Unintentional long night last night.
Lady FB is in London for a few days so I went to the brand new hill ground which I had toured that early evening with the adjacent sheep farmer - long walk up the lane which we had driven earlier, pausing, calling and scanning at intervals, eventually the lane faded out and it was in and out of open fields for maybe twenty minutes of walk and call but only seeing rabbits.
Right at the top in a strong wind I was busted by a fox which came out of the very gorse I had said earlier to the farmer was a certain spot for foxes but my only approach was always going to be wrong for the wind so I wasn’t really surprised..
The really interesting bit came when heading back to the yard where I had left the sainted Jimny - long story short I was totally lost! This hill is pitch black with no obvious or familiar markers (it was my first outing) and every sodding field had an opened gate (no beasts out). All I could do was head downhill in the hope of striking the narrow road (wherever it was) or a lane at some point - the thermal was actually put to good use spotting gates rather than having to climb suddenly encountered dry stone walls topped with barbed wire. I had one very near miss which could have easily been a disaster - a sudden drop of three or four feet in a corner of a field where I had literally stopped to scan for the next gate - put the B&Q sticks out to step forward and touched nothing - scared the bejasus out of me - baby steps ensued….
Funny how the mind works (in full overtime) after losing your way for half an hour in pitch black and on unfamiliar ground. Panic? Moi?
Then inspiration - mobile phone, Google maps! Out it came and there was I, taking all the right steps but not necessarily in the right direction. This app really was a godsend - I could have been wandering around the same few hills until dawn or until my remains were found (probably in the Summer) still clutching the blessed sticks with one hand and the sainted triple deuce with the other. With Google’s help I finally struck the lane and gravity did the rest - I really don’t think I have ever been so pleased to see the Jimny!
Sooo, after some reflection and not wishing to over-dramatise - it was not like the Scott Antarctic expedition and I was not Titus Oates it but it was lonely unfamiliar ground and a real learning point for old FB. Herself was in London which being a Londoner she is quite often, no-one else (especially me) knew my whereabouts, no-one would have noticed that I was not at home. I routinely go out on solo trips, this time if I had stepped off that unseen drop or simply tripped over my feet and fallen badly I am certain I would have had a very real problem - particularly if I had forgotten my phone. From now on I will ensure that someone knows where I am - the downside of course is that in my circumstances and the odd hours that we fox shooters keep it may have been quite some time before I was missed. A very sobering thought after wandering about on a windy night, high on a lonely unfamiliar hill in near freezing temperatures!
Make sure that you do the same chaps - I know I will not make the same mistakes again!
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