Always take a compass

Had a nice, easy, walk in the New Forest on Saturday (30th July) - just to stretch my legs and get out in the fresh air more than anything else to be honest. Started from the car park at Milkham Enclosure which is on the North side of the A31 and can be reached via the Stoney Cross road.  There is one main path leading from the car park and this is popular with Mountain Bikers as there is a nice 13mile (can be made longer) loop from here around a designated MTB path (this is marked on OS Explorer maps with orange dots) - I've ridden this loop hundreds of times myself as we used to use it as our summer training ride! Following the main path takes you down into the enclosure itself and from here you can walk in pretty much any direction, or follow the marked routes.  Out of the enclosure to the North are Broomy and Holly Hatch enclosures and to the West is Slufters enclosure.  Going South takes you into Roe enclosure and then onto Bratley Plain before reaching the A31. My

You can never have too much kit, right? Over the last fews months (and years) I seemed to have amassed a fair amount of kit to aid me in my "outdoor pursuits" "The Kit Room" Recently I've found myself with a bit more room in the house than I've previously had and naturally I've used this to my advantage and moved all the kit (except the bikes, bike kit and waterproofs) into the spare room - which has now become my very own Cotswold! I'm almost certain that I'll be adding to this collection and I think I'm going to need some hanging space and wardroom space in the room very soon to accomodate everything.

The need for an excuse! I needed a half decent walk as an excuse to test out my new Deuter 45+10 Guide Rucksack so after a night of planning and pouring over numerous OS Maps to find a circular route around 8-9 miles I settled on a loop from Queen Elizabeth Country Park, along the South Downs Way and then back to the park skirting the edge of West Harting Down and onto the Staunton Way. That was about it in terms of planning to be honest, drive to QE Park and then start walking - simple! I put a bit more in the bag that was necessary for this walk as I wanted to test it out with a bit of weight to it.  I'd bought it for the Mountaineering course that I've booked over Christmas but its actually the ideal size for use on a long day walk.  The North Face 25L and Osprey 70L sacks are too small and too big respectively for some trips (yeah ok, so its an excuse but I'm sticking to it!). 8am saw me in the, fairly quiet, car park of QE Park - no wind and around 18C, shaping

So the idea was to go up to Scotland and walk Ben Nevis, again. But this time I wanted to actually enjoy the walk and views - not that I didn't get enjoyment from walking the 3 Peaks in April but that was a different challenge, for a specific reason and had its own up's and down's. I decided that I wanted to walk via the CMD Arete, a route that I'd read about numerous times both on-line and in magazines and always said that I'd do - but never actually gotten around to doing anything about it. So the trip was booked, boots waxed, kit organised and new coat purchased.... On the subject of the coat its worth mentioning that I have somewhat of a love affair with GoreTex for my outerwear. Why? Well I've found over the years that it offers the best in terms of protection, breathability and durability - and I've used a variety of products (socks, coats, trousers, hats, gloves) in a variety of pursuits (mountain biking, road cycling and racing, walking and

So I've finally done it. Ok that sounds more grand and impressive than it really is! I've registered for my Mountain Leader (ML) training course and have registered with the British Mountaineering Council (BMC). - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Location: The Green,Romsey Extra,United Kingdom