A tiny wild camping trip

I had a couple of free days, it was the end of the nice weather in  August, so it was time to go camping.  I did a little trip to Alton, using a new, very lightweight and small tent, and trying to take as little as possible with me.  It all fitted in one pannier, except the massive foam mattress, which I think is probably essential if you might be wild camping on holly or brambles.  

The ride down was nice, glorious weather, and I had the good luck to meet Patrick in Guildford too.  On to Elstead, then a new and not recommended way to Tilford (over a heathland army training area - it was ankle-deep in sand).  But you have to try these things.   Frensham, Binsted, lovely countryside, to Alton, where I just saw the last steam train of the day departing. 

The wrong way between Elstead and Tilford

The traditional way out of Alton involves a big hill to Alton Abbey, but there's an NCN route through the forest, off road to Four Marks, so I thought I might camp somewhere there.   The track was lovely, a gentle incline, but heavily overgrown and quite steep on both sides, but eventually I found a little hollow and pitched my tiny tent.

NCN route out of Alton

Campsite?

It's about the size of a coffin, with a little more headroom, and it's held up by a walking pole, or I suppose a stick would do.  The pegs are ultra-tiny and might pull out if you sneeze, but luckily it was fairly calm in the evening at least.

Tent pitched

What tent?

Rain is forecast for tomorrow (Tues) morning so I will try to be up and packed away before it - there's no room in the tent to fold anything up & pack a pannier.  I had a sort of wash, ate a sort of meal, and settled down in the tent, to the very strange barking sound made by the deer (muntjacs I think?).

Against my expectations, I slept well in my coffin tent.   Woke at 6 am and decided to get packed up to avoid the rain, which I did, and got on the road.   The rest of the forest track to Four Marks was great, except it continued uphill (I had expected it to go down today as it was meeting the railway line).   I was very lucky to find an open post office at 7.30 in Preston Candover, serving coffee!   I counted my blessings as  I wended my way north.  Lucky to be able to do this.   A good camp spot.  Coffee.  Nice roads.  No rain yet.   And all that before 8am!  Riding along very quiet roads to the west of Basingstoke: Dummer, Ashe, Wolverton.   Sometime around 9am it started drizzling, and then for about an hour it was intermittent drizzle or light rain.   From one of the hills, I caught a great view of Basingstoke, completely obscured by mist.

At Woolhampton I joined the Kennet & Avon canal, still in the rain, and had a second breakfast at Aldermaston Wharf.    Just a couple of miles of unsurfaced towpath had managed to completely surface my feet with mud and grit by then, but they still let me into the cafe. 

On the table

Below the table

The rain stopped, and from then on it was another ten miles of towpath all the way to Reading, where I planned to finish my ride and catch the train home.    The canal is very pretty, the towpath is mostly unsurfaced and a bit bumpy with a few stretches of tarmac, and it takes you right into Reading.

Canal

Swing Bridge

However, I had a following wind, it was still early in the day, and after my two breakfasts I wasn't ready to stop.  I decided to go to Maidenhead & take another decision.   At Wargrave I stopped at H'Artisan, the cafe now run by Nick, the previous manager of Cinnamon Cafe.  It looks as if there's no bike parking but there is a whole room inside with bike racks, and decent food & coffee, so worth a visit.   At Maidenhead I was still wanting more, so I rode on home, via Cinnamon Cafe at Windsor for an early tea stop.

A nice couple of days out, some new lanes and a few new cafes explored, and a good camping stop in Alton.

Day (just showing Guildford-Alton)

Day 2 (just showing Alton-Reading)