The Fox Way: Day 1 - 3rd March 2007

Well, we had been planning this day for weeks, after we had decided that we needed to get in some multi-day walking trips. We had bought the Fox Way guide, dug out the map and made the lunch. All we had to do was walk 20 miles from Godalming to Ripley. Hmm.

We were to be joined by our fell-running pacer and 2 friends who are also keen walkers. One of them had completed the Camino de Santiago and both of them are incredibly fit. They arrived at 9.00 and we were parked at Godalming Station and on our way by 9.45. The day began bright and sunny and we were all in good spirits.

The path to Wanborough station was incredibly muddy and we were regularly wading through watery mud up to our ankles. However, despite warnings to turn back by other walkers, we perservered and made our way to the station via the beautiful village of Puttenham.

We then had to make our way through Merrist Wood and the golf course to Worplesdon station. The path became even muddier and one of our team did a fantastic slide through the mud and only just stopped herself from a certain drowning by sacrificng her dignity and sitting on her bum. Our spirits dipped a little when it began to rain but, thankfully, it was only a short shower. They were raised again by an exciting sighting of two deer. In fact it was a very wildlife friendly walk: we saw squirrels, rabbits, Aberdeen Angus cows, normal cows and some pigs that apparantly bit!

We stopped at Merrist Wood college and perched on a wall to eat a hearty lunch and share out a very welcome flask of tea. We were entertained by a mad woman asking where the golf course was and was horrifed when we suggested that she walked to it (it was about 2 minutes' away). We also saw a man walking around with a falcon attached to his glove which was slightly unexpected.

It was then a much more pleasant walk back to Ripley, following the River Wey. Although we were all quite tired, we couldn't help but appreciate the warmth of the sun on our back as it sank.

We arrived home tired but pleased with ourselves. We had done the 20 miles in 7 and a half hours, which included a long lunch and very tricky walking conditions.

Tomorrow: only 19 miles. Easy.