Hey everyone, I haven't posted anything for a while so I thought I'd share this pretty memorable journey with you all from earlier this month...
Had wanted to check out this place for quite a while, but had completely forgotten about it, so my better half and I ended up doing the hike down the coast one evening and spent the night camping in one of the buildings, and woke up to one of the most phenomenal views I'd had in a fair while. What made this trip a little challenging was that we'd already been walking and wild camping for the previous 2 days, so we'd already covered 40km with large rucksacks before we even started down the coast.
Quick note for anyone self-righteous enough to get upset with us walking through the shingle: we made every effort to stick to the paths already created by whatever vehicles drive around this reserve, and if you're in a position of responsibility for the area, how about making some extra efforts to clear up all the crap littered around? I'm not talking about the remains of military site either, there's plastic and other rubbish everywhere.
Anyway, with that being said, I'm going to skip over the history of this place, as fascinating as it is, as I've already seen some decent reports cover it in detail, however, if you're interested in finding out more, then I'd definitely suggest checking out Independent Research Group Orford Ness.
Now, moving on to our experience of sharing this place with nature, on one beautifully sunny and misty morning...
We ended up heading straight to Cobra Mist the night before and tried to find a way through the fence to camp underneath it, but it was pretty late and we were knackered by this point, and it seemed like the internal fence was locked up tight enough. Ended up walking the rest of the way to Orford Ness, following concrete roads, and crossing bridges in the darkness until we found our camping spot inside the bottom of the ballistics building. After a quick snack, we slept on some concrete slabs, ready for the next morning, where we were greeted with some phenomenal views.
5AM, Cobra Mist in the distance:
Looking out across towards the labs & bunkers, the moon still shining:
Black Beacon radio navigation tower:
After enjoying views from on top of the tower, we headed on our way through the early, sunny haze & mist. The atmosphere was incredible:
As the sun rose and the mist began to clear, the lighting started to change pretty fast
Heading inside one of the first laboratories
And on to the next and the next...
Now we started to head towards the iconic pagoda buildings:
Unfortunately, we didn't go inside them, don't think either of us wanted to try climbing down through the top by this point
And now for some misc shots from the rest of the site:
And finally, one last look at Cobra Mist as we began the walk back up the coast:
Thanks for checking out this report! Having the place to ourselves and enjoying the sunrise views was incredible, and totally worth the hike - just make sure you take the paid boat tour instead okay
Had wanted to check out this place for quite a while, but had completely forgotten about it, so my better half and I ended up doing the hike down the coast one evening and spent the night camping in one of the buildings, and woke up to one of the most phenomenal views I'd had in a fair while. What made this trip a little challenging was that we'd already been walking and wild camping for the previous 2 days, so we'd already covered 40km with large rucksacks before we even started down the coast.
Quick note for anyone self-righteous enough to get upset with us walking through the shingle: we made every effort to stick to the paths already created by whatever vehicles drive around this reserve, and if you're in a position of responsibility for the area, how about making some extra efforts to clear up all the crap littered around? I'm not talking about the remains of military site either, there's plastic and other rubbish everywhere.
Anyway, with that being said, I'm going to skip over the history of this place, as fascinating as it is, as I've already seen some decent reports cover it in detail, however, if you're interested in finding out more, then I'd definitely suggest checking out Independent Research Group Orford Ness.
Now, moving on to our experience of sharing this place with nature, on one beautifully sunny and misty morning...
We ended up heading straight to Cobra Mist the night before and tried to find a way through the fence to camp underneath it, but it was pretty late and we were knackered by this point, and it seemed like the internal fence was locked up tight enough. Ended up walking the rest of the way to Orford Ness, following concrete roads, and crossing bridges in the darkness until we found our camping spot inside the bottom of the ballistics building. After a quick snack, we slept on some concrete slabs, ready for the next morning, where we were greeted with some phenomenal views.
5AM, Cobra Mist in the distance:
Looking out across towards the labs & bunkers, the moon still shining:
Black Beacon radio navigation tower:
After enjoying views from on top of the tower, we headed on our way through the early, sunny haze & mist. The atmosphere was incredible:
As the sun rose and the mist began to clear, the lighting started to change pretty fast
Heading inside one of the first laboratories
And on to the next and the next...
Now we started to head towards the iconic pagoda buildings:
Unfortunately, we didn't go inside them, don't think either of us wanted to try climbing down through the top by this point
And now for some misc shots from the rest of the site:
And finally, one last look at Cobra Mist as we began the walk back up the coast:
Thanks for checking out this report! Having the place to ourselves and enjoying the sunrise views was incredible, and totally worth the hike - just make sure you take the paid boat tour instead okay
