Ouch!

7.30am Saturday morning and it's time to start walking again! This week with my friend Phil - starting from Beaulieu Road Railway Station and walking a BIG circle around to Lyndhurst, Burley and Brockenhurst before heading back (via the Filly Inn) to Beaulieu Road. Unfortunately I lost my pedometer in the first 10 miles, but plotting the route on the map it looks like nearly 23 miles! Phil is an experienced walker - I would literally be lost without him - and he knows his way around the forest. When I say knows his way 'around' the forest that does not paint the full picture as he tends to decide which direction we need to head - and then go for it, irrespective of whether there is a path going that way or not! So plotting the route on a map is not easy.
It is, however, a great way to explore. Spot the Deer?

Anyway, we walked for about 7 hours, stopped briefly for lunch and then about 2 hours from home were mugged and 'forced' to take on liquid refreshment at the Filly Inn on the Lymington/Brockenhurst road.
Yet another dry and relatively mild Saturday, lots of mud, but a an opportunity to explore the full glory and beauty of the New Forest. Just a few miles from home - but a different world! The last few miles were painful as my legs started to complain. Pompey Bear had a nervous moment when we met the New Forest Hunt! But we all lived to tell the tale and looking forward to getting a few more miles under the belt next weekend.