YEARNING FOR WILDERNESS, WE GO WILD CAMPING IN DARTMOOR
A spontaneous trip to somewhere wild. Yes, that was just what we needed, said L. We had been cooped up inside our tiny village, surrounded by fields of mud and wheat for too long. How perfect that Covid rules had finally relaxed a bit, allowing for travel to other parts of the country. We yearned for vast open spaces, unbroken views and stars watching over us in our sleep.
L, an experienced wild camper, was already pouring over a big ordinance survey map of Dartmoor, picking out best hiking routes and good places to set up camp. I climbed the rickety ladder to our attic and brought down the camping gear that had sat abandoned for too many Covid months. It felt a bit mad going off like this, but there was surprisingly little prepping to do, we had everything we needed to set off apart from a few energy bars that I promptly sourced from our local corner store.
Next morning we drove off eager for adventure and novelty. We had 180 miles ahead of us, or about a 4 hour journey. This would leave us enough time to go for a decent hike before pitching our tent in the evening. But alas, our journey soon slowed down along with the traffic to a snail’s pace. Podcasts, Starbucks Frappuccinos and Burger King kept us company as we slowly plodded along southwards. We swapped drivers, listened to music, spent the day in our car and eventually reached our destination just before 8pm.
What a relief to have arrived! To get out of the car and stretch our legs and breath in the cool fresh air. We had parked at a car park next to the beautiful Meldon Reservoir. With just an hour of day light left we heaved our backpacks and set off for a smaller walk to our campsite.
Within minutes it was clear to us that this place was worth the very long journey. Here was the wilderness we had longed for. Perhaps it was because we had spent so long cramped in our car, that whatever our eyes lingered on seemed so vibrant and fresh.
The hike from the car park took us first to the Meldon Dam with its very squeaky gate. We gazed for a while at this vast expanse of still water that then returns to being the small West Okement River. Golden clouds and the early signs of sunset were perfectly reflected on serene surface of the lake.
Our path next turned right and up, circumventing the lake. On either side we passed prickly grouse bushes with vivid yellow flowers. Stones jutted out on our path, as did ocasional rivulets of water running down to the lake. Black slugs kept crossing ways with us. We climbed enough to get a decent view over the lake that was bordered by big bushes covered in pink and purple flowers. These were perfectly replicated in the mirror like surface of the water.
We continued onwards, circumventing the lake till we left it behind, crossing a picturesque old wooden bridge and walking back down to an area of flat land with only a few gnarly old trees scattered around. This was the perfect spot to pitch our tent, as a small gushing river close by provided us with fresh water. The only other living beings sharing this space with us were the cuckoo birds who serenaded us as we settled in for the evening.
L pitched our small tent up while I went to the river for water. We prepared dinner on a big rock, balancing our small gas stove and pot in which the water I had just filtered took its time to boil. Dinner was expedition food, I had chicken tikka and L had Thai green curry. It tasted pretty good for freeze dried food. We filtered more water and made ourselves some hot beverages while watching the last of the sun rays disappear. It got colder and colder as the light gradually vanished, silhouetting the trees cresting the hills around us, and I huddled close to the gas stove to warm my cold hands. We fell asleep in our small tent just as the first stars started coming out, the river nearby soothing us with its constant cadence.
The sun woke us up nice and early to a fresh new day. We rolled out of our sleeping bags, opened the tent flaps and took a few moments to breath in the pure air. A few sheep were grazing around unfazed by these trespassers on their land. The sky was an uninterrupted blue expanse.
Our kitchen this morning was by the river on some big round boulders. I filtered more river water and L put it to boil in our small dented mini cauldron that we use for all our cooking. In time the water was hot enough to turn our oat flakes into rich creamy porridge, which we complemented with nuts and dried fruits. It felt good warming up in the suns rays. I sat on a rock with my feet in the river for a bit. Meanwhile L took out some old film canisters that we had packed with tea and coffee and made us the perfect hot drink.
We weren’t in a rush so we took our time enjoying breakfast, savouring the simplicity of this moment surrounded by trees, river and moss covered rocks instead of buildings and cars. It was Luca’s turn to relax with feet in the water while I cleaned up and packed our kitchen away. At this point we started seeing our first fellow hikers descending the hill opposite where we camped.
We headed back to our spot, packed up everything and made sure we left no trace of our stay. Anyone stopping here after us would see pristine nature complemented by lots of sheep poo and small clumps of wool scattered around.
Today we were going to explore some Tors, wild and huge rock formations that seem crafted by magic. Our path up to them followed the river and we often had to cross marshy patches that squelched as we hopped from small stone to stone. At a clearing we said hello to a group of fellow campers who seemed to have slept in more than us. Further up we went reaching a forest of lichen covered trees that could have been transplanted from Fangorn. With their gnarly slim branches sprouting beards and protruding in various directions, these trees felt surreal and mysterious, I felt surely faeries and gnomes must be hiding close by.
With the river to our right we continued in an open valley across more marshy ground. Suddenly we heard the angry cries of birds, we looked up just in time to see a cuckoo bird being chased away by a few smaller but very intent birds. Next we took a detour and climbed up the steep hill to our left. While stopping to catch my breath I couldn’t help but delight in the tiny bright yellow flowers that poked their noses out of the peaty ground. In certain areas the peat had dried out. In other’s pink and purple flowers grew. I turned around and was blown away by the wide view opening up below me, undulating green, yellow and brown hills peppered with rocks stretched far into the distance. It was epic.
We made it to the top of the tall hill, me sweaty and panting, L calm and relaxed, and were greeted by the sight of a small military cabin. Turns out the Ministry of Defense uses the area as a firing range on week days. For us it was a good place to stop for an energy bar and dry our sweat soaked tops while admiring the endless views. Once ready to go on, L and I turned our backs to the view and continued along a well trodden path set on a finely grazed hill top for some time that brought us to Yes Tor.
What is a Tor? It’s a tall structure comprised of many rocks in intriguing formations that rises abruptly on a hill top, as if two giants decided to play a game of Djenga that crashed down. They are cool to look at and fun to explore, and feel somehow out worldly, as if gravity is playing a joke on us. Yes Tor resembled a giant stack of pancakes that had been cut at different points. The wind was blowing very strongly at the summit. Clouds had started to congregate for some time and it was getting colder. We hunkered down on a well protected ledge and had some tea while surveying the view that was rather unexpectedly dull. For miles and miles we could see round brown hills with very few trees. It looked monotonous now that the sun had gone, would it be fun to hike?
The rain that started to come down at that point answered our question. So we turned back passing over hidden rivers and wet peat, while the rain gently drummed down on our hoods. We spotted cotton like flowers and lumps of poo in all shapes and sizes. Skylarks sang and sheep grazed oblivious to the weather. We turned a corner and there was the lake spread out below us once again. And soon we were back in our car on a long drive home.
It was night when we reached our little village. We couldn’t believe we had only left the previous morning! So much more time seemed to have passed. All our senses had been gratified during our time in Dartmoor. A long drive for a very short trip but it was so worth it. These are the breaks we need during our uncertain times.