Field Report: Wild Camping With The Gentry Store

I can't get on with organised campsites, I much prefer the freedom afforded by lightweight wild camping. To pitch head headlong into nature and throw up a camp wherever you please is an experience that feels liberatingly old school. I was recently joined by my friends The Gentry Store on a wild camping adventure. Join us for a night under canvas, tall tales round the campfire and some good livin' in the great outdoors.




Despite the often laissez faire nature of adventure, I always like to put a good plan in place before I head out for a night in the woods. For me, planning is be part of the adventure ritual. I brew up a coffee and spread out my maps over the table, listen to the weather forecast and check all my kit and run a stone over my axe. Normally I camp alone which can be quite a rich experience, the sound of the wind in the trees and your own company gives you some time to reflect and refocus. This time though I joined forces with Niall from the Gentry Store as part of our Into the Wild collaboration.

We met up at my house and finalised our plans over tea and a cooked breakfast at a local cafe. We checked the forecast one last time and the weather was in our favour. We'd already stocked up on essential camping supplies - beer and meat - earlier in the day, so we hit the road and headed to the starting point we'd picked out.

Here's another camping confession; I hate tents. They're heavy, cumbersome and a nightmare to pack away, especially in the rain. I've been using a tarp and hammock for the past 5 years and I've never looked back - the setup is so versatile and lightweight that I don't ever consider using a tent in the wild anymore. Once the tarps were up we cracked open a beer and started gathering wood for the fire, we knew sundown would be about 7pm so we would need enough wood to keep the fire burning for at least five hours. One hitch though, most of dead wood laying on the ground was wet through. We came prepared for this very occasion though, as I said: Plan ahead.

We chopped as much wood as we needed and as the night started to draw in we and set about building the fire. Is there anything better that sharing stories over a few beers round the camp fire? I doubt it. We cooked up some burgers on the coals and made plans for bigger and better adventures to come. More beers were drank and we kept the fire burning well into the night. We finally headed to our hammocks around midnight as the fire died down and the temperature dropped to just above zero.

It was a quiet and peaceful night, if a little chilly, and I woke around 6am and took a look out at the gloomy forrest that surrounded us. As the sun came up, mist hung in the trees and we started to pack up our camp and headed off to cook breakfast with a view.

As we reached the edge of the forest, we were met with dense mist hanging in the valley before us. The water level was low and we decided to head down to the water's edge for coffee and bacon sandwiches.

 

The view was breathtaking, the sandwiches were even better. Eating breakfast likes this beats sitting staring out of kitchen window eating your Alpen anyday. Once we'd refuelled we packed away and started the long walk back to the car, we were on the road back home before most people had even arrived at work. It was a pleasure to spend some some time with The Gentry Store away from the city and live the quiet life in the great outdoors, even for just a few days. Everyone should do it. 

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." - John Muir

*Wildcamping is not legally permitted in many areas of the UK. Most UK woodland is private property and you should always seek the land owners permission before setting up camp. Please camp responsibly, think twice before lighting and fire and always take your rubbish home.*