Posts tagged 'squirrel'

No peace for the wicked

Posted by on March 17th 2013 in My vids, Rambling on...
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So there I was, sitting in a car-park in town after dropping-off one daughter to meet the other for some united retail therapy. While waiting for them to return I was enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet until this little fecker decided to shatter the peace and take umbrage at me and my car. It didn't hassle anybody else and I've no idea what I'd done to upset it but it was barking like mad while chucking nutshells and bits of stick at me and the car. It wouldn't shut up or leave me alone until I'd recorded its noisy antics on the phone and then played it back at max volume:

https://www.youtube.com/v/7d26oBHrm5Y

I'll have the little sod next time - I'll take my catty and some ball-bearings and then we'll see who's the boss. He'll go well in a game casserole  🙂 

Summer Hols – Part 4 – Around Feddet

Posted by on August 29th 2008 in Great Escapes

Click on any of the pics to open up a bigger version in a lightbox thingy.

The drive out of Copenhagen wasn't as simple as we thought it would be - we had adequate maps and directions, but the roadsigns in the city were sparse and difficult to follow. Eventually we escaped southwards and after a couple of hours we arrived at the Feddet campsite. We were assigned a pitch and soon had our tents (and tarp) set up at the edge of the site right next to the sand-dunes:

 

After going into the nearest town for supplies, we spent the rest of the next day on the beach, which was all of 30 yards away from the tent:

 

In the evening the sky was amazingly clear. I spent a few hours on the beach taking pictures of the Milky Way:

 

The peak of the Perseid meteor shower was still a few days off, but there were plenty on show this night:

 

The next day we headed off inland to visit a few of the local towns and villages. We had a pleasant woodland walk around Nygårds Vænge, a place of trees:

 

lakes:

 

logs:

 

and crisp-eating furriners:

 

Back at the campsite we had a go on the assault-course. Anna took it quite seriously:

 

while Ella used it as another posing-opportunity:

 

while the local squirrel population looked on, unimpressed:

 

In the evening I went back to the beach:

 

and took some pics of the strand-line:

 

Later that night a series of thunderstorms passed by. I couldn't resist the chance to get some pics of the lightning:

 

In the morning we decided to take a walk to the end of Feddet Strand. As we passed the washrooms, I nabbed this pic of a swallow in a nest in the eaves:

 

and another, this time a trio of a different species:

 

Soon we were making our way down the track to the end of the strand:

 

The observation-tower at the end proved to be a disappointment, there being no interesting wildlife there to observe. It did, however, prove to be a good shelter during a short storm. The weather brightened up considerably during the walk back:

 

through the woods:

 

and past more log-piles:

 

During a shower we took shelter in the woods, where there were many toadstools such as these:

 

and this:

 

We got back to the site just in time to have a go at making twist-bread over a wood-fire. Anna was really good at this:

 

The evening was spent in the company of the Baxter family from the neighbouring caravan, where we chatted away and consumed many of their drinks. The next morning we had to pack up and say our goodbyes to them:

 

and to this character, who took a shine to their caravan:

 

Then we were off again, driving to our final campsite at Billund to prepare for our assault on Legoland.

To be continued...

Far Eastern Fells Wildcamping – Day 3 – A fine finish

Posted by on June 4th 2008 in Annual Wildie, Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, Wildcamping

We were awake at 07:00 and packed up by 08:00, ready for the last leg of the walk. The weather was still in our favour - overcast but warm with a slight breeze.

We strolled up onto the nearest high ground (a low mound just to the side of the dry tarn) and made a beeline from there to Selside Pike. The walk was uneventful and quiet except for the racket made by a flock of seagulls that we had to walk past as we crossed Captain Whelter Bog. We made it to the summit shelter by 08:50, took a few pics and chose a route down to lower ground.

 

Selside Pike shelter

 

Our chosen route took us down over High Blake Dodd and Selside End, allowing us to get a great view of Swindale.

 

Swindale

 

We joined the Old Corpse Road at the highest point and headed off towards Haweswater. Unlike a lot of walk-offs where the best of the scenery is usually behind you, this path leads back into the heart of Mardale Head, with an end-on view of the Long Stile ridge, so the view in front gets better with every step. There's great satisfaction in looking at the circuit of high peaks surrounding the head of the valley and thinking "we've just been up all of those". The view really opens up at High Loup, where we took some pics and a short rest. The abandoned buildings here, high on the fellside, would make a good bivvy spot.

 

Mardale Head panorama from High Loup

 

Long Stile, Rough Crag and The Rigg from High Loup

 

We then descended the path which goes down in steep zig-zags, passing some fine waterfalls in wooded ravines, before reaching the road right opposite The Rigg, which is the wooded terminus of the Long Stile/Rough Crag ridge.

 

Waterfalls in Hopgill Beck

 

On reaching the road there was a choice of routes back to the car-park: along the road, or along the lakeside path. We chose to take the road, having done enough steep descending for one morning. Little did we know that we would have to pass perilously close to the lair of the local hoodlums...

 

BEWARE!

 

After that, the route was without danger and we made it back to the car unscathed. We had a quick change of clothes, a snack and a chat with some anglers and walkers in the car-park, then we were off to find somewhere for lunch just as the first rain of the weekend started. Excellent timing, eh?

The journey back down the M6 was as bad as the journey up had been good. There were hold-ups at almost every major junction, and two lanes were blocked by an accident near J13, snarling up the traffic right back to J15 and beyond, so we bailed at J16 instead of the usual J12 and took a cross-country route. In the end it took a shade over 7 hours to do the 195 miles back home.

Expect a post-trip analysis soon...