Toilets and Tracks

It’s been a busy few weeks with lots happening both at work and in the woods; over the Easter break we finished installing the composting toilet, chopped up a lot of the piled up wood and reorganised the wood store. 

Not the most exciting of subjects but hugely beneficial for everyone; the sawdust from the wood chopping was collected and is being used in the composting toilet, and the logs are now chopped ready for more fires when we need them. The new toilet saw a lot of use in the first weekend and necessitated the sawdust to prevent it filling up too quickly with the wood chip I had collected. 

Reorganising the store means we have the various sizes of wood ready to go and drying out nicely for future camp outs. I also managed to get quite a lot of filming sorted out, so if you follow my Youtube channel you should see some new videos on the Wild Country Zephyros 2 tent, Fatwood, making a bucksaw and some more campfire cooking videos. 

Throw into the mix another of my ‘Wayer’ courses and I’ve spent a good amount of the month outside and it’s been fantastic.

A beautiful morning view

The latest 'Wayer' course was about tracking and awareness  and although I’ve done a few bits of animal tracking on various courses and while in Sweden, it’s a subject that never fully grabbed me. I’ve always been more interested in the craft side of bushcraft, but that all changed following this three day course. 

The best way I can describe this change is that I now feel more connected with the outdoors than ever before. The bird song, animal tracks and the little clues have taken on new meaning and help fill in the blanks of the world around me as I journey through the woods. From a subject that wasn’t that appealing it’s been quite transformational. On a walk with the family, I spotted fox signs, rabbit, badger, deer and a host of birds all within a very small area and although the walk took longer, it felt like we all took more away from it.

The tracking course was another three day course, and the group have settled into something of a rhythm, the usual jobs of running a camp all seemed to go smoothly over the weekend and we all had a chance to get setup in good time with plenty of time for chatting around the fire as well as prepping wood, sorting out some repairs on the main shelter and keeping the kettle topped up. Two communal meals meant cooking was a pleasant time for us all and we enjoyed the stew on the first night and the lentil curry on the second.

The course is really beginning to tick all the boxes I hoped it would do, new areas of interest, good people all interested in the same subject, helping each other and pushing our knowledge forward. These courses are fast becoming the highlight of my month.

The only shadow hanging over the whole weekend was a sick dog at home, fortunately she was out of the woods by Saturday so I could get back to enjoying the course knowing she was ok. I pleased to report she is now 100% recovered....unlike my wallet.