Walk on the Wild Side

 Time to throw off post lock down inertia , and venture further afield ; well across our electric fence and into the wild woods. Not exactly virgin forest , but secondary regrowth on former agricultural land long since abandoned , and now being reclaimed by nature . Oak has re-established itself with a local broom filling the remaining spaces . So without a machete , following a hunters’ track was essential . The path itself was little used , so the local sanglier can feel relaxed , they had even dug themselves  a watering hole in which to wallow ; no doubt planning their next excursion into our garden .

This bit of wilderness lasted a total of a few hundred meters , and I emerged into fields more recently neglected . Grasses had now over taken the vines and the few grapes left for the wildlife ; those sanglier again. With all this open space around us , why do those sanglier want to endure a 14.000 volt shock just to eat our worms ? .. The other man’s worms !!

I am back on asphalt now , starting a gentle ascent to the bottom of our bit of Les Albères. Just a few months ago our galant pompiers had rescued the adjacent fields from  the ravages  of a wild fire , probably induced by discarded glass or  ‘megots’. ( ciggies ) . Now green grass was emerging from the blacked soil , and trees, abandoning their lower foliage, continuing their vertical ascent . Nature’s rapid reclamation.

I am on a steep winding path, properly in the mountains( well our bit of the Pyrenees ). Not a breadth of wind and no noise except the clinking of my Pacer poles and my creaking and wheezing . I am sure these hills are getting bigger. Even on these steep hillsides is evidence of man’s previous occupation. Extensive dry stone terracing still standing after some hundreds of years. Clearly then the workers were very fit and these hillsides capable of sustaining all that effort . They make my garden walling efforts look puny.

Despite ( or because of )  the steepness ,stones and twists and turns , this path has attracted mountain cyclists ; tell tale tracks spotted by this sharp eyed tracker.  I suppose that as more of these machines are electrified  , then the routes followed have to be more challenging . This little bit of wilderness is too fast disappearing.

Suddenly the track burst forth onto the wide spaces of the fire track. Constructed not many years ago to give pompiers access to these hillsides , it has dramatically increased human presence , and thus perversely the risk of carelessly induced fire . An unintended consequence , a bit like road improvements increasing traffic. ( “Oh what tangled web we weave …”).

Before the advent of the fire track , there were just the occasional narrow footpaths and one very steep roadway winding upwards to a remote Mas . According to village gossip it was built using helicopters and money derived from an ‘unsure’ northern European source; for someone who did not welcome visitors. Apparently he wants to keep his hillside wild , by “ excluding the goats”. I passed two cockneys using a rock drill installing 50mm steel fence posts 2 metres high . There must be very big goats around here, and someone with very deep pockets. Ah! who owns all that property in London ?

Back to earth now , returning to our fenced compound only capable of deterring four legged intruders . Two legged welcomed . Lou Reed’s  song reverberating  in by cranium  “ Hey, babe
Take a walk on the wild side” 

 

 Surrounded by wildernes?