Walking: Shotover Country Park

[white_hart]

We hadn't actually been to Shotover Country Park before; it's the wrong side of Oxford for us to have made the effort to go there instead of walking more locally before we started walking seriously, and once we had started walking seriously we preferred going to places where we could go for longer walks. We thought we'd give it a go this weekend, though, in the hope that the trails would be well-maintained and not too muddy.



In fact, the trail we were following turned out to intersperse sections of tarmac with paths that were just as muddy as anywhere else we've been. And then about halfway round we came to a waymarker where the arrow was completely missing. Left seemed to head back up to the car park; right was waymarked for a different trail (though looking at the map once we'd made our way back to the start that was the way we should have gone, as the two trails ran together, but that wasn't at all clear) so we went for straight on, along what proved to be a very muddy and slippery path. When we realised that we must have gone the wrong way, we couldn't face retracing our steps given I'd already nearly fallen over once, and decided to go straight up what appeared to be a faint path heading steeply uphill and back towards the car park. I think it probably was a path of sorts, but in the current muddy conditions it was almost impossible to climb, and we only managed to get up the very last bit to join the path back to the car park on all fours (by that stage, going back would have been just as hard). Despite being out for over an hour, we didn't quite walk two miles, and it really wasn't much fun.

I've been trying hard to keep getting out for walks because I know it's good for my mental health to get out in the fresh air and spend time in nature, but I think this winter has defeated me. I don't mind a bit of mud, but at the moment everywhere is deep in sticky, claggy mud and I just can't keep my footing, and that makes me miserable and scared of hurting myself, and cross with myself for being such a wimp about it, and I'm not sure that actually does me much good. I feel bad for giving in, and annoyed with myself because there always seem to be lots of people who aren't falling over and covered in mud and I'm sure I ought to be able to do this, but really, it would probably be more sensible to have a break until spring.

Comments

[hilarita]

Is that even with walking poles? Or do walking poles give you something else to trip over? (They often do that for me. It's like going for a walk with a cat.)

Hopefully it will bloody well dry up soon, so you can get out some more.

[white_hart]

That's with poles; they do help a bit and at least tend to mean I stay upright when my feet slip out from under me rather than ending up sitting in the mud, but they don’t make me feel completely secure and then I end up putting too much weight on them and they collapse unexpectedly, or get tangled up in brambles as I’m trying to edge round a muddy patch.

[cmcmck]

Love the shot of the single berry! :o)

[alithea]

Ugh, I hope it dries up sooner rather than later so you can get out again.

[hilarita]

The tangling I totally understand. I manage to tangle them round my own legs.

[jinty]

That's a shame. Shotover is really nice but yes it can be problematic - we went there on New Year's Day and it was super full and very muddy. The kids loved it (and didn't really fall over much) but it was slippery, and quite cold because it's so shaded.

What about staying 'up top' and walking along the Old Road instead? It should be a lot more manageable I would have thought (certainly a lot flatter), and if you don't go there normally then it could be a new thing for you to do.