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the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet


Postby Lenore » Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:34 pm

Date walked: 19/01/2013

Time taken: 7

Distance: 24 km

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98 days left to my return to the Scottish hills and I'm starting to feel the first worries about being walking fit enough :? I can't bike due to snow and ice but I can walk no matter what the circumstances, so that's just what I did this weekend. I also managed to squeeze in my very first camping trip in the snow! Ok, so I only made it one night instead of the two planned, but still I'm feeling rather proud and self-sufficient :lol:

For this trip I went South instead of North or East, so a new part of the country for me. I found a cute little campsite that's open year round and is right in between two nature reserves, one a large stretch of wet moorland, called 'de Kampina':

Image
DSC03391 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

and the other full of forest and fens:

Image
DSC03477 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

I thought it rather nice to be able to visit two such extremely different areas in one go. They're literally only separated by a small country road!

Of course you know by now that there's no hill to be found in this report, but if you're also a member of the tree appreciation society as I am, there might still be something in it for you :wink: Here's two I particularly loved:

Image
DSC03404 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Image
DSC03382 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Turned out I was the only one camping (not that surprising), but there's some group accomodation on the grounds as well and I had my own fully heated bathroom facilities there (and the groundskeeper gave me a key just in case it got too cold at night and I needed to come in, which was very sweet! :D). They all thought I was mad, but with two sleeping backs and lots of layers of ice breaker thermals I was fine. It was rather convenient that I didn't have to worry about my food going off, though my water freezing was a little annoying.

Image
DSC03444 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

I walked the snow-covered moorland in the afternoon on Saturday. I did meet a few other walkers close to the town side of the area, but further back I was quite alone. Well, not quite alone as there's a herd of big cows that they have roaming around to keep other plants from overgrowing the heather. I don't much like cows if there's no fence between me and them, but I have to say that this herd was quite impressive; I could hear them from a few miles away, the sound echoing across the empty moors. I'm just glad they were moving away from me by the time I got to where they were!

Image
DSC03411 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

The sun was fighting to shine through, and I even had a few minutes of blue sky, but the snow clouds soon took over.

Image
DSC03403 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Image
DSC03416 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Image
DSC03386 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

I would have a loved a sunny winter's day, but the light under these snow clouds made for an interesting atmosphere. It did something to the colors, as you can see in the pictures of some of the trees. Almost unnatural as dark as they seemed!

Image
DSC03376 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Image
DSC03381 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

As already mentioned, this is one of the largest 'wet' moorlands. I know that in Scotland most anyplace with heather tends to be a soggy affair, but here we actually have a lot of dry heather on sandy ground. I'm not completely sure why this here is so wet, as it's well above sea level, but perhaps the sandy top soil rests on clay? I do know that a very long time ago winds blew away sand, and the hollows filled with rainwater to form the fens, shallow pools really. I guess they'd be lochans in Scotland. They made for pretty pictures in between the (grass-covered??) moors:

Image
DSC03400 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Image
DSC03423 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

The water eventually drains via a couple of small streams:

Image
DSC03355 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Soon it was time to head back so I could get to the tent before dark. There wasn't really a sunset, but the approaching darkness did make the trees and ice look extra cold:

Image
DSC03431 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

I went to bed VERY early, because it wasn't like I could sit around and enjoy the evening reading outside the tent. In fact, it was too cold to read in the tent as that would mean not having my hands tucked in the sleeping bag. It was near -10 that night. As a result, I was up awake way before dawn. Made myself 'lie in' till 6 and then spent over an hour in the heated bathroom facilities as it was so warm and toasty! :lol: As soon as it was not too dark anymore I went off to the other nature reserve, the forest. I was very surprised how little I needed the head torch! The snow reflected so much light I only needed the torch to read the map. I got to the first fen in the woods just before sun up:

Image
DSC03454 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

This pine forest was originally planted for commercial purposes but was one of the first woods to be 'reclaimed' by conservationists and they've been selectively felling pine to give room for other trees to come in for many decades. Now there's birch and beach and some other trees as well. And the pine that are still there have been given more room to grow into slightly more natural shapes. Very beautiful actually! Pine:

Image
DSC03457 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Image
DSC03466 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Image
DSC03480 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Image
DSC03505 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

And some other funky tree:

Image
DSC03510 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Beech, my all time favorite tree species!:

Image
DSC03514 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

Anyone seen that movie Norwegian wood? This stretch of forest reminded me of it:

Image
DSC03515 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

I didn't see many animals (no deer at all), but I did catch some very colorful birds. I had to do quite a bit of googling to figure out that these two are bullfinches, as I've never seen them before:

Image
DSC03507 by Eleonora F, on Flickr

And a cute little tree creeper; I think you call it a nuthatch in English?

Image
DSC03489 by Eleonora F, on Flickr
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby dawnfoth » Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:52 pm

Hi Lenore,

The first walk report I have read that is outwith Scotland. Really great! Fantastic photos! Love the wee bullfinches and the two trees at the beginning. I think one night is more than enough at -10! :shock: Well Done Lenore! Hopefully meet you when you come to Scotland for some fun on the hills. :D

Dawn x
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby keithmctaggart » Tue Jan 22, 2013 11:58 pm

Hey there,
Loving the photographs, very good indeed. Where do you usually go when you travel over to the UK? How is the walking scene over in the Netherlands?

Cheers
Keith
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby ChrisW » Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:20 am

Another real beauty Lenore, some to those tree shots would sell as 'fine art' prints with just a little bit of post processing. I confess to thinking you caught mountain fever as you've been away so long....this has led to you deciding to wild camp in a wet area with a temp of -10 :crazy: ....Glad you did it though as this was another lovely report from the flatlands. :clap:
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby Lenore » Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:54 am

dawnfoth wrote:Hi Lenore,

The first walk report I have read that is outwith Scotland. Really great! Fantastic photos! Love the wee bullfinches and the two trees at the beginning. I think one night is more than enough at -10! :shock: Well Done Lenore! Hopefully meet you when you come to Scotland for some fun on the hills. :D

Dawn x


Thanks a lot Dawn! I'll have at least a month in Scotland this year spread over a couple of visits, and I seem to remember you're quite the camper as well, right? Would be great to meet up at some point! I've never done a high altitude camp, so after the snow that's next on the list.
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby Lenore » Wed Jan 23, 2013 12:14 pm

keithmctaggart wrote:Hey there,
Loving the photographs, very good indeed. Where do you usually go when you travel over to the UK? How is the walking scene over in the Netherlands?


Thanks, Keith! For walking I've been to the Northwest of Scotland half a dozen times, roughly the area north of Fort William, south of Ullapool and west of Inverness. Have been to the Outer Hebrides, the Small Isles and some other itty bitty islands there as well. Never been to the Cairngorms or way up north. Also, I've never been walking south of Scotland (yet!). I've visited England quite a bit, but so far have always gone for cities and old churches and stuff like that.

The walking scene in the Netherlands is...well... "different" from Scotland. I would say decidedly less cool :lol: As it's so flat and small, there's not the adrenaline rush of height, rough terrain, spiky bits and ridges, or the need to navigate well. There's also not much wild camping. You don't have to plan and pack as well before going out, because if you run out of food or water, you can probably just buy it somewhere. And if it turns out to be too far, there's bound to be a bus home not too far off. If you're cold, there's probably a cafe somewhere around. As a result there's less thrill seeking. Walking is considered a bit naff really. Which is a shame, because it's such a gorgeous little country and I love being outside :D

Those who do go for tough, go for endurance, not challenging terrain. There's quite a number of people who are into walking ridiculously long distances in one go. 40, 80 or even 100 km a day. I respect that, but it's not for me. I love to dawdle a bit, taking lots of pictures or just admiring my surroundings.

ChrisW wrote:Another real beauty Lenore, some to those tree shots would sell as 'fine art' prints with just a little bit of post processing. I confess to thinking you caught mountain fever as you've been away so long....this has led to you deciding to wild camp in a wet area with a temp of -10 :crazy: ....Glad you did it though as this was another lovely report from the flatlands. :clap:


Thanks for the kind words, Chris!! And yes, crazy, a little bit perhaps :wink: Though it wasn't all that wild as there was a bathroom within walking distance, haha!
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby clivegrif » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:56 pm

Great report, and as you say not a hill in sight! Always good to see something a little different on this site.

Love those snowy trees, and the Pink Sparrers!

Living a few metres above sea-level is certainly does make one appreciate those rare trips back to Scotland, but also helps to make one look a little closer at what we have on our own doorstep.

It been a while since I've been to the Netherlands, but would love to go back.

Cheers!
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby mrssanta » Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:04 pm

lovely, some really beautiful tree pictures there, and it looks cooooold
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby johnkaysleftleg » Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:23 pm

Another great "walk lowlands" report. I love Bullfinches, one of my favorite birds so thank you for that pic.
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby BlackPanther » Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:34 pm

You have more snow down there than we do up here in northern Scotland :lol: :lol: And lower temperatures, too...

Surely you are fit enough (and determined enough) to run up a few little Scottish hills :wink:
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby Lenore » Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:24 pm

BlackPanther wrote:Surely you are fit enough (and determined enough) to run up a few little Scottish hills :wink:


Some of my friends call it bullheaded stubbornnes, but I like your 'determined' more! :lol: Either way, it'll get me up there, you're right :wink:
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby UncleSimes » Fri Feb 01, 2013 6:05 pm

Hi Leonore,

Beautiful photos, thanks very much! Is that the Kampina holiday park near Oisterwijk? I'm looking for a place to use my new 4 season sleeping bag, next weekend in the bothy by Beinn Dearg (Blair Atholl) will be the first real test ( :D :D ) but it's good to know some local places for winter camping. I know there are some free 'wild' campsites in some parts of the Netherlands (e.g. Mastbos near Breda), have you ever tried any of those?

Not quite Scotland but there are adventures to be had even without the hills!
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby Lenore » Sun Feb 03, 2013 8:49 pm

UncleSimes wrote:Hi Leonore,

Beautiful photos, thanks very much! Is that the Kampina holiday park near Oisterwijk? I'm looking for a place to use my new 4 season sleeping bag, next weekend in the bothy by Beinn Dearg (Blair Atholl) will be the first real test ( :D :D ) but it's good to know some local places for winter camping. I know there are some free 'wild' campsites in some parts of the Netherlands (e.g. Mastbos near Breda), have you ever tried any of those?

Not quite Scotland but there are adventures to be had even without the hills!


Hi UncleSimes! Nope it's the Nature campsite 'Morgenrood' (but that is near Oisterwijk as well). There's a few more places (all nature campsites so quiet and green) near you I believe. Check natuurkampeerterreinen.nl; when you search using the map you can click the snowflake icon and that'll show you all the ones that are open year round. Haven't tried any pole camping in the Netherlands yet but will in spring! I read you're not allowed to use them until April (though I'm not a 100% sure).

Have fun on Beinn Dearg; hope it's nice and toasty in that new bag of yours :D
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby UncleSimes » Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:56 pm

Thanks Lenore, I'll post a report if I survive the bothy! :crazy:
Will also check out the campsite info, much appreciated.
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Re: the 'Walklowlands' saga continues: a frozen planet

Postby rockhopper » Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:36 pm

A cracking set of photos Lenore particularly liked this one:
Image

and a very nice walk into the bargain :thumbup: ...you're hardier than me though, not sure I could camp out in the cold like that !

Are you back here at the end of April then ? have you got your plans in place for areas/hills ? cheers :)
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