Uber Water

 

The environs of Uber Water below Markway Bridge.

The edge of Rhinefield Sandy's

Our roam this morning was perfect. Our route along the edge of Rhinefield Sandy's, following the ridge of the Uber valley gave us splendid views of the snaking course of Uber Water and it's environs. You can always find something of beauty in the forest, though on some days the entire forest is simply beauty writ large. My photo doesn't do the scene justice, the light and shadow, the depth of greens, the textures of the flora, let alone smells and sounds of early doors. Nobody about either, the forest was ours, an ideal opportunity for connecting to the forest and a meditative walk. An opportunity I took full advantage of.

Why can't we have nice things?

 

Why can't we have nice things? The answer is simple, we're arsehats. Over half a mile from parking, in a lovely section of Rhinefield Sandys, a carrier bag worth of mixed shite scattered amongst the stands; bottles, cans, various packaging, sites of two unsuccessful attempts at fires, even quite a substantial lounger. We can agree, arsehats. I reckoned the lounger was half inched from the swanky Rhinefield House about 500 meters east; a cursory scan of their page confirmed, yes, it is indeed one of their loungers! It crossed my mind this could be the work of privileged arsehats, an insidious cohort of arsehat, too often overlooked by the media class in favour of their sustained assault on the disadvantaged. Of course, an arsehat is an arsehat. I believe though that connecting younglings to nature from an early age would go a long way to helping, you're less likely to shit on something you've developed an emotional bond with. Anyway, behaviour like this is why we can't have nice things.

Topsy turvy

It's a topsy turvy world out there.

Uber Water

I thought it would be a good idea to walk along Uber Water between the two Rhinefield/Cumber footbridges. It wasn't. It began nice and all, and for a good distance was easy pleasant grassy walking; then we entered the stretch where Duck Hole Bog bleeds into the stream, and it ended with me having to wade through Uber Water, then walking some distance barefoot through wet heath before I could put my boots back on. You know, I knew it would end like that too, experience told me so, and yet I continued knowing my route meant I couldn't backtrack. Chump.  

Forest magic

Forest magic.

Stag Party

We (Geoff and I) came across this stag party of eight along Uber Water this afternoon. Passing real close to them, they didn't seem too bothered by us, they watched us carefully though held their ground. A couple had nicely developed racks, the rest, antlers of various sizes; antler size does not represent age, more the health of the deer. New antler are grown each year in only a couple of months, ready for mating season. These antlers will undoubtedly be last seasons antlers, ready for shedding any time now, and then in April we'll see the new ones develop. A wonderful sight, indeed. I wonder if they were watching me knowing I've taken that skull and rack from the forest for a project, I promised I'd return them and later in the year I will.

Uber Water

You'd think that over the years access to the forest would have increased, and in respect to numbers it has, though I really mean more in regards to accessibility. Over the years I've seen numerous paths and routes disappear, bridges decay never to be replaced, even actively removed, allowing routes to become forgotten and favourite spots left abandoned. Take this stretch of Uber Water, below Markway Bridge, I remember a small narrow footbridge being here for ever, it fell into ruin and that was that, there may even have been two. I've wondered why that would be, it happened all over the forest about 20 years ago, bridges, car parks, and access gates, all disappeared. I suppose it could have been some conservation plan, though all it's done is create over used 'honey pots' where more folk have been concentrated into fewer car parks and onto walks. Or, it could be that there were just too many things to keep maintained in our modern asset stripped country. I may look into it, or more likely forget, until the next time I remember something that's no longer there whilst out walking. For me, I still visit the spots and walk the same paths I've walked for decades, paths don't need to be marked to exist.