Sunday 13 September 2009

Satisfying

Satisfying

Written on an itouch with a teeny timy keyboard so please excuse typos.

You join me this evening as I sit by a fire, my front warm yet my back distinctly chilly. I am of course boiling water for tea and I'm feeling distinctly happy with my lot. This may of course be due to having recently worked my way onto the outside of a fillet steak but I think there is more to it than that. When I woke this morning I felt terific, which was a surprise as last night was rather cold and there is no zip on my sleeping bag. Despite this I woke feeling refreshed
and more. I had the sense of well being that comes after playing sport. A rather good state otlf afairs seeing as all I had done was sleep, and I have never seen that at the Olympics. I suppose it was down to having a sense of having achieved something, and having done so before even getting out of bed was the icing on the cake. This good feeling has followed me around all day, and now I have been to work, done some sport, eaten well and read a little I'm on top form.

Perversly I'm enjoying being out in the woods a lot more now that autumn is here and the chill wind brings the promise of winter. It's more challenging. No doubt I will rue these words before long when the cold closes in. Or even tonight when the temperature drops. It's currently around 8 degrees C but it gets colder in the small hours of the morning.

Whilst this excursion might well currently be enjoyable it isn't the primary purpose. The reason for doing this is to raise money for Rainforest Comcern, a fine charity. So if you can spare a little cash please sponsor me (click on the link to the left to get to my sponsorship page). If you are not minded to do so then could you forward a link to this page to some friends instead so that they can consider doing so.

Things to do

Collect loads of pine resin for lighting fires in the winter.
Colllect loads of kindling.
Obtain solar pannel and go self sufficient for power.
Build a roof strong enough to support a meter or more of snow.
Buy a winter sleeping bag.
Stop writing blog and take a moment to appreciate my surroundings.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

wow I'm take back by your words how do stay sain on a day by basis and how far do you have to to bring food up to the site hang in thee my friend its all for agood cause. Stanley walicki

Hugh Sawyer said...

Hi Stanley

I guess I maintain whatever transiant grasp I have on sanity quite easily. I'm not in the woods 24/7 with no contact with other people. I go to work, I see friends, not that there are many people about at the moment, and sitting be a fire helps me reflect on the world. There is nothing better than relaxing by a fire after a long day.

How far I have to carry my food depends on circumstances. At the moment there is no snow so I can drive up the hill, only I don't always have access to a car. In the winter I'll be using a skidoo and a tracked vehicle for work so I could drop things off when I pass close to my place. Other than that I will have to walk up on snow shoes or, preferably, take the lift up the mountain and snowboard down again. Though doing so with a 45lb pack on might be a bit interesting on the bunpy sections. One of the biggest difficulties I have is logistics, making sure that I have everything I need at the right place at the right time can be quite challenging.

DyrWolf said...

How about some reading material.

The Cache
http://selousscouts.blogspot.com/

Kinda like what you are doing.