got and not being determined to achieve it.

In the meantime, I’ll just think about one of the best experiences I’ve had for a long time.