Weekend (woodland) Warrior.

Bluebell Wood. 

After the agonising four week wait for the completion of the legal process for purchasing the wood I have now been able to get down there and get stuck in.

I managed a few days immediately after the completion date before I had to pack my bags and head to the big smoke for work (London. Noisy place).

I have been down and done a lot of work during the last two weekends. It's hard graft at the minute but it's a very rewarding process.

I'm slowly getting a feel for the place and finding my bearings.

The wood is triangular in shape with a 350m road frontage (not too noisy except for commuters using it as a rat run during rush hour) and about 150m at its widest point. It slopes gently upwards, in an east to west direction, from the pointy end to the wide part; and has a lovely little brook meandering throughout its length. The westerly end on the road side of the brook has a steeper gradient. The perfect spot, it seems, for rope swings (Unfortunately I've had to remove them for insurance purposes).

A crappy screenshot from Google maps but you get the general idea. 

Rather fortuitously the quiet corner furthest from the road is relatively flat and is the perfect spot for my HQ. This is where I'm currently focusing my time. 

If you go down to the woods today...

...you might find me there.

I got confirmation from the solicitors today that everything has gone through smoothly and I'm now officially the owner of almost 6.5 acres of mature woodland.

It hasn't been an entirely smooth passage however.

Unfortunately my mate Dave couldn't raise the necessary capital to fund his half of the purchase and so I had to make a decision; let it go or go for it. I went for it.

For the first time in many years I've had to borrow some money, but sometimes in life you have to take a risk.

I'm finding the whole thing both exciting and slightly scary in equal measure. One thing is certain though, no matter what happens now, I am going to gain a great deal of pleasure from the whole adventure.

Review: Osprey Talon 6 Lumbar Pack - 2017.

Upper Mustang, Nepal. A great testing ground for the new Talon 6.

I'm a big fan of Osprey products. I've used their packs extensively for a long time; The Atmos 35 has been my go-to travel pack for everything in the last six or seven years.

And with good reason; the build quality, comfort, and durability, are as good as it gets.

So when I received the latest version of the Talon 6 Lumbar Pack to test during my recent trip to Nepal I was pretty excited.

Osprey Talon 6 Lumbar Pack.

I've been using an older Talon 8 for running, hiking, and mountainbiking, for a good few years now and it's been faultless. I did feel that it was sometimes a bit too voluminous so the smaller 6 litre version should be more user friendly. Let's see how it stacks up.

An Unexpected Twist.

Nepal was as beautiful as ever :)

I've barely given my bike a cursory glance in the last two weeks let alone climbed aboard. Firstly I haven't been particularly interested in doing so, and secondly I've been rather busy; much busier than I planned to be.

Landing at Manchester Airport on a fine Sunday morning after ten weeks in Nepal was surprisingly less traumatic than expected. It wasn't particularly cold; I had been expecting Siberian level chills.

A cancelled train to Manchester Piccadilly saw me hopping onto a rather posh coach; far too posh for a vagrant like me I'd say. And then my delightful connection on The Trans-Pennine route took me through the heart of the Peak District National Park and onwards to gritty Sheffield. From Sheffield I tootled towards home on the East Midlands Trains service to Alfreton. On the way I called my Dad to let him know that I was on time, which took him by considerable surprise - he was expecting me to arrive three days later.

On the Monday I went, with my mate Mad Dave Martin, to have a look-see at some local woodland that was due to be sold at auction.

On the Tuesday we bought it.

I had absolutely no idea when I returned from Nepal that I was about to become joint owner of a six and a half acre wood.

A Daring Deed indeed.

The stunning Rara Lake in Western Nepal.

Because I have been quite lazy of late I thought I should probably post a little update. I am in the process of writing several pieces for the blog. At least one covering some of my extended visit to Nepal and another one with some very exciting news to share.

Watch this space.

I have written a couple of pieces for Alpkit's Daring Deeds section. The first was a preview of my recent trip to Nepal...

Coffee, Curry, Cake, Beer, and a Bicycle.

...and the second is a travelogue of our time exploring the area around the rarely visited Rara Lake National Park in the Wild West (just click on the links).

Rara Hurrah

A curious couple and a curious cottage - Western Nepal.

It's not much of a blog post but there is plenty to come over the next few weeks as I get caught up.

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