One of my local walks

[milfmog]

Back in April I posted the note below (or something similar) on the TSNS forum.

I like a challenge so I spent some time on Saturday trying to get a self-timer shot with the dogs. This was the best one of the batch:


(Click for larger image)

The puppy (bottom left) is now 15 weeks old and is rapidly turning into an inexhaustible bundle of energy, fun and trouble. (The German Shepherd and Jack Russel belong to a friend who was unable to walk them that day so I took them with me).

Yesterday I was back in the same woods and decided to try and get an updated picture of the same spot. This was the best I managed:



As you can see the weather was pretty kind for November. I was walking for about an hour and forty minutes and did not see or hear any sign of other people around. I thought I'd try to grab a few more pictures of the walk to share here to give you a flavour of my normal walking environment at this time of year.

This tree, covered with cobwebs, was not easy to picture, especially with only an iPhone. I really was annoyed that I had not taken a proper camera with me yesterday.



A couple of general views of the wood:





When I stop to take a picture, Taz tends to make himself comfortable (in years gone by he would have been too busy chasing through the leaves to stop, but it seems that age is bringing some wisdom with it).



Hazel is less inclined to stop for long, I had to interrupt her train of "thought" to get this shot:



Another view of the sunlight coming through the trees:



This shack is occasionally used for a camp out by the family that owns the land, however, it is more than a year or two since I saw any sign of recent activity:



(Apologies for the washout colour in that one, iPhone cameras simply can't deal with high contrast as well as my "proper" cameras, let alone a chemical camera loaded with slide film.)

Have fun,


Ian.

[jbeegoode]

That haze gives a mysterious quality like what is sometimes seen in oils. It is nothing like anything that could be found within a thousand miles of here, I suspect. In California, it would be pollution creating those fine sunbeams and here it would be the occasional, very occasional, fog in a low canyon. Up the California coast, north. That deciduous forest just looks so user friendly and inviting.

It appears that New England and old England are both enjoying a good streak of weather, at last.

Gotta love Taz,
Jbee

[Davie]

I usually see if I can improve my pics but very often the original as taken by the camera proves best. A quick and easy program is photoscape, but be warned some of the later versions have malware. I'm using an older version and have had no problems.

Davie 

[John P]

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, as everyone in England walks around muttering. But then it's

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! -
November!

[jbeegoode]

This looks inviting. It's Fall. The last time I lived up north was Michigan. There seemingly would be in the blink of an eye... no leaves, brown grass,
School, football,
and my frozen ass.

Places around the San Francisco Bay, certain glades, could be found brisk and clear, Fall, but more usually, grey and drizzle. New England is incredible when the leaves change.

Clear blue skies, 70F's, 80F's nearly guaranteed,
prickers and rattlers, wide open spaces,
My choice is to my naturist need,
I'll just visit those other places.
Jbee

[johnb]

I like a challenge so I spent some time on Saturday trying to get a self-timer shot with the dogs. This was the best one of the batch:

(Apologies for the washout colour in that one, iPhone cameras simply can't deal with high contrast as well as my "proper" cameras, let alone a chemical camera loaded with slide film.)

Have fun,

Ian.

Ian I have to say that whilst your self timer shot with the dogs might have taken a few attempts, it turned out pretty well. It normally takes me several attempts to get a decent shot using the self timer with just me in it, never mind four dogs ! I also think that if I was out with four dogs including two that were not mine, I'd have considered that I had enough on my plate without getting naked as well. BTW I liked the rest of the pictures.

Your comment about slide film is interesting. Slide film always needed (or takes if you still use it) a bit more care on the exposure front than a negative film. However looking back it still seemed easier to get it right, than than I often find is the case with digital.

John

[balead]

As you can see the weather was pretty kind for November.

So kind that even I spent 2 hours naked in the sun in my usual free range sunbathing way. It's very unusual for me to have any outdoor naked time in November.

This shack is occasionally used for a camp out by the family that owns the land

Does that mean that you were technically trespassing, Ian?

Thanks for the report and pictures.

[milfmog]

This shack is occasionally used for a camp out by the family that owns the land

Does that mean that you were technically trespassing, Ian?

There is legal access to the woods along a couple of public footpaths. Some of the time I was on the paths and at other times I was off them, but close enough that I could claim simply to have "lost the path".

Does that constitute trespassing? Yes, I think it probably does. I do go to considerable effort to avoid causing any damage and tend to stick to clearly visible tracks (there are lots of rarely used tracks through these woods that have been used in the past for horses and by logging companies as well as by game-keepers when they used to shoot in the woods.)

Thanks for the report and pictures.

You're welcome.

Have fun,


Ian.

[balead]

I'm all for trespassing when it does no harm and used to do it all the time, particularly in two separate woods. The odds of being seen are much less on private land in my opinion. If you are discovered by somebody "official" it's obvious that you are not intending to harm anything they might be protecting and it's unlikely they will take it any further.

I think I mentioned it before on TSNS, that I was caught out by a gamekeeper a few times in one of the woods. It was only when he got nasty that I decided not to go back and haven't been there since.

[jbeegoode]

Gameskeeper?! What would he think that a naked man would catch and carry off? Turtles?
Jbee

[milfmog]

Gameskeeper?! What would he think that a naked man would catch and carry off? Turtles?
Jbee

Gamekeepers are paid to ensure that the game is in the right condition and location for the shooting parties, who have all paid significant cash to take part, and anything that interferes with their job is not likely to be popular. It is not just the threat of poachers, although that is real enough, simply putting birds to flight can spread them out in all the wrong places (of course that may be all the right places from the perspective of a bird). I can't say I blame gamekeepers for being protective of their livelihood, but we do have a couple locally who seem to go out of their way to be offensive, even to people whose dogs are on a leash as they walk a legal footpath.

I should point out that others are as good as gold, one of them suggested alternative sunbathing locations for me to use, well off the official path, that would allow me to be naked with little or no chance of being seen.

Have fun,


Ian.

[John P]

All the Brits here no doubt know the "Manchester Rambler":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENYMwuCG2Y

It features an encounter between a hiker and a gamekeeper, and the whole song was inspired by this incident:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_trespass_of_Kinder_Scout

Nudity isn't mentioned, but I expect Ewan MacColl would have approved.

[Peter S]

I've always understood that modern-day trespass requires some element of damage being caused to qualify for the title. Also, I believe the 'right to roam' allows ramblers (textile or otherwise 😀) to stray from the footpaths with impunity, again as long as no damage is done.

Peter

[Davie]

The right to roam is restricted to certain areas, e.g. large swathes of moor land and can easily by identified on recently published OS Maps.

Trespass is a civil matter except in certain circumstances, e.g. on the railway, on MOD property. Damage is a criminal offence although from frequent the non-action of the Police in relation to this offence you might be excused from thinking it is a crime.

Davie 

[reubenT]

quite familiar with days of light drizzle and fog,  sometimes it goes on for several days before clearing out.  That's winter in TN.   More of that than snow or frozen ground.   We're in the mixing region between warm moisture from the gulf and cold trying to push in from the northwest.   The combination makes for plenty of rain.    When the NW push is stronger it clears out and turns cold afterwards,   when the warm wet southern wind wins it turns warm after the rain.    But then sometimes its an equal struggle and the mixing zone sits on us for days, a week or two even.     But I am glad we don't have to irrigate to get things to grow good.