Boxing Day +1 again

At Christmas time lots of people come home, so it's a perfect time to meet up with old friends. But there are a lot of different places everyone has to be at once... Our solution this past few years has been to have a standing date, the 27th of December (or more catchily, 'Boxing Day +1'). On this day, we always plan (maybe plan is too strong a word) to have a hike combined with a pub visit, where all of us local friends can meet up while doing what we like to do best.

  This year was no different. Seeing as it was a pretty last-minute arrangement, we opted to do a walk we had done on two previous occasions. The day started out cold, and there was frost on the ground as I walked down from the village to meet my fellow hikers. But the sky was almost completely clear, and the bright sun was quickly melting the frost and led to a pretty pleasant walking temperature. Still, the ground stayed cold enough and the weather had been dry enough that we didn't have to contend with too much of the thick slippery mud that can often be an issue in the good old Chiltern hills.

The landscape of the Chilterns is very familiar to all of us former (and some still current) scouts, but it is still always nice to be reminded of the beauty that lurks behind the hedges we all too often find ourselves behind, speeding along in our cars from one urban centre to the next. Up on the hilltops the views open out over the broad chalk valleys, and towards the northwest where the chalk runs out, Aylesbury Vale can be spotted low in the distance.

 We stopped at the pub, stocking up on proper British food and ale, for me an unusual luxury, for others an everyday occurrence. As usual running just a tiny bit behind schedule, we piled out of the pub and made a slightly fuller, more stately beeline for home. As the day went on, clouds started to form out over the plain, but up on the high ground visibility remained good, although the clouds did close in and cause us to pick up our step as the early winter dark crept in.

All in all a great day, unremarkable in that it happens every year but also remarkable for that very same reason! And some great weather too, which should never be sniffed at, though I feel that we have had generally good luck for most of the last few years. My extended set of photos from the hike is accessible at this link. Here's to more hikes in 2017!

Bis bald,

der Tom