Guildford Circular – (Surrey) – 06/04/08 – 8 miles approx – IVC

Although Snow was forecast it was still a shock and surprise to see such a deep covering on the ground when one got out of bed. Thus the train ride to the Guildford start point, extended/diverted to an hour due to engineering and through much of my old stomping grounds, was almost like something out of Doctor Zhivago. This meant the first half of the walk, briefly skirting the North Downs, and along the South Downs link, was spent crunching snow (as well as the obligatory mud). The mud itself, being a much sterner test for my new boots than they received on Thursday. They did let in a smidgen of water when a puddle I trod in ended up covering the laces, but that in itself was a contained leakage.

All good things must come to an end though and even before lunch, we were getting periodically showered by melting snow from the canopy above. Lunch itself consisting of a pint of Cider, Spag Bol, and a couple of slices of Garlic Bread.

Leader Paul had already announced that he was cutting the walk down to about 8 miles due to the train engineering works and potential mud ahead, thus by the second half along the River Wey the day had metamorphised into the brightest of Spring ones. Did I dream the snow ? That’s the last time I get caught without a camera.