Lost in the Forest

Me and Marley went exploring a new forest near Dunning today. A proper commercial plantation. No mature pine fringing or waymarked trails or picnic areas here. Just trees .. mostly sitka spruce with a patch of brown larch here and there.

And like a ladybird in a wheat field I set off on what seemed to be a path. Came to a logging track lined with woodpiles and passed a family as lost as me who had sensibly turned back at the track end. I, on the other hand, thought I knew where I was and I had a map. Well, the ordnance survey make the best large scale maps in the world, but when it comes to forestry they're a bit sloppy. I crawled under a lot of windfallen trees, scrambled along the shifting slopes of a scary gorge and took my boots off to paddle across burns before working out I'd followed the stream in the wrong direction. I was a lot further than I'd planned.

Anyway, got home 3 hours later and no-one had missed me. I've fed the rat and now I've got to feed the family.