I’d been scouting for a decent sport for a while now and came across a lake about a mile or so from my house that was in amongst a wood. It didn’t look like many people went in there and isn’t obvious from nearby trails/dog walking routes. There are big scary signs around warning people off. I was pretty sure that, once in, that the chances of being uncovered were small.
I arrived at about 20.30 and found a spot by the lake. I had to make my way through bushes to get there so it was quite secluded. While setting-up the tent, the pitch was a bit tight due to me trying to set it back from the water so to not be so obvious if anyone was across the other site. I could have pitched it better but it would do. There was no wind to worry about.
By the time I was set-up, it was about 21.30-22.00 and dark, so I gave the planned hot chocolate a miss and had a beer instead. I could hear the odd noise from one creature or another and apart from a dog bark some way away, it was quite settled. I’d relaxed as I’d been there for a bit without being attacked by machete-yielding madmen. I got my head down around 23.00.
It was a fitful night sleep but probably expected. I’d been woken a few times by a noisy something or other but otherwise it was ok. At about 5.20, I’d started to dream about being in a flooded street where people were wading around with boats. Strange. As I started to wake-up I realised that the splashing was coming from the lake. I thought it might be a dog and waited for it to come to the tent to investigate. Soon I realised it wasn’t a dog and on exiting from the tent and making my way to the water’s edge, found 3 deer on the other side of the lake. The splashing was them wading trough the water within 10m of the tent. They saw me, stared for 30 secs or so before climbing up the bank and over the other side. 5 mins later I heard a quite aggressive sort of half-bark/grunting on my side of the lake maybe about 30-50m away. I think they’d maybe made their way around the lake and were making their displeasure of me being there clear. I didn’t think Dear carry axes to attack but I was wondering at the likely-hood of a deer attacking…is that a thing? Eventually, they left me be and although the noise started again about a 1/2hr later, all was quiet.
As I was awake, I thought I’d have a hot chocolate, bland porridge and pack-up and make an early start out. Getting out unseen, I went for a 10-12m ride along a bike trail before heading home. On the way I spotted some wildlife including a muntjac deer and a decent sized bird that flew about 30m in front of me for 30s or so before it soared away. It looked pretty cool. I also passed a couple of people and another early morning cylist.
All-in-all, a good first-nighter. Hopefully, next time it’ll be a beach side camp.
. No thread that I know of apart from this one!
. Bit of everything there. Proper tarpism too.
I do believe that even a cotton T-shirt made it onto this trip 
) that the kitchen had stopped serving food. Oh well… after a packet of crisps, salted peanuts, a Snickers bar and a pint of orange and lemonade, I was refuelled and ready for the final leg to Tyndrum. I must confess I did not take the WHW up and over to the Bridge of Orchy (having done it on the outwards journey) and instead took the easy, lower option on the road. Hats off to the HT riders who would have had no choice but to stick to the route and follow the true course, though.
