Lockdown, Day #200
Day 200 of lockdown, and Livejournal hasn't kicked up a stink about me posting a "lewd" image of a bum crack; I suppose I should be grateful for that last bit.
I did a quite long hike today, recce-ing a walk on my day off work. I was taking a slightly different route to what I intended to take, avoiding some paths I know quite well that were being resurfaced. It did take me down a road where it's hard to social distance, and typically at the really difficult part, where the footpath was only on one side, I came across four people in business attire ambling the other way. I ended up climbing up a steep bank to go around them; standing there waiting for people who won't hurry up is no fun.
I also sped up to overtake an old man who was walking his dog on the other side of the road - I suspected he was heading towards the same narrow path as me; I spotted him turning to stare at me in my peripheral vision as I rushed along - I guess I must have startled him.
I started off on some paths I'd walked along a few times before, but eventually turned off into more unfamiliar territory. I found myself following a path that seemed to be blocked off, but luckily there was a stile that took me across to a separate route, just one that you need to be somewhat fit to use.
I almost took a good picture of a rainbow image by the road, but got a bit spooked when a car slowed down and turned down the road towards me. I wondered if they were about to question what I was up to (stupid, I know; any time a car slows down near me, I wonder what they want with me, and whether I've done anything wrong).
The path was okay for a few more miles, apart from becoming a bit vague at one point, and then I found myself walking towards a particularly large flood, evidently caused by the recent weather; a cyclist was traversing it, but I didn't fancy getting wet boots again; I did another act of climbing up a slight ridge and walking on top of it, just to avoid this spot. As I got to the end of this section, I saw a man running towards me, and thought for a second a farmer was coming after me. I quickly realised it was a man jogging, with some relief.
It was shortly after this that I started having problems; I walked along a spot where the paths were unclear, the waymarking signs were confusing, pointing me across fields of crops, and I wondered if they had been tampered with.
I lost my bearings completely and ended up taking a long route, via some roads. I picked up the route, but decided to check the path I should have taken. I went some of the way, but spotted a distant figure, and guessed it was the farmer. I was a bit unnerved by the fact that the person seemed to be standing stationary, and even though they were little more than a speck on the horizon, I wondered if this person was just staring at me. While I knew I was on a public route, I still felt like a trespasser, and when I saw this person walking towards the main path, I turned round and decided to forget about checking out the rest of the path. I wasn't in the mood for confrontation.
I kept looking behind me, and sure enough I saw what I presumed was the same person on the path behind me. I wanted to stop for lunch, but I had a mental image of this person coming towards me where I had stopped, and saying, "Excuse me, but I have reason to believe you have been trespassing on my land", so I kept going.
After about 15 minutes, I realised I was going to have to stop for lunch. It was the most uncomfortable lunch stop I've ever had; I was still checking to see if there was someone slowly following me, with a possible intent to find out who they'd seen wandering around on their land.
The rest of the walk was somewhat uneventful, but it did end with me having to walk alongside a quite busy road for a few minutes.
I feel very sore now; I did at least have a delivery of beer to cheer me up a little; I think I will need to revise this route a little before I can take the Stag Walkers on it.
I've decided to share a few photographic highlights:
I decided this was either a brown roll-rim or charcoal burner mushroom.
I am fairly certain this is a red kite.
This is around where I got confused; it wasn't the most attractive place; almost a wasteland.
I did a quite long hike today, recce-ing a walk on my day off work. I was taking a slightly different route to what I intended to take, avoiding some paths I know quite well that were being resurfaced. It did take me down a road where it's hard to social distance, and typically at the really difficult part, where the footpath was only on one side, I came across four people in business attire ambling the other way. I ended up climbing up a steep bank to go around them; standing there waiting for people who won't hurry up is no fun.
I also sped up to overtake an old man who was walking his dog on the other side of the road - I suspected he was heading towards the same narrow path as me; I spotted him turning to stare at me in my peripheral vision as I rushed along - I guess I must have startled him.
I started off on some paths I'd walked along a few times before, but eventually turned off into more unfamiliar territory. I found myself following a path that seemed to be blocked off, but luckily there was a stile that took me across to a separate route, just one that you need to be somewhat fit to use.
I almost took a good picture of a rainbow image by the road, but got a bit spooked when a car slowed down and turned down the road towards me. I wondered if they were about to question what I was up to (stupid, I know; any time a car slows down near me, I wonder what they want with me, and whether I've done anything wrong).
The path was okay for a few more miles, apart from becoming a bit vague at one point, and then I found myself walking towards a particularly large flood, evidently caused by the recent weather; a cyclist was traversing it, but I didn't fancy getting wet boots again; I did another act of climbing up a slight ridge and walking on top of it, just to avoid this spot. As I got to the end of this section, I saw a man running towards me, and thought for a second a farmer was coming after me. I quickly realised it was a man jogging, with some relief.
It was shortly after this that I started having problems; I walked along a spot where the paths were unclear, the waymarking signs were confusing, pointing me across fields of crops, and I wondered if they had been tampered with.
I lost my bearings completely and ended up taking a long route, via some roads. I picked up the route, but decided to check the path I should have taken. I went some of the way, but spotted a distant figure, and guessed it was the farmer. I was a bit unnerved by the fact that the person seemed to be standing stationary, and even though they were little more than a speck on the horizon, I wondered if this person was just staring at me. While I knew I was on a public route, I still felt like a trespasser, and when I saw this person walking towards the main path, I turned round and decided to forget about checking out the rest of the path. I wasn't in the mood for confrontation.
I kept looking behind me, and sure enough I saw what I presumed was the same person on the path behind me. I wanted to stop for lunch, but I had a mental image of this person coming towards me where I had stopped, and saying, "Excuse me, but I have reason to believe you have been trespassing on my land", so I kept going.
After about 15 minutes, I realised I was going to have to stop for lunch. It was the most uncomfortable lunch stop I've ever had; I was still checking to see if there was someone slowly following me, with a possible intent to find out who they'd seen wandering around on their land.
The rest of the walk was somewhat uneventful, but it did end with me having to walk alongside a quite busy road for a few minutes.
I feel very sore now; I did at least have a delivery of beer to cheer me up a little; I think I will need to revise this route a little before I can take the Stag Walkers on it.
I've decided to share a few photographic highlights:
I decided this was either a brown roll-rim or charcoal burner mushroom.
I am fairly certain this is a red kite.
This is around where I got confused; it wasn't the most attractive place; almost a wasteland.