Hampstead heath mud…..

So where do we start? With leafy loveliness? Very soft ground but covered in leaves so a pleasure to walk on.

But all too quickly this can turn into leafy sludge – not too slippery but requiring walking boots if you don’t want wet feet. And if you want to hear what it sounds like to walk through, listen this while you read.

But better than the well mixed mud which looks relatively firm – until your attention slips and you slide.

And then there is the sneaky grass which in the distance looks absolutely fine until you get too close to escape and realise that it is actually a swamp.

At least you can see  from distance that this pathway through the hedge is just impassable without waders.

But at least one person is enjoying it. I saw this heron half way up the meadow to Kenwood this morning – a long way from the ponds. I am afraid he is not very sharp but this was as close as I could get to him

And this rather beautiful white retriever does not care.  See the black mud tide mark that runs up his legs an along his tummy. I saw him again about an hour later and the tide mark had enveloped his legs, moved several inches up his sides and he now had a black and white tail.