… doesn’t look so great, weather-wise… But I got a box of goodies from Amazon that I’m itching to play with… Friday looks like the best bet for warmth. Saturday looks like potential thunderstorms, which I’m not so keen on getting stuck in… Sunday looks cold… I wonder if a shitty Saturday means less or more chance of unwanted guests… I would much prefer Saturday because Friday is generally my hang-out-with-friends time that I don’t really want to miss out on.
At my old place with no neighbours I had the luxury of being able to play in the evenings/at night and get home to a warm shower at 3am… I don’t really have this option with my current place because I have a neighbour who might be disturbed by me making noise at that time of day… The last time I was out I got in some evening time and was home and in the shower by 10pm, which is about the latest I would consider comfortable…
Consistent consistency
Anyway. All that aside, since I have this nice deep moist area with lots of water around, I’m considering making the mud a whole bunch more soggy. It’s sort of a silty/clayey mix so the more water it has, the easier it is to move around… I like it a bit thicker like it is now, but once you get sunk in a spot it’s pretty difficult to move… And if I were to have guests, I would really want to be able to move out of their way in quite a hurry… There’s a pretty large area there, so I could try a spot closer to the hiding spot and I might do that… The spot I was using the last couple times doesn’t have a good hiding area near it, so I have to trudge around the pond through soft mud in either socked feet or with some rather slippery sandals… Not so great when speed is necessary as it leaves me really susceptible to twisted ankles and lacerations from things I can’t see…
Base of Operations
Another thing that’s been on my mind lately is having a base of operations. Again, this latest spot is a good area because there’s bush on 3 sides… There’s a sort of opening that has been cut away, presumably so underagers would have a place to hang out and get a buzz on… This works nice because there’s an open area with a good hiding spot for my bag and equipment. And it’s such that I can run into the bush quickly, and be hidden enough that incoming hostiles wouldn’t see me while I casually (and quietly) trudge through the thicker forest with all my gear and everything I need to become presentable again should they decide to hang around for a few hours. At least I’d just look like a casual hiker if I absolutely had to pass by the spot on my way out.
So I have some updated ‘procedures’ to put into place for the next trip, which you can check out here. Mostly it puts in place separate containers for the before, during and after outfits, and allows me to keep the clean clothes clean and the dirty clothes from contaminating the clean clothes… And enables me to do a semi-cleanup and wear my good clothes home without getting the residual mud stuck to my skin on them.
Good times are ahead, for sure. I’m surprised to find I’m really having fun with this. It’s become so much more than just an occasional activity and gone more toward a full hobby that gets me out of the office chair for a while. All I need now is to find some friends who’d like to come hiking with me! 🙂
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