10/08/04 - Green Laning

My mate James has got into off roading since getting a Jeep Cherokee and asked me if I wanted to spend a day investigating a load of green lanes he'd found on the OS maps. We originally planned to go in convoy but ended up going in my Samurai together. It's more friendly that way and someone can navigate!

Ahhh... And to think, I could be at work right now!

A big drop from one lane to another here. There was a choice of ways to go so I'll have to go back and investigate some time.

James ran up the bank like a mountain goat to take some pictures. You can just see my new Rhino Riders sticker, which arrived that morning, on the back window here.

Completely cross-axled here! The water channel down this lane was huge and I ended up balanced on two wheels. You could literally rock the Zuk with one finger.

Lots of nice flexing there. Amazingly someone had managed to get a car up here. It was on it's roof and burnt out but still amazing it was there!

The lovely places you get to see when you don't need tarmac! I still definitely wasn't missing sitting at my desk.

Hmm slightly overgrown here, I guess this lane isn't used very much. Maybe I should fit hedge trimmers to the bumper!

Another great view of the countryside. Nooo please don't make me spend all day doing this!

Fun in the puddles! There's about 7 big pools here to have a nice splash in.

This is supposed to be a ford. Yes, that is the footbridge in the middle and yes, it does have several steps up to it! I had a good go at getting through here but the Samurai started floating well before we even reached the bridge! The bonnet was in the water and the wheels off the ground so I knew we were never going to make it. We reversed back and took another lane over the river.

The final lane was the most rutted of all. The right hand rutt was about a foot deep but the left was about 3 feet deep. As ever the pictures don't do it justice! I wasn't sure about trying it as we were supposed to be getting back but I thought 'What the hell!' and just had a go. The Samurai flew through, no problems at all. Unfortunately for James he was standing right behind me with the camera at the time and ended up completely covered in mud!

What a seriously good day out! We got loads of sun and mud and saw parts of the countryside you never normally would. It would be great to take a little convoy next time. I'm definitely going to try and organise some more trips out!