It's maybe not the most technical lane out there but it goes on for miles with a mixture of mud, rock and plenty of water coupled with beautiful scenery and total isolation it really feels like it's just you and your mate(s) out there.
Because I was having such a great time I didn't take many pictures or videos and what I did take didn't really portray the scale of some of the challenges we came across.
I met Colley at his place around 9:30 and we finished up the final checks then made our way towards the Strata Florida lane with Colley running on tick over in the V6 and me booting the 2.0l . Once we got roughly where needed to be Colley fired up the trusty memory map and the adventure begun.
The scenery leading to the start of the lane was phenomenal:
We started our journey through the lane negotiating a nice mixture of terrains
We made it to the end then decided to make our way back and find somewhere to set up camp before it got dark. Colley will post some pictures up later that will show what we were up against with camping. After a bit of food and rest we decided to do the Strata in the dark. It was a total assault on the senses. There are many opportunities to take wrong turns and end up getting stuck or very wet!
After a crazy night session we decided to get some kip in a little chef carpark
Apparently we scared the cr@p out of the lady who turned up for work at the little chef at 6am and for that she charged us extra for a hash brown
We then went about finding some really technical lanes
we got what we were looking for to the point where we got stuck and had to turn back.
Before we go any further we are both strong believers in looking after the lanes and treating them with respect. We found one lane that once we made our way up to a point it was unpassable and unsafe to reverse all the way down with a drop to the side so we chose the best place to make a turn and cause no damage to the lane.
On a small note the Insa turbo special tracks worked brilliant on mud and even managed to yank the V6 out of the predicament above.
and below is some great driving from Colley to get out of a lane that you would need a tractor to get through. If you notice the trench is that deep and narrow his mirros collect mud and he goes beneath my feet!
This trip blew my mind and we're already planning the next one. I broke my roof rack and ripped my mud flaps off and both my manual hubs shook themselves loose to the point where just the circlips held them on but I didn't stop smiling for one moment. Even in the Blair witch forest that I'll leave Colley to explain.
Strata Florida with my mate = 10/10
im well up for it if i can get the wkend off, hopin to go up mam tor edale etc b4 Christmas too, enjoyed it last time but only my truck went as i didnt no anybodyelse round here then.
Will get my pics up soon 